<p>It is interesting to reread these postings in light of our viist to TSU this weekend. While I noted that Kirksvile is larger and has more restaurants and businesses than Grinnell, my daughter declared she was unwilling to even consider living 4 yrs there. Kirksville really does seem isolated unlike other small college towns that are within 45 minutes or an hour of much large towns/cities. The 67+ mles of 2-lane roads to get there didn't help any either. The seemingly conservative atmosphere of the area didn't help either. Most of the trip we couldn't pull in an NPR station (despite U MO 70 mis away) but got lots of religious and country stations--anathema to my 17 yr old. THe downtown area seemed old and rundown, and the stoplights all seemed to flash red (not in synch) at night and yellow during the rainy day. The dorms seemed rather glum and rundown. Sadly, since I think the academics are good and the price is definitely attractive (it IS less expensive OOS than U of ILL is instate!) and the people we met all seemed friendly, my daughter is not interested in further considering Truman. The college search process definitely affirms that there are different strokes for different folks!</p>
<p>Yeah, as a whole, Kirksville is NOT within what you could call a "liberal" area, not within any stretch of the imagination. To be honest, the town also turned me off when I visited--but, like I've mentioned before, money speaks. This is certainly a different sort of atmosphere from my 40% minority high school in a fairly liberal area! (Plus, I sort of figured that I'm going to college for the school, not the town. Trust me, I'd much rather be in Bloomington, IN or Minneapolis... oh well!)</p>
<p>You know, my mother said the same thing about the dorms being glum and rundown just last week. I can't really see it, but I might just be too used to the dorms and/or too oblivious to tell. :)</p>
<p>Good luck with your daughter's future college endeavours!</p>