Yale's location

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
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<p>Note to the OP -</p>

<p>Here on the Yale Forum we all know that PosterX is a die-hard fan of Yale. His enthusiasm for Yale and New Haven is unmatched by any other poster. Unfortunately, sometimes his love for all things Yale gets people riled up. There are those of us who also are very enthusiastic about Yale but are more restrained in our praise. I have to admit I was curious to see how long it would take for Poster X to weigh in on this topic - I knew it wouldn't be long and I knew the response would be glowing. </p>

<p>Anyway - many of us do love New Haven (maybe not with the same ardor as Poster X). I wouldn't switch New Haven for Cambridge or even for New York. I see it as great setting for a university - but it is not perfect and it may not be the right place for everyone.</p>

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<p>PosterX never went to Yale or lived in New Haven. Don't pay any attention to him.</p>

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<p>Yale's campus is very urban. Far from bucolic and peaceful that one would imagine for a typical college campus. The architecture and buildings are amazing, but being right in the middle of the city breaks up the coherency of the campus as you have traffic and cars running through the campus. It's also kind of risky to walk late at night as there are always a few muggings that occur on campus each month.</p>

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<p>I'm not too fond of New Haven, but Yale's campus was my favorite out of the 10 schools I visited.</p>

<p>The architecture is just stunning.</p>

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<p>Sorry, this thread had been done before. My bad. </p>

<p>Thank you for all the interesting and sincere responses. I have concluded that my parents need to update their information, and so do I. So I'm reading this forum. And I'll definitely visit, if I get in.</p>

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<p>New Haven's really not all that bad...</p>

<p>plus, Cambridge actually has a higher crime rate :-)</p>

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<p>I went to grad school at Yale in the late 70's, and now have lived here for over 20 years AND traversed and been immersed in ALL, and I mean ALL, parts of New Haven constantly in that time. </p>

<p>HERE is why New Haven is a GREAT place to go to school--New Haven is one of the cities which encompasses much of what our children, the next generation of Americans (and world citizens) are going to face in their adult lives and careers--the multicultural nature of our society, and the excruciating and increasing gap between haves and have-nots. Posters' comments are entirely true--the campus is gorgeous, the student body is amazing, there are restaurants and bigger cities close by and lots of other things which make for a great college experience. But there is also the challenge, and the opportunity, to immerse oneself, or at least to LOOK at ("student tourists" are better at least than escapists IMO) the challenges facing our country in its future. It's small enough as a city (no LA, no New York) so that at least it feels manageable--how much of "the other side" does one see from U Chicago, say? "War zone" is a little harsh--but lots of real human people live there in that "zone" you traverse, lots of YOUTH have not been given the choice (did they ask for the parents they have?) or the means to live anywhere else, and if we as a whole society don't do something with all our vast resources and intelligence to mitigate and diminish that "war zone," it is certainly not going to get better on its own.</p>

<p>So if you or your parents want your experience to be one that has some REAL windows into the US and the world, of the future, this is a fabulous place to be! Safe enough, challenging enough (well maybe not enough because you can remain in the Yale bubble), not as benign as PosterX's description of "a few poor areas with Chinese takeout," but 120,000 people live here, including students, and they are the future, together--not to be cliche, but to be real. (Radimom in part stands for Radical, can you tell?)</p>

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<p>Radimom, 120-130 thousand live in the core municipality (many of them students), but the "city" is actually much bigger than that. The municipal boundaries were drawn in the 1700s and, unlike "newer" cities that weren't founded in the 1600s like New Haven, they haven't been changed since. In reality, New Haven is a city of between 300 and 800 thousand people (In terms of population density, New Haven's downtown is denser than the downtowns of Seattle, Baltimore, or Denver), and as a result, the city is incredibly diverse, wealthy, culturally rich, and rapidly changing. </p>

<p>The city is also a miniature United Nations - at some of the public schools, the 60 or 70 pre-school kids who start school each year collectively speak more than 30 languages, and within three blocks of the Yale campus you can find over 130 restaurants serving more than two dozen different cuisines from every continent. It is similar to New York City or Chicago in this respect, except that you can actually get anywhere in 5 minutes instead of taking a subway for an hour. </p>

<p>You are correct to say that the scale of the city, and Yale's location -- as the only university in America located at the center of a major city downtown, where it has been for more than 300 years -- makes it very easy for students to get seriously involved and learn things. Unlike a place like New York, where you would literally be shut out of the gates of City Hall by 20 heavily armed guards, any student can get closely involved in the inner workings of local government, educational institutions, diverse community groups speaking dozens of languages, businesses or nonprofits with a very small amount of effort. Although impossible to appreciate from a viewbook, course catalogue or brief visit, this is a potential learning experience that you literally can not get anywhere else, if you take advantage of it. So it's no wonder that so many Yale students remain involved in local, state or national government after they graduate -- e.g., why 5 of the past 7 U.S. Presidents (if Hillary is elected) went to Yale. Bill Clinton started by campaigning on local races there. It's also part of the reason why, if you look closely, Yale alumni completely dominate similar public-minded fields such as environmental advocacy, social policy, law, journalism, architecture, urban planning, education and the like. They just graduate knowing a lot more about the world.</p>

