What can you walk to from your LAC or smaller Uni?

Parents Forum
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<p>I'm finding the college book and web site listings of school's locations to be pretty useless to determine the actual sort of neighborhood the colleges are in... you can sometimes tell from carefully reading the guide descriptions, but searching under "urban" or "suburban" doesn't provide what we are looking for.</p>

<p>My son STRONGLY desires the ability to walk from his school to all or most necessary services, such as groceries, drug store, restaurants -- things you need faster that shipping -- and places to go when you need to get off campus, and his esthetic is to not have a car or need to rely on too much public transportation.</p>

<p>Now, before you start saying Harvard (ah, Cambridge!), BU, and NYU, he ALSO is at the moment primarily interested in LAC's with good math and science. I'm not sure where he'll be able to apply to, but so others can use this thread, feel free to go anywhere on the application challenge spectrum. Schools I am already thinking about (without regard to the walkablility issue, and I'll include some he perhaps couldn't consider for competitiveness but otherwise would consider as his type of school) include Skidmore, Clark U, Case Western, Oberlin.</p>

<p>And as an example of a location he LOVED: Goucher, in Towson, a burb of Baltimore. Small, idyllic campus. Just 5 minutes walk from the front gates (which are not far from the dorms and classrooms) is the Towson town center, with movies, restaurants, supermarkets, drug stores and the biggest mall I have ever seen (except for the Mall of America!) AND it is pretty close to Baltimore by bus or shuttle, which he really liked as a college city.</p>

<p>But when I look at schools like Alleghany, Beloit, Wooster, Dennison... I can't tell if you can WALK to the town, and what you find when you get there! I visited Oberlin, and the school is virtually IN the town, but I don't remember there being much there...</p>

<p>So that is why your help is needed, and I am sure others would like to know. Any part of country welcome, small town, suburb and city all of interest!</p>

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<p>hmm … </p>

<p>Bowdoin … one corner of campus borders main street in of a nice town</p>

<p>Colby … a mile or so from town</p>

<p>Bate … not much right off campus but town is pretty close (1/2 mile?)</p>

<p>Colgate … borders a TINY town</p>

<p>Hamilton … uphill and about 1/2 mile from a small town</p>

<p>Union … in the middle of Schnectity (not sure if that is a posititve)</p>

<p>Vassar … in the middle of Poughkepsie (not sure if this is a positive either)</p>

<p>Swarthmore … the town directly off campus is TINY … but less than a mile away in suburb shopping/stores.</p>

<p>Trinity … in the middle of a not great section of Hartford</p>

<p>Connecticut College … about a mile from a great little town</p>

<p>Tufts … in the heart of Medford (a urban suburb of Boston)</p>

<p>CLark … in the middle of a not great section or Worcester</p>

<p>Holy Cross … also in the middle of Worcester (better neighborhood I believe than Clark)</p>

<p>Wesleyan … 1/4-1/2 mile from downtown</p>

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<p>DD1 goes to Denison and walks down the hill to town weekly, particularly in nice weather for the farmer’s market. There are some small restaurants, pharmacy, etc. - small town America. Coming uphill on the way back is a good workout (instead of the freshman ten gain she had the freshman ten loss).</p>

<p>DD2 attends Lewis and Clark. Nothing really in walking distance except neighborhoods. She takes the bus downtown for her walking.</p>

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<h2>LACs</h2>

<p>Pomona – short walk to Claremont and a train stop to LA</p>

<p>Williams – short walk to Williamstown and bus transport to Boston</p>

<p>Amherst – short walk to town, and not far from Northhampton</p>

<p>Davidson – short walk to “smallish” town, and not far from Charlotte</p>

<h2>Mid-size Universities</h2>

<p>Brown – in the midst of Providence</p>

<p>Georgetown – “sheltered” within Washington DC</p>

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<p>Well, Clark is in the middle of a city so there are services within walking distance.</p>

<p>Boston College is within walking distance of a lot of services. There is a strip mall one minute from the northern part of the campus, Cleveland Circle (movie theater, hardware store, lots of restaurants, a convenience store, etc.) is ten minutes from the southeast corner, and there’s a full supermarket about fifteen minutes to the south. There are three subway lines within walking distance too.</p>

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<p>Denison–you can definitely walk to Granville, but it is small (and cute!). No movies, no fast food, . . .</p>

<p>Wooster–certainly bigger town, with a lot within walking distance</p>

<p>OWU–a pretty large street intersects the campus, so lots within walking distance</p>

<p>Kenyon–well, town is half the size of the school; one bank and a post office but no fast food, movie theaters, . . .</p>

<p>Sounds like your son might prefer being somewhere that’s not “in the middle of nowhere”, as many LACs are. We will look at Loyola (MD) in a few weeks–looks like it’s right in B’more.</p>

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<p>Depends on the town, but sometimes you can take a walk with google maps.</p>

<p>Vassar has cute shops and restaurants immediately bordering the campus, but I can’t remember how far you’d have to go for groceries.</p>

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<p>Great topic, silversas.</p>

<p>Something that has struck me in searching for colleges is the number of schools that have nothing or nearly nothing for a pedestrian student to do off-campus. Even some of these schools being mentioned may have a few shops nearby, but it seems that in less than a week, a student would have run out of options.</p>

<p>There are so many suburban campuses which require a car just to leave the campus. And I agree, this is rarely covered in all those college guidebooks. You almost have to visit the schools to know. </p>

