Which would you say is a better description of Tufts’s campus?
City without campus (like GW, NYU, BU)
City with campus (like Columbia, Penn, Georgetown)
Go to Google Maps and search for “Tufts University” and you can judge for yourself.
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.4079657,-71.1201658,776m/data=!3m1!1e3
Tufts has a defined campus. Most academic buildings surround the main quad, and there is a pretty finite boarder between the towns of Somerville/Medford and the Tufts campus.
The Medford/Somerville campus fits more in the second category than the first but the neighborhoods of Somerville and Medford immediately surrounding campus are much more suburban than Brighton, Morningside Heights, Greenwich Village, etc. As a result, parts of Tufts’s campus blend more smoothly into the surrounding neighborhood (especially as so many students live off campus in multifamily homes nearby) but the campus itself is definitely distinct.
Medford/Somerville is not what most people think of as suburban today. It is suburbia circa 1920.
The school sits on a hill.
You walk up both sides to get to the center which is where the quad is, and many of the academic buildings. There are 2 cafeterias on either side of the hill. The school is basically surrounded on all sides by streets.
To get to the athletic facility is a short walk down the road.
I wouldn’t call the area “suburban” really. It’s more “urban” I’d say with many old style 3 multi family homes surrounding the school. I wouldn’t say it’s pretty, but it’s not gross. But you aren’t driving down grass and tree lined roads leading up to the school, it’s more city like sprawl.
A school like Babson is much more suburban than Tufts as a camparision.
Medford/Somerville are not “downtown urban” like some other schools, surrounded by skyscrapers and bustling avenues… But they are not the leafy suburbs either.
The description above by @RightCoaster is accurate, but the suggestion that you Google the area may help if you are not quite sure what this means.
The campus is not intermingled with the towns, but as many students live off campus, the edges of the campus feel soft.
Neither of the two descriptions fits Tufts
Tufts started out (about 1850) as a LAC on the highest hill in the Boston area. It was surrounded by farmland and had a golf course. The view of Boston from the library roof is arguably one of the best in the region.
Between 1890 and 1930 the area around Tufts turned into a classic “streetcar suburb”. It was primarily working class residential with late Victorian architecture. Commercial areas are concentrated in several “squares”. This growth of the surrounding area essentially “land-locked” Tufts. Two miles from the campus is a large reservation that was preserved during this period of growth. Over the past 30 years, the area has been gentrifying and recently there has been a huge influx of young professionals working either Cambridge or Boston. It is currently one of the hottest real estate markets in Massachusetts due to its easy access to Boston and local culture. Current demographic trends and the planned extension of the subway to the Tufts campus is expected to continue this trend into the future.
The “uphill campus” is the original LAC. The “downhill campus” is built on the old golf course. The new technology corridor is a conversion of some commercial buildings as well as some new buildings along the railroad tracks on Medford side of the “uphill campus”.
FWIW, my son took one look at GW’s campus and said, “not for me”. He loved Tufts. He grew up in an old 1920s streetcar suburb so he’s used to the look. Tufts has a pretty gated quad with lots of grass. It looks like a smaller Harvard. The lower part of the campus does not have walls, nor as much grass, but you are still completely surrounded by college buildings.