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<p>I give my imprimatur to the third paragraph above. However, I think the historical record is that certain neighborhoods--Westville (where the Yale Bowl, fields, tennis center, and polo pony barn are), Fair Haven--were added later and are not part of the original city boundaries from the 1700's. The legal city boundaries enclose an area populated by 120,000 to 130,000 people. I think it's only fair to be clear and appropriate as far as the historical record, but that is not particularly pertinent for students and families considering where to go to college. Yes, it is sort of polyglot and certainly racially and economically diverse (at least as schools like to count that sort of thing). I agree and affirm that it is a fascinating place to get seriously involved and learn--Go For It!</p>

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<p>Glad you agree, Radimom. The other point is only that you have to know what you are doing in order to make comparisons between cities, which have very different histories and characteristics. New Haven is therefore a much larger city than many people realize. If you compared apples to apples and looked at an equivalent land area to some other American cities, like say San Antonio, New Haven would be considered one of the largest cities in the United States. But because the municipal land area boundary dates from the 1700s and is quite limited to a few square miles, the city appears to be fairly small. This also affects many other statistics besides population, of course.</p>

<p>In fact, technically speaking, in addition to being part of an standard Census measurement urban area of 600,000 people, New Haven is part of the New York City CMSA (metropolitan area), which has over 20 million residents and is really the largest "city" in the United States. You will see studies out there that list things like "cities with the most biotechnology firms" -- and New Haven often doesn't appear on those lists because it is included within the New York City figures. If you define the geography differently and break out the figures per capita, of course, New Haven would have more biotech firms than any other major city in the country except San Diego.</p>

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<p>I literally fell in love with Yale's architecture. With all that in mind, I didn't notice anything wrong with New Haven.</p>

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<p>high level insight, radimom. thanks.</p>

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<p>Lots of video clips here:</p>

<p>Living</a> in New Haven</p>

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<p>Here are the latest stats on retail growth in Downtown New Haven:</p>

<p>1997: 62 restaurants, 134 stores</p>

<p>2007: 135 restaurants (+118%), 216 stores (+61%)</p>

<p>These are just figures for downtown, the area right around Yale. If you count the rest of New Haven, there are obviously hundreds more within a short walk or bike ride of the downtown area. Also, crime has dropped by more than 50%. You have a similar situation in New York City/Brooklyn, Seattle, Austin, and Chicago, which are other cities that have massively improved over the past 10 years.</p>

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<p>My take on New Haven:</p>

<p>If i'd had any desire to go clubbing in high school, a city larger than new haven might have seemed more appealing to me. </p>

<p>Yale's campus is beautiful, and the surrounding area is mostly restaurants and stores, with some residential areas. If you go too far outside of campus it gets iffy, but those areas are so far removed from undergrad's lives that they don't make much of a difference. It would be nice if there was more city to explore/more to do in new haven. Nevertheless, the lack of city reinforces the campus scene. It's fun to be on campus. </p>

<p>Crime happens. Every few weeks we get a campus wide police alert that there's been a mugging or a break in, etc. That's certainly a cause for concern, but it's a concern common to any city campus. People have an inflated sense of danger at yale... robberies happen in new york, or boston, or DC just as they do in New Haven. Be smart and you're unlikely to have a problem. </p>

<p>New Haven really does have good, inexpensive restaurants. Very much worth exploring, especially when dining hall food gets old.</p>

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<p>well, I'm not going to add a whole lot other than what's been said before. echoing worknprogress' statements: the campus is beautiful, but the city isn't for everyone (walking from old campus to the medical school? a little sketchy. mind you, I haven't been back for a few years, so things may have changed in that short time).</p>

<p>but other than the occasional unpleasantries, the architecture, grounds, and interiors provide a fantastic backdrop in which to learn. now, from personal experience, I probably wouldn't say it's one of the wealthiest cities in the U.S. (maybe if we're only talking about a certain size, say, above 500,000?). it is very easy to get around on foot, and campus security itself is safe (violent crime rate is higher in Cambridge!).</p>

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<p>My son is a freshman at Yale. He is so very happy there the campus is so wonderful the dorms are great and the campus is safe. I too had concerns about the safety on campus but no longer worry.New Haven is not the best cities but the area surrounding Yale is very nice and very busy. You should visit to see first hand what Yale is all about. My son said that his first year is going by to quickly and hopes his next three years there moves more slowly. Good luck</p>

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<p>to those of you who are accepted this year - ask serious questions at Bulldog Days about safety at Yale. I think the campus is generally safe, but there is always more that could be done to improve the situation - e.g. more visible presence of police on foot or bicycles, etc., without infringing on the freedom of the students. </p>

<p>As spsdds said, my DD also is a freshman and she too is stunned by how quickly the year has gone by, in a couple of weeks the term will be over and she will only have three more years at Yale.</p>

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<p>i actually heard somewhere that Yale has the lowest violent crime rate of any of the ivies due to the incredible amount of attention that goes to security (even lower than dartmouth which is in the middle of nowhere)</p>

<p>i could be mistaken, but thats what i remember seeing</p>

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<p>Excellent posts by radimom, I agree.</p>