3 ms·

My ideal community is a college campus. I know there's a lot not to like, but they've ruined regular cities and towns for me. Perfectly manicured lawns and ope

My ideal community is a college campus. I know there's a lot not to like, but they've ruined regular cities and towns for me. Perfectly manicured lawns and open green spaces. Everyone has a purpose. Housing and facilities are planned to meet needs. Walkable environment where cars are often times banned. Wifi everywhere. Health services are provided for all residents. Maker spaces are still a thing on campuses providing access to fabrication equipment, 3d printers, etc. Libraries with access to any book or journal article you could want. There's a strong sense of community and comradery - even strangers feel connected to one another. Even the police are nicer, as they try to build a lot of good will with the community. It's easy to meet people and engage in activities and hobbies. You can walk to a show put on by the local orchestra or drama group, go to a game played by the local team, eat food prepared by the local culinary students, or visit an art exhibition featuring world-famous or local artists. Or you can get involved in any of these activities by playing music or sports or making art! And that's not to mention the world-class lectures and research that happen all the time. When I graduated and went into the "real world" I was isolated and alone. Everything felt so chaotic and unorganized, and a huge step down from the kind of close community I was used to. In the "real world" everything seems centered around commerce and consumerism instead of people. I was unable to find anything like I had experienced in college, so I just went back and never left.

davidmurphy 3y ago
Agreed. High end cafeterias, run by Bon Appetit Management Co (et al) are also part of the appeal. Don't want to have to cook all the time, nor go to fast food, et al. Having a default place on site is crucial.
hermannj314 3y ago
The ideal housing is an overpriced community of highly aspirational young people that effectively violates federal housings laws by pretending elderly people and families with young children don't exist? I dont see how it scales outside of a college community.
- ModernMech 3y ago
  Well I don't know about other places, but for us we have a daycare on campus that's affordable and available for anyone in the community. We have family housing that is multigenerational (many international students bring their parents with them and they live together). We have plenty of older community members of course - many of our teaching faculty are retirees, and emeritus professors are some of the oldest people on the planet! Scaling is a problem though, that's for sure, although many colleges are in fact towns outright (like Penn State). However, there's a big incentive for colleges to turn into hedge funds/real-estate holding firms which works against the educational mission of universities IMO. As for overpriced... I mean, you get what you pay for. I don't think it's overpriced because I've tried the alternative, and I've found it lacking. Although I see several avenues to cut costs while keeping service levels. But if you think college campuses are just for the students, you're missing half the picture!
- janalsncm 3y ago
  In the California suburb I live in (read: you need to drive everywhere) my rent is more than twice as much as what I paid on my walkable college campus.
  - dingosity 3y ago
    The college I went to FINALLY tore down the slums south of campus (I guess maybe that was the city that condemned them) and built more, affordable student housing. It only took them 100 years. I guess my point is, even college administrators from Texas can eventually learn that affordable housing for students and staff can be a benefit.
8f2ab37a-ed6c 3y ago
Agreed, suburban US lifestyle really aggravates that sense of isolation. You go from your two car garage to Costco and back on an SUV with nothing in between but roads, gas stations and the occasional McDonald's drive-through. A college campus and smaller European towns are the polar opposite of that, with mixed zoning, everything being walkable/bikeable, and everybody intermingling in the same space.
- ModernMech 3y ago
  I haven't been to any small European towns, so I'd love to go one day to see what that lifestyle is like.
- fragmede 3y ago
  Those roads have plenty between the gas stations and McDonald's - other people's McMansions. The reason everything is so spread out is so that everyone can get their 4-bedroom house with the car garage and a generous yard, possibly a pool. Which is what kills density. It's a tragedy of the Commons, in part, because it's a problem because everyone was sold that same dream.
- dingosity 3y ago
  Here's a random musing: I recently thought about joining a fraternal organization just to have a ready-made friends group. Granted, they all seem WAY more extrovert than me, and the group is one of the ones with a mystos, so I don't think it's going to be a solution for EVERYBODY. Maybe we need something like "Tech Masons" where you have a built-in social group, continuing ed and everyone promises not to disrespect each others' tech stack decisions. "Oh. So you're going with COBOL? I'm sure there are aspects of the project I don't understand that make COBOL the ideal language for that project. Let us grab a beer and talk about inverting trees, brother (and/or sister.)"
RestlessMind 3y ago
And how will kids be supported on such a campus? Among the ones I have seen, there were hardly any amenities (daycares, playgrounds, preschools and schools) for kids. Also, loud parties every weekend.
- ModernMech 3y ago
  Well, all campuses are different. But see my reply to the other person who asked about that. We do have playgrounds, and a daycare for all, and 500 acres of athletic fields for football, soccer, cross country, lacrosse, baseball, etc. There's a community garden as well that kids get involved with to learn about gardening. As for schools, there is an elementary, middle, and high school within a 3 block radius of the campus. Obviously these are funded by the city, but a lot of that funding of course comes from the school and employees through their taxes, so it's a symbiotic relationship. Many faculty here make it their mission to outreach to these local schools. We have events for children all summer long where they engage in physics, chemistry, computer science / robotics, environmental engineering, art, and music projects etc. Loud parties are annoying but are only held off campus. There are noise ordinances on campus.
dingosity 3y ago
I was going to say "meh. you have to try harder," but the last paragraph made sense to me. The "real world" will make you feel isolated and alone unless you put in A LOT of work to find a social / friends group. And I think you have a point that college campuses are sort of set up to make socializing easier (if not easy.) So... congrats... you changed someone's opinion on HN comments. I'm not sure it happens THAT often.

