| Colby's campus is bordered by forest (an 800 acre nature preserve) for most of its circumference. On one side is a neighborhood that's best described as upper-middle class and looks like suburbia anywhere in the US. The other main access from town runs along a pretty stream and leads by a hospital, park, and another suburban-style neighborhood. There are two Waterville exits off I-95 lined with strip malls and scores of shops (including a Super-Walmart, Home Depot, Starbucks, Penny's, K-Mart, Movie Gallery, Radio Shack, Olympia Sports; a couple dozen restaurants and fast food places; and at least five hotel/motels. If your image is getting off the highway, being in the middle of nowhere, and seeing a moose . . . banish it. The two roads off the interstate eventually converge in a downtown area about a mile from I-95 that has some quaint shops and good restaurants; there are also 1 or 2 closed store fronts on the fringes. There are areas of Waterville that are solidly working class, with some run down properties that some students might see as "seedy," but they're not close to campus. (Think Rick Russo's Empire Falls, which is surely based largely on Waterville, where he lived while he taught at Colby.)
Colby students are engaged in a variety of volunteer projects, particularly with children, in the North and South ends, the more economically depressed areas of the city. I think that many Colby students come to see the socio-economic diversity of Waterville as an educational asset in the long run: a film class made a moving documentary about the French-Canadian women who worked in the factories a generation ago, economics students have analyzed many aspects of the local economy, and students from many disciplines volunteer in the local schools. With a drive of just over an hour, you can get to the coast, to mountain hiking and great skiing, to the North Woods, or to Portland, a charming city. Waterville itself is nestled in a lake region and Colby owns 2 properties on nearby lakes that students can use for recreation. I wouldn't sweat the surroundings unless you're looking for an urban environment. |