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Top 10 Reasons to Live & Work in Your College Town
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By
Debra Karplus
24 February 2010
Some of us are more than ready to leave college and start our “real” lives. Others are content to stay where they are, forever. Think Will Farrell, Vince Vaughn and Luke Wilson in Old School. While starting your own fraternity or nightly games of beer pong might not be the best way to spend your life, there are plenty of reasons why living in your college town might work for you.
1. Living in a college town is generally affordable. Many prices are geared toward the student budget, including housing, public transportation, shops and consumer services, and leisure activities.
2. You’ll be able to find reasonable living accommodations that cater to young adults, such as lofts and studio apartments, with nearby grocery stores and workout facilities.
3. College towns have many activities to enjoy including a wide variety of nightlife and entertainment. Bands pass through the bigger college towns, all types of movies, cultural events like theater and the symphony, sporting events both on campus and off, and shopping.
4. You may find above average health care services.
5. Most college towns have accessible travel such as an airport, train, bus, shuttle and easy Interstate access for driving in and out of town.
6. An above average number of highly educated people live in college towns. Why not spend a free evening attending a lecture on campus with a friend, colleague or workmate. College towns generally have excellent libraries in the community, too.
7. You already know more people than you think, both personally and professionally, in your college town, which makes for great networking in your current, new or potential job. Extend those relationships by getting involved in the town’s Chamber of Commerce, service clubs such as Rotary or Kiwanis, or Business and Professional Women.
8. College towns tend to be generally more recession proof that other places because their economy is sustained and supported by the education industry and that provides steady business. In times of recession and layoffs, college enrollment often rises as unemployed workers are training for second careers. This is great for the local economy.
9. Going green may be more popular and easier to do in college towns than in other places; college communities generally tend to be more progressive about environmental causes and concerns.
10. You obviously like it there or you wouldn’t want to stay.
As you meet more “permanent residents” you may find that they, like you, came for school, liked the community, and stayed. Become a registered voter, establish community roots, and your college town will soon really feel like your town.
Ms. Karplus is an occupational therapist with a Master’s Degree in rehabilitation and a specialty in administration. She also earned a degree in accounting. Karplus teaches classes and gives presentations in and around her college town about becoming an entrepreneur and starting a business, creative writing, and genealogical research. She is a frequent writer for Young Money, the Dollar Stretcher, National Gallery of Writing and several national magazines and websites.
Since sometime in the last millennium she came to a Midwestern Big Ten University, and has lived and worked in her college town ever since then. She started a natural food store while finishing her Bachelor’s Degree, is involved in local politics including the Neighborhood Services Advisory Board, and writes letters to the editor for the News-Gazette. Additionally, she volunteers for the Center for Performing Arts. Learn more at http://debrakarplus.blogspot.com.
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