<p>when I was at Yale last Spring I fell in love with the Campus and I felt at home right away. It's awesome, and I would do practically anything to go there. The thing that I noticed was that there is sort of an invisible wall dividing Yale and the rest of New Haven. My hotel was on the border of the "wall" and to the right you see mostly white people, and it is really nice, and to the left there were, not to sound racist, but there were mostly african americans. It's just the way it seemed where we were, which was the Marriot's Courtyard-at-Yale. Down toward the stores, and south of Morse and E.S.</p>
<p>What you're talking about is what's often called the "Yale bubble." To your right were the Broadway shops (the property is owned by Yale), and to your left were businesses catering more to New Haven residents (Shaw's grocery store, Popeye's - now featuring a rather amusing walk-up window). I think that it's good that you're noticing this divide now because it's far too easy to be too absorbed in Yale life to notice the rest of New Haven. Just make a conscious effort not to insulate yourself, and you'll be set.</p>
<p>Heh, and on the Yale Corp.'s helping less fortunate people - that's why students must pressure the University do all that it can/should :).</p>
<p>Ok, Shaw's is the name of that Grocery Store. I went there to get fingernail clippers, and when I was writing my post I asked my dad what it was called and couldn't remember. We don't have those here. When was the walk-up window installed? When we were there we noticed that there were people out there at all hours of the night.</p>
<p>
[quote]
"Bums" in New Haven
"There about as many sirens as there are bums. And let me tell you, the number of homeless you run into on a daily basis is staggering if that's not something you're used to."</p>
<p>I'm one of the co-coordinators of the Yale Hunger and Homelessness Action Project, and I'd first like to suggest that we please avoid words like "bum" to describe all homeless people since "bum" is charged with all sorts of connotations of being lazy and deservedly disadvantaged.</p>
<p>That said, Im from a suburb of Augusta, Georgia, and I see no homeless people in my neighborhood at home since this residential area is fairly spread out in terms of houses and businesses. After a pretty drastic change in environment from my move to New Haven, I think that what I found most surprising about the city were not the couple of panhandlers around campus; rather, I was shocked by the large homeless people you dont see by just walking around campus. More than 1,300 people are homeless at any given time in New Haven according to a count in 2003. New Haven actually draws a large number of people seeking social services since surrounding suburbs do not provide them themselves. This situation is a constant battle as New Haven has a budget deficit and literally cant afford to expand needed services.</p>
<p>As someone noted above, this is where <em>students</em> can make a large difference. By actively working in the community to alleviate social problems such as homelessness, students can learn extremely valuable life lessons while helping other people. I speak from experience because some of my most cherished Yale memories arent from President Levins welcoming speech or The Game. Rather, I experienced them in settings such as Harmony Place a cooperative community center run by the homeless and Yale students.</p>
<p>These experiences are largely why I love Yale and think that New Haven provides priceless experiences and opportunities to learn. And on the issue of whether or not I feel safe in New Haven, Ive walked around alone or with a couple of friends at night without fear. I think its just a matter of getting around the city and off the couple of blocks that are Yales campus! Im extremely glad that I chose to go to Yale <em>because</em> of New Haven not in spite of it. New Haven's a great place, and if you are considering working in the community or social activism during college, you've found your second home.
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</p>
<p>Amen. I also chose Yale because of New Haven, because of the community organizing, because of UOC, Dwight Hall, etc, etc. See ya next year.</p>
<p>in solidarity (woot!),
el</p>
<p>
[quote]
How could you call the yale campus boring? It is one of the most architectually stimulating campuses in America.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>What you said makes no sense. </p>
<p>Hell, you could have a school in St. Peter's Basilica, but that won't affect whether or not the social life is boring there.</p>
<p>A building can be architectually boring. A campus can be aesthetically boring. On the flip side, it can be architectually or aesthetically stimulating. Duh.</p>
<p>Very true. But that has nothing to do with the point you were supposedly refuting: that the campus SOCIAL SCENE was boring, not the campus ARCITECHTURE.</p>
<p>Well you have a point, but he left it ambiguous, so I took it to mean what I wanted it to mean.</p>