International Town & Gown Association 
College Town Newsletter

May 5, 2016
Welcome to Dateline, a weekly newsletter
highlighting college town news around the world
In This Issue
Colleges and Universities: Catalysts for Community Improvement
Town-Gown Nation News
Huffington Posts, by Eugene J. Cornacchia
Significant research has been done to examine the social and economic impact of institutions of higher learning on their surrounding communities. Colleges and universities create jobs and add to the local econ-omy through the purchase of goods and services. Many institutions engage in community service projects that benefit the community and make investments in area real estate. While most colleges and universities have an impact on their respective communities, this impact can vary greatly based on where the institution is located, whether it is urban or rural, established or emerging. Saint Peter's University, located in Jersey City, N.J., is just minutes away from Manhattan. One particular partnership, the Rising Tide Capital, was used to help develop the Ignite Institute, which provides leadership, academic research and direct educational service for local entrepreneurs.  
Swipe Right to Find Your Next Roommate
The Heights, by Juan Olavarria
In a time when anything from paying bank bills to hitching a ride can be done through interactive inter-faces in smart phone apps, finding a roommate just got much easier. Now, renters-to-be can find roommate candidates with the flick of a finger through Roomi, a new mobile-first matching service. Originally based in New York, the platform is now expanding into the Boston market after having successful runs in other urban environments across the nation, including San Francisco, Washington, DC, and Baltimore. Roomi began by focusing on market research and seeing what it determined to be the biggest challenges to urban living. Roomi discovered that steadily rising rent, stagnant wages, and a lack of simple ways to find affordable housing were the main issues associated with making housing decisions. Boston currently is one of the largest renter's markets in the country, with more than 70 percent of all local housing units being occupied by renters. 
Biggest Alcohol Problem, Over
Consumption
The BG News, by Holly Shively
Colleges across the country have different alcohol-related problems based on campus location relative to alcohol retailers. The City of Bowling Green sees several of these problems regularly. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, it's common to see increased litter and vandalism in bar areas when those bars are closer to campus. College towns with bars far away often have safe transportation problems, and if those bars are far away but liquor stores are near campus, house parties become a bigger issue. Lt. Dan Mancuso of the Bowling Green Police Division (BGPD) said the city does see each of these problems to varying degrees. While there are several alcohol-related problems, Mancuso said BGPD's biggest focus is on the downtown scene. "Most of our bars are in a small geographical area, so it puts most of our people in that area. That's where we focus most of our patrol. 
Symposium Addresses Lehigh's Community Engagement
The Brown and White, by Madison Hoff
George White, a professor in the educational leadership program, shared a story of how a young Lehigh student who was part of the tutoring program in South Bethle-hem, walked out of a tutoring session and changed her mind from wanting to be a news editor for a magazine to wanting to become a teacher. White said working with the community allows students to not only help others, but to learn about themselves. The panel's main goal was to explain what ethical and reciprocal engagement in the community should look like. Sarah Stanlick, the director of the Center for Community Engagement, said the center held the symposium to show what Lehigh has been doing this year with the community in Bethlehem, in the world and within Lehigh. "I think the main purpose of the symposium is to highlight what strong community partnerships look like," Stanlick said. We are hoping for long-term, sustainable community building," she said.  
The 10 College Towns Where it is Most Expensive to Live off-Campus
Huffpost Home, by Suzy Strutner
Moving to college is pricey, to say the least. There are books to buy, classes to pay for and housing costs to cover. But if you are planning to enroll at one of these 10 colleges, prepare for the rent to be high. Real estate site RadPad recently analyzed hundreds of top colleges on the cost of living in off-campus rentals. RadPad compared monthly prices for more than 54,000 2-bedroom units within a mile of campus that were listed for rent on their site and compared them with campus housing costs for 2015-2016 from the National Center for Education Statistics. Unsurprising, campuses in California and New York tend to have the highest rent in units around campus. Of course, there are many cases in which living in a dorm is more cost-effective than renting in your campus neighborhood. Click here to see the list of the 50 most expensive universities to live off-campus.      
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