davidmurphy 3y ago

Agreed. High end cafeterias, run by Bon Appetit Management Co (et al) are also part of the appeal. Don't want to have to cook all the time, nor go to fast food, et al. Having a default place on site is crucial.

hermannj314 3y ago

The ideal housing is an overpriced community of highly aspirational young people that effectively violates federal housings laws by pretending elderly people and families with young children don't exist? I dont see how it scales outside of a college community.

ModernMech 3y ago
Well I don't know about other places, but for us we have a daycare on campus that's affordable and available for anyone in the community. We have family housing that is multigenerational (many international students bring their parents with them and they live together). We have plenty of older community members of course - many of our teaching faculty are retirees, and emeritus professors are some of the oldest people on the planet! Scaling is a problem though, that's for sure, although many colleges are in fact towns outright (like Penn State). However, there's a big incentive for colleges to turn into hedge funds/real-estate holding firms which works against the educational mission of universities IMO. As for overpriced... I mean, you get what you pay for. I don't think it's overpriced because I've tried the alternative, and I've found it lacking. Although I see several avenues to cut costs while keeping service levels. But if you think college campuses are just for the students, you're missing half the picture!
janalsncm 3y ago
In the California suburb I live in (read: you need to drive everywhere) my rent is more than twice as much as what I paid on my walkable college campus.
- dingosity 3y ago
  The college I went to FINALLY tore down the slums south of campus (I guess maybe that was the city that condemned them) and built more, affordable student housing. It only took them 100 years. I guess my point is, even college administrators from Texas can eventually learn that affordable housing for students and staff can be a benefit.

8f2ab37a-ed6c 3y ago

Agreed, suburban US lifestyle really aggravates that sense of isolation. You go from your two car garage to Costco and back on an SUV with nothing in between but roads, gas stations and the occasional McDonald's drive-through. A college campus and smaller European towns are the polar opposite of that, with mixed zoning, everything being walkable/bikeable, and everybody intermingling in the same space.

ModernMech 3y ago
I haven't been to any small European towns, so I'd love to go one day to see what that lifestyle is like.
fragmede 3y ago
Those roads have plenty between the gas stations and McDonald's - other people's McMansions. The reason everything is so spread out is so that everyone can get their 4-bedroom house with the car garage and a generous yard, possibly a pool. Which is what kills density. It's a tragedy of the Commons, in part, because it's a problem because everyone was sold that same dream.
dingosity 3y ago
Here's a random musing: I recently thought about joining a fraternal organization just to have a ready-made friends group. Granted, they all seem WAY more extrovert than me, and the group is one of the ones with a mystos, so I don't think it's going to be a solution for EVERYBODY. Maybe we need something like "Tech Masons" where you have a built-in social group, continuing ed and everyone promises not to disrespect each others' tech stack decisions. "Oh. So you're going with COBOL? I'm sure there are aspects of the project I don't understand that make COBOL the ideal language for that project. Let us grab a beer and talk about inverting trees, brother (and/or sister.)"

RestlessMind 3y ago

And how will kids be supported on such a campus? Among the ones I have seen, there were hardly any amenities (daycares, playgrounds, preschools and schools) for kids. Also, loud parties every weekend.

ModernMech 3y ago
Well, all campuses are different. But see my reply to the other person who asked about that. We do have playgrounds, and a daycare for all, and 500 acres of athletic fields for football, soccer, cross country, lacrosse, baseball, etc. There's a community garden as well that kids get involved with to learn about gardening. As for schools, there is an elementary, middle, and high school within a 3 block radius of the campus. Obviously these are funded by the city, but a lot of that funding of course comes from the school and employees through their taxes, so it's a symbiotic relationship. Many faculty here make it their mission to outreach to these local schools. We have events for children all summer long where they engage in physics, chemistry, computer science / robotics, environmental engineering, art, and music projects etc. Loud parties are annoying but are only held off campus. There are noise ordinances on campus.

dingosity 3y ago

I was going to say "meh. you have to try harder," but the last paragraph made sense to me. The "real world" will make you feel isolated and alone unless you put in A LOT of work to find a social / friends group. And I think you have a point that college campuses are sort of set up to make socializing easier (if not easy.) So... congrats... you changed someone's opinion on HN comments. I'm not sure it happens THAT often.