During the pandemic, many college students were stuck at home — with me spending my bout of isolation sitting at home in Rochester Hills, a small pocket of Michigan suburbia. Due to the massive amounts of time I spent trapped in my house, I came to the realization of how poorly designed most suburbs are. TikTok was trying to convince me to take “hot girl walks,” but where? My hometown was filled with houses, barely any sidewalks and no stores or businesses within walking distance.
That was during my freshman year of college. After arriving on campus my second year, my experience was starkly different. Everything was exciting and easy to navigate. During Winter Break, however, I found myself experiencing the same dread of being stuck in my home as I did during freshman year. I missed my apartment, the local coffee shops and being within walking distance of my best friends. I missed the way I would go to bed and hear students laughing contagiously outside my window and how all my friends were just steps away from me.
While college students may be a little too concerned with binge drinking and tasteless fraternity parties, the benefits of college towns are often overlooked. Public transportation manifests itself on most campuses, with students finding themselves either shoved together on a local bus or stuck honking behind them. Nonetheless, the idea of having a way to get around a town or city is what matters.
College campuses and towns rely heavily on public transportation, and with roughly 11% of Americans using public transportation daily or weekly, public transportation is of high importance in the United States. Cities are typically more walkable and accessible than suburbs, an advantage for college students who either can’t drive or bring their cars to campus. Public transportation is both far more efficient than privately-owned vehicles — as more individuals are able to utilize public transportation at a time causing less traffic congestion — and better for the environment. Greater use of public transportation would lower greenhouse gas emissions, which accounts for more than 20% of emissions worldwide.
College towns have also had greater voter participation, thanks to accessible voting locations, positive attitudes toward elections on campus and resources for students and locals to come together in larger quantities to vote. Not only has this caused an uprising of overall voter turnout, but also Democrat-leaning voting tendencies. Students and college educated individuals are more likely to vote Democrat, as evidenced by the most recent presidential election. At the University of Michigan, more than 50% of students voted for President Biden in the 2020 election. Locals and those involved in college communities are more incentivized to take part in politics because of their sense of community. These voting trends are evidence that college towns and campuses are pushing back against gerrymandering that has stolen democratic votes in the past.
College towns also spur economic growth. They are considered to be crucial economic drivers for their surrounding towns and cities because they attract spending power, encourage innovation and drive demand. With larger quantities of people in smaller cities and towns, businesses boom. Smaller businesses are given an opportunity to thrive, rather than being thwarted by larger chain corporations. Having local businesses that residents are familiar with allows both for these businesses to grow and for a better sense of community to be fostered. This feeling of community extends to residents wanting to support local businesses and keep the economy up.
This is not to say that college towns are perfect. They are often disliked for their party scenes, and fraternities and sororities often make up a large part of campus life. Families might feel that campuses are unsafe and too loud to live near. Parties, underage drinking and assault are all issues that follow college towns and leave the thought of living near one feel unsafe. Yet, college campuses have been an important part in exemplyfing a better, less suburban way of life for Americans, in upholding local communities.
Although it would be impossible to get rid of rural and suburban areas entirely, which is not the goal in any case, learning from the beneficial aspects of college towns is a necessity in order to refresh U.S. infrastructure. Implementing better public transportation is at the heart of aiding other problems, as it lowers costs of transportation and improves road safety and equity. Residents can take advantage of having a way to get to work and run errands, a vital resource for low income individuals and the elderly. Local businesses can rely on residents to make impactful purchases compared to relying on larger chain businesses.
Suburbia has a lot to learn from college towns, like convenient set ups and personalized experiences. College towns sustain a way of living that can be beneficial for nearly everyone. These simpler modes of transportation and larger sense of community need to be followed and looked to. After spending my entire life far from thriving in a suburban environment, the thought of returning to an inaccessible environment concerns me. The University of Michigan, and similar campuses, are what suburbia cannot ignore.
Brina E. Golubovic is an Opinion Columnist who writes about culture, campus affairs and American politics from a leftist perspective. When she isn’t rambling about politics or socioeconomic issues, she can be found at a local coffee shop. She can be reached at brinag@umich.edu.