<p>I'd like to know what the immediate locale surrounding Swat is like. How safe is the campus and this area around it? How would you describe it? Houses in a suburb of philadelphia (is that suburb called Swarthmore? Upscale? Middle, low? Commercial - what kind of commercial?</p>
<p>Can a student walk off campus to restaurants or coffee houses? How far are they?</p>
<p>I think I saw that there is a train stop very nearby . where can that take you?</p>
<p>Roderick:</p>
<p>Swarthmore is an old suburb of Philadelphia. The houses were mostly built in the late 1800s, early 1900s. It is heavily wooded, very quiet, and very safe. It was all farmland when the College was founded. The houses were built around the College and range from small bungalows to large stately homes. One side of Swarthmore’s campus is the Crum Woods – an old forest around the Crum Creek. The College owns it. Beyond that is Interstate I476, the “beltway” road running north-south through the western suburbs of Philadelphia.</p>
<p>The train station is actually on campus. The College owns the old train station building. It’s a regional commuter rail line with train service to downtown Philadelphia (about 25 minutes). From there, you can connect to other trains to NYC, Washington, or the Philly airport. Go outbound on the train about two miles to Media, a historic old town with a lot of old brick buidlings that has become a bit of a regional restaurant center: good Indian, several good Asian, a high-end restaurant opened by Iron Chef Morimoto’s sous-chef, a good brew pub – a couple dozen restaurants in all. That’s were Swatties mostly go for dinner out, I think, although downtown Philly is also an option.</p>
<p>The immediate borough of Swarthmore adjacent to the train station is a quiet little upscale shopping district. A bank. A Dunkin Donuts, a little grocery store, etc. About a half mile from campus – a ten minute walk, or a Swarthmore shuttle van, or a public bus that runs 24/7 – is a major commerical strip, with a large mall (Target), about a dozen restaurants, a Best Buy electronics store, and so on and so forth.</p>
<p>dad, that is a great rundown for a guy in chicago. I have a much better picture.</p>