<p>I think some useful criteria: is there a CVS (or other drug store) within walking distance? how long would it take to have gone to everything the area offers and become tired of it? are the offerings things that fit college students?</p>

<p>With that, I will list my own impressions of the schools mentioned so far, based strictly on my own visits:</p>

<p>Skidmore - easy walking distance to a small town, upscale, many restaurants and shops. (B-)</p>

<p>Clark U - in the second largest city in New England but not the nicest city going, some things in walking distance, not the greatest area, some additional options further out in the city (like Mechanics Hall for concerts, 5 or 6 other colleges in town). (B)</p>

<p>Case Western - very rich area culturally (museums, concert hall) and for eating options (Little Italy, Cedar, plus more), also major city offerings, need to be cognizant of bad areas but workable, also has 2 light rail stations on campus. (A)</p>

<p>Oberlin - in a small town, so has a few things, but probably would get stale in the first semester (C).</p>

<p>Denison - I’d say more of a village than a small town. One or 2 shops? Car needed for anything else. (D)</p>

<p>Bowdoin - walkable to a small town with a number of businesses, rural Maine feel, (C)</p>

<p>Colby - while a beautiful campus, nothing within walking distance, nearest businesses I saw were an interstate exit area (F)</p>

<p>Union - has commercial main street type area with walking distance (C)</p>

<p>Vassar - has an upscale commercial street withing walking distance (C+)</p>

<p>Tufts - has Davis Square about a 15 minute walk away; like Harvard Square without the tourists, also transit station there takes you to anywhere in Boston (A-)</p>

<p>Holy Cross - also in Worcester, but the only thing I saw nearby for a pedestrian, and its a long walk, is a crummy Wendy’s; school provides a shuttle bus to a mall about 15 miles away out in the suburbs (D+)</p>

<p>Wesleyan - in a small town, town area seemed like along walk and not that great either (C-)</p>

<p>Williams - small, upscale town, a handful of businesses within walking distance (C-)</p>

<p>Amherst - often described as a quintessential New England college town, town is also home of 25,000 students at UMass, shuttle buses to Northampton which has a bit more to offer (B)</p>

<p>Georgetown - lots to do for a pedestrian, on a college student budget though? (A)</p>

<p>Wheaton (MA) - a large village, not really anything for a pedestrian (D-)</p>

<p>Mount Holyoke - is not in Holyoke! small upscale village, can count shops on 1 hand maybe (D+)</p>

<p>A well known urban LAC is Macalester College, but I have not been there.</p>

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<p>You might want to pull up the campuses on Google Maps and see what is nearby.</p>

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<p>Check each college community out at [Get</a> Your Walk Score - A Walkability Score For Any Address](<a href=“http://www.walkscore.com%5DGet”>http://www.walkscore.com) - that will give you a score for walkability and a map showing nearby amenities.</p>

<p>Then try the street view feature of Google maps – you can “walk” the streets in the neighborhoods around each campus to get an on-the-ground view - that also gives you the same sense of a neighborhood that you might get if driving through.</p>

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<p>Haverford - Several grocery stores, drug stores, banks, restaurants, cafes, hair salons, barber shops and an outlet mall within a 15-minute walk from campus. </p>

<p>Bryn Mawr - everything that Haverford has, plus a movie theater and a hospital, minus the mall.</p>

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<p>Whitman - just a short walk to downtown Walla Walla . . . but Walla Walla is pretty isolated.</p>

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<p>I’ve visited Haverford and I don’t believe there’s an outlet mall nearby. The shopping center I’m thinking of is rather upscale for student budgets, although it does have an Apple store.</p>

14

<p>Here’s where a personal visit can make all the difference. I, for example, found the town around Oberlin delightful and filled with everything a person would want. Heck, I’d move there now.</p>

<p>Bard - nothing really within walking distance, but the school offers a regular shuttle service to nearby town with stores, movies, etc.</p>

15

<p>Reed college- short walk to Trader Joes/coffee shops/farmer markets- good public transportation to most parts of Portland</p>

<p>WWU- the end of campus that D lives at, short walk to small shopping center with grocery store/bookstore/ Thai/Mexican/Chinese/burger- restaurants- REI- Starbucks, pet shop-Rite-Aid-bank-couple other shops, other end of campus is closer to downtown Bellingham</p>

<p>Both girls have bikes.</p>

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<p>

We are probably both thinking of Suburban Square. I don’t actually know why I called it an outlet mall. Thanks for pointing that out. (It does have some more useful stores though, e.g. a Macy’s and GAP.)</p>

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<p>At Smith, you can walk to a great town in five minutes, with 9 bookstores, 13-14 cafes, all kinds of restaurants, and little boutiques. The free bus will get you to a mall in 10 minutes.</p>

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<p>Is that the one in Springfield? Smith probably also has access to all of the strip malls and big-box stores closer to UMass Amherst.</p>

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<p>Just wanted to add to what okeedokie said. Walla Walla is a charming town, with pretty much everything a student needs within walking distance. The Whitman campus is adjacent to the downtown. Although it’s a drive to go to next big town, my son has never voiced any feeling of isolation. I think it’s perspective, he likes all the wilderness around that affords great outdoor adventures.</p>

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<p>Calmom - that Walk Score link is pretty cool. So you can just put in a college name and up comes the overall walkability score, plus public transit score, a map, and the list of all the places within walking distance. Of course, missing on this site is any info on street safety or charm. D also had walking distance to town high on her list and has found Whitman to be the perfect size town within 5 minutes of campus. The walk score calls it “very walkable”.</p>