Not my thread.
I don’t get your point. It’s a recent thread, the OP is still commenting, and so are others. If you mean the false narrative that “Lewiston is dangerous” has been beaten to death, I agree.
Fun things to do in and around Lewiston:
https://wallingfordsorchard.com/
State Parks and Public Lands: Maine ACF - Search Results Bradbury Mtn. State Park has stunning views to the coast. Lovely trails.
https://www.museumla.org/
https://www.visitfreeport.com/
Might I remind members of the forum rules: “College Confidential is not a debating society.”
https://www.collegeconfidential.com/policies/rules
Make your point, defend once if necessary, and then move the conversation forward. We welcome the sharing of experiences, but beating the dead horse gets tiring
Nobody drives the back way from Lewiston to Portland. It’s an easy drive. Much easier than driving across Austin. 
I tend to heavily discount the opinions of posters who have never set foot in Lewiston.
The idea that Lewiston (Lewiston!) is a town to worry about is crazy. My wife, kid and I visited in the Fall. Loved it. And found nothing to complain about. My wife and I went to Grad school at NYU during the crack epidemic, so we have an idea of what a scary, “urban” school might look like (Washington Square Park was filled with drug dealers and Tompkins Square Park was an open drug den).
That ain’t Lewiston.
I shared this thread with her and she laughed, but wondered if the issue is that for some folks, anything outside of an upper middle class town might be seen as urban or dangerous (especially when you add in a working class and Black and Brown population). I say thing without any malice. IF you haven’t experienced that, it’s easy to see it as scary, when it truth, it’s just the fear of the Other. Which it seems students at Bates quickly get over.
Still, we all hated the Bowdoin campus. It was just plain ugly. We were shocked that such a highly regarded school had such a horrible looking campus! Nice town. But my kid said “not here” as soon as he saw it. Driving into Bates. We all smiled. Nice campus. Nice town.
Great thing for all of us: there are lots of schools to choose from!!
I could not agree with you more! Some people may have never experienced a town like Lewiston; so misconceptions can form.
Also, I had the same reaction to Bowdoin. It is so incredibly flat and oddly placed. It is a great town to live in, but a very weird campus which was advertised in a different way. That is just my Bates bias though.
oldest son a senior at Bates now. your description is right on. my son has enjoyed L.A.
This is a good analysis and one I agree with 100%. my son is currently a senior at Bates and a fulbright award winner. He has worked in /with the Lewiston community every year. The locals were very welcoming and, in my opinion, these experiences helped ease him into the college transitio, making feel more “at home” and comfortable… which in hindsight was very important given real home was 5 hours+ away by plane.
Lewiston appears to be home to the best bagels in Maine and among the best in America:
2 posts were split to a new thread: Integrating into Bates socially?