Tuesday, April 10, 2012
College Town vs. West Lafayette/Lafayette
I figured I would take a little time to talk about one of the topics we discussed last week in class, pulling together this "college town" and the West Lafayette/Lafayette community. It is not hard to see the boundaries between the two areas and even more clearly seen is the cultural differences. "College town"-energetic, crowded, college kid friendly, anyone "outside" the normal age range is a visitor. Surrounding community-family friendly, bigger houses/homes, city/town like feel. These are just a few of the differences. Now, when volunteering many of us venture outside this "college town" and try to connect the two in a way that isn't obvious to the people around. Do we do it successfully? I think this is hard to measure. Does the surrounding area benefit from this college town being here, or would they be better off without us? What would they be if college town wasn't here? And one os the biggest questions should we try to integrate the two more than we are trying to now? Would it be beneficial or should we keep them separate for the sake of families and college kids? I like this last question. College town exists because one PURDUE and two because many of us come here to get away from home/parents/etc. Now, if we integrated the surrounding area and college town would this totally take away from this feel? And how would the area change? Can you imagine families and kids walking through the campus, campus activities and even chauncey square on a daily basis? Many things wouldn't be the same: restaurants, bars, stores, etc that cater to the college generation would have to change to deal with a mixed community of college and family. Lots of food for thought for this topic.
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Your post was very intriguing and got me thinking. I think it is a good thing that Purdue and Lafayette are separated. The reason I say this is mainly because of safety. I feel that keeping Purdue isolated and with only students and professors makes it a much safer environment. For example, IU is located in Bloomington, which is also a large town. Have you noticed that the crime rates are much higher at IU? Not to say that the fact that the school has some pretty crazy parties doesn't contribute to this factor, but I feel that it is more dangerous at IU because of this. At IU the bars, restaurants, and hangout places include people other than just IU students. Consequently, many of the crimes in the area involve people other than IU students. Can you see the connection? Though isolating Purdue from Lafayette has its pros as far as safety matters, it also has a major downfall. That is, there is very little for students to do in West Lafayette. When comparing PU and IU, IU has many more restaurants and bars. I guess each side has its pros and cons, but I think Purdue should stay isolated from Lafayette.
ReplyDeleteYou made really good points. I didn't venture too far away from campus; I still feel like my service was still in the "college-friendly" area. I think you asked some good questions. For the whole parenting/kids aspect, I think it's nice to have the Lafayette and West Lafayette communities somewhat separate. There are a lot of things that happen on campus that aren't exactly kid friendly. On the other hand, I don't think they should be entirely divided. It's nice to get out and experience other environments. No one should be limited to one side.
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