Living in a college town

When we decided to move here, one of my biggest apprehensions was raising our kids in a college town.  I am by no means naive about the shenanigans of college students, and XX years ago (let's not go into exactly how long ago) I was a student at this very university.  One of the reasons I really like the location of our house is that we are about a mile outside of town, and while that presents other challenges, in the long run I think it's for the best in terms of raising a family.

Since this community is truly a small town built around the school, it is not exactly designed to have 16,000 extra residents.  I completely understand that pedestrians have the right to walk in the cross walk and that I am to yield to them when they are in the cross walk.  However it does NOT give them the right to walk out in front of me, particularly when I have a green light and they have the "big red hand" indicating they are to stop.  Going through campus during the day (and unfortunately, "through campus" is the ONLY way we can get into town without driving MILES out of our way...although we've done that on certain days) requires sitting through stoplights more than once.  It was both terrifying and infuriating as I was trying to get to Thomas at the hospital last week.  Nothing is simple if it involves a trip into town.  There is also the fact that there is no parking anywhere near the place you might actually wish to patronize.  And don't get me started on the prices at some of the stores because we have thousands of college students who don't shop elsewhere...YIKES!

But there are also some good things about living in a college town.  There are many amenities available that most small towns don't have.  There are additional opportunities, both in the schools and in the community at large, that are here because of the college.  Because of the college, this is an extremely diverse school district and I think that is wonderful for the kids...they NEVER would have had that before we moved here.  They will get to see Division I basketball and football games regularly, and college level drama and music performances.  They've already had professors and college athletes visit their classrooms.  And I have wonderful memories of how beautiful, absolutely gorgeous, this campus and community are in the fall when the leaves are changing.

That is what I was thinking about last week as Thomas, Catherine and I were walking to our car after shopping for a gift for my mother-in-law.  I was noticing how there was definitely a nip in the air, and I was thinking about how much fun Saturday afternoons will be when the team is playing at home.  I was feeling grateful that I didn't have to leave town in order to shop and was able to accomplish everything I wanted to get done right here in town.  I was really beginning to feel at peace and almost allowing myself to enjoy and appreciate the college atmosphere...then Thomas tripped over a broken beer bottle.  Lovely.