<p>My HS junior S is considering Rhodes and I have some questions...</p>
<p>I have spent most of my adult life at large universities where students can literally roll out of bed and have a very short walk to restaurants, cafes, coffee houses, gocery stores, and bars from their residence hall or apartment. There really is very little need for a car.</p>
<p>In looking at Google maps and the Rhodes campus, I see that there is really nothing right near campus. Probably not a big deal for Frosh as they spend most of their time on campus.</p>
<p>But what about for the upperclassmen...are they driving off campus every weekend a fair distance to eat-out, go to bars, see live music, etc? Or do most people just hang out on campus? This potential for drinking and driving scares me a bit.</p>
<p>Given that Rhodes has about 75% of the student population living on campus, where do the seniors live? Is it easy to get good, safe off-campus apartments/houses within walking distance to campus? Do many seniors live on campus and will they guarantee it if wanted?</p>
<p>We are anticipating that S will not have a car on campus, ever. It looks like you might need one at Rhodes?</p>
<p>Need? No. It’s nice though, and that is the case with a lot of colleges. That Rhodes is in a city make it easier to get a cab and kids to pool rides with those with cars. My son considered Rhodes, was one of his top choices, in fact, and there are a number of off campus work/internship opportunities where a car does come in handy. But no more so than a lot of LACs, and less so than those that in truly isolated locations like Bucknell, Colby, St Lawrence, etc.</p>
<p>You can go without a car, and plenty of people do. Out of 1243 students living on campus this past fall, 422 did not have a car. </p>
<p>There’s a mini-mart, dry cleaners, a <em>really</em> good cafe, and a so-so Itailian restaurant that other people seem to enjoy in a strip about three blocks away (see [Cafe</a> Eclectic, North McLean Boulevard, Memphis, TN - Google Maps](<a href=“http://g.co/maps/2zvg2]Cafe”>http://g.co/maps/2zvg2)). In the other direction there’s a Subway, an Exxon, and a dollar store two blocks away([Subway</a>, Summer Avenue, Memphis, TN - Google Maps](<a href=“http://g.co/maps/aa2yv]Subway”>http://g.co/maps/aa2yv)). I walk there for lunch on occassion.</p>
<p>There’s a boatload of stuff a bike ride away, and most of the roads around campus have bike lanes now. You can borrow a bike for free a semester at a time through the college bike shop.</p>
<p>Taxis are cheap. We also have a program where if a student gets in trouble and doesn’t have any money, they can call the cab to bring them back to campus and we’ll put it on their student account.</p>
<p>If a student does need a car - say for an internship or to go to target or whatever - we have two zipcars on campus. [Rhodes</a> College – Zipcar](<a href=“http://www.zipcar.com/rhodes]Rhodes”>http://www.zipcar.com/rhodes)</p>
<p>Seniors are not guaranteed on campus housing, though usually it’s not a problem. Enough juniors and seniors seem to want to live on campus that there’s enough to go around. Those who do live off-campus are sort of all over the place. Some live in the neighborhoods to the north and west of campus where a lot of the staff and faculty live and walk to campus. Some live a bit south near Madison & McLean and the surrounding neighborhood and walk or bike to campus.</p>
<p>Does that help?</p>