johnwesley

I guess I'm with Weskid, here; the only thing that I find surprising is the reaction to a fairly mundane street encounter. Main Street, Middletown is over a mile long, and it sounds like you happened upon the North End which is a two block stretch that has been the "poor" section of town for about as long as anyone can remember. If you'd walked down from the South end, you'd have gotten an entirely different picture.

But, what really gt me was the description of the Middletown cop watching "20-30 people who were loitering on the sidewalk". I know the MPD pretty well; they don't stand around watching people loiter. And, there'd be a lot more than one cop on the scene, if that's what was going down. What's far more likely, IMO, is Gibby and DS were witnessing a free car wash to benefit the Middletown High Swim Team:middletowneye: It's all a wash

Weskid

Yeah, either you managed to stumble on the poorest part of Middletown, or something weird was going on, because no part of Middletown that I (as a rising senior) have ever went to has struck me as out-of-the-ordinary in terms of rundownness (and the parts I go to routinely are very nice). Certainly I have friends who live in areas that have always struck me as much less nice at home (in Baltimore -- and those friends are by no means in the worst part of the city). But *shrug*

gibby

Thanks for the feedback. I'm not sure what area of Middletown we stumbled upon. We walked from Wesleyan down Washington Street and turned left on Main Street. Then walked to O'Rourke's diner, where we ate breakfast, and walked back to the admission's office along the same route.

gervie

If you search Wesleyan on youtube, you come upon a video of students giving a tour of "the tunnel" which leads to the laundry room. The hallways of the tunnel are completely covered with graffiti. Now, I live in NYC, so have seen my fair share of graffiti ---and I can appreciate a mural that takes considerable artistic talent, but this is just --ugly graffiti. If this is how Wesleyan students treat their living space, I wouldn't find it a very pleasant environment to live in.
Also, on our visit yesterday, the sign in front of the African American Studies building had graffiti on it. Yuck.

froshdad

Gibby: You walked past St. Vincent DePaul Place, which is one of the most admired and long-standing soup kitchen/social service centers in New England. St. Vincent DePaul Place - Overview

So yeah, poor and homeless people sometimes congregate there for meals. And the North End is relatively poorer than the rest of a very middle-class small city.

But the North End among other things also has:

* O'Rourke's diner, a national treasure that the town raised funds to rebuild after it was destroyed by fire two years ago:
O'Rourke's - Middletown, CT
* a brand new organic foods supermarket: It's Only Natural - Home Page
* a cafe/bookstore/performing arts center:
The Buttonwood Tree Calendar

.. and a homestyle Mexican cafe; a Pho restaurant; a community arts center. And that's just the north end of Main Street. The more upscale south part often bustles. Not to discount your reaction, because anyone can have a bad experience anywhere, but it's really not accurate to compare Middletown's downtown to the old Bowery or the bad parts of New Haven or Boston.

mythmom

Reading this thread, I will say that Wes needs no defending, nor does Middletown. Wesleyan is a wildly popular destination for matriculating college students. I think it's fair to say the environment will suit some, not others. Those who have wanted Wes have been so passionate in their connection, that I don't think I've seen a more enthusiastic bunch of kids.

So many people have complained that Williamstown is so remote with nothing to do and looked quizzically at my son for attending. Some don't like how Route 2 bisects the school.

Neither were an issue for my S.

The right environment for the right kid what we hope for. If the admissions lottery steers a kid onto a different path, we hope all these kids are adaptable enough to adjust to different circumstances and can grow to accommodate them.

Weskid

gervie: the tunnels aren't exactly normal Wes living space (and that grafitti has been built up over generations -- or at least it had until they painted over the tunnels, which upset a lot of people). I agree it's not pretty, but it's part of Wes culture, and not indicative of how the rest of the dorms are treated.

In general, I agree with mythmom: different environments are for different people, and I'd be the last person to claim Middletown is perfect or the right place for everyone. I was just confused by Gibby's experience because it feels so out of the norm -- Middletown definitely has its bad spots, but I've never felt unsafe in any area during the day. And I agree with froshdad that it is nothing like the bad areas of cities that have bad areas. And I spent a lot of time wandering around it taking pictures for my photo class (including a lot of time on the North End).

Also, froshdad, I didn't know about St. Vincent DePaul Place. Cool! You learn something new everyday.

emptynestertobe

I have visited Wesleyan and Middletown several times over the past five years starting when oldest D was there for a JHU/CTY program as a sophomore in high school, then when she visited the school twice (she is at Brown now) and twice with S who will be a freshman at Wes this fall, and none of us never had a bad reaction to Middletown. We like the real town feel to Middletown, understanding that there are "bad" parts of town, and that some caution is warranted, especially at night. We like the part of Main Street that is just down the hill from campus. We have had great meals at a few restaurants there, and walked around at night feeling completely safe. Like any urban campus (we felt a little uneasy visiting Yale in New Haven), there are occasionally crime incidents involving town residents. But that is something I am not really worried about.

S has already signed up for community service outing during Orientation with the North End Action Team.

We live in "idyllic rural New England" so my kids were not interested in a similar prep school-type setting.

But yes, to each his/her own.

penelopepitstop

It occurs to me that this isn't an unusual experience. A lot of really good schools are surrounded by blighted areas. some of the best schools in the country are in really sketchy neighborhoods. I'm thinking Columbia, Penn, Wes, Yale, Vassar - all of them are in towns or neighborhoods that are in pretty bad shape. Even in the next tier of school you have Trinity in Hartford, Colby in Waterville, Providence College, Conn College in New London - these aren't ideallic towns you send postcards from. These colleges are all in some ways in conflict with the surrounding working and lower class towns (or at least their local neighborhoods) in which they reside. Sometimes there is an honest resentment of the rich, mostly white kids who make up the student body. Sometimes there is an elitist attitude given off by the students that causes friction between town and gown.

Most of the time, if the students are friendly and open with the people in the town, the town is happy to have the students as customers and residents for 9 months a year. The businesses and residents of the town are usually cognizant of the fact that the college adds significant resources, without which the town would be poorer, so as long as the students aren't obnoxious and rude the local businesses welcome them back every year.

There is a bit more crime in these areas than the students are likely used to. Part of this is that the students largely come from low crime neighborhoods and as a result they aren't as aware of their surroundings as the typical city dweller. This makes them easy prey for the criminal. Also, kids from upper class neighborhoods tend to leave their stuff unwatched and unlocked, so stuff walks.

An important point to note: Most of the theft that occurs on all of these campuses is student on student. The city residents are rarely involved.

So, what am I trying to say? I guess if your choice is between, say, Princeton and Wes, Princeton is a much nicer town, so that could play into the decision. But let's say your son is choosing between Wes, Vassar, Conn and Colby. Waterville and Colby do NOT get along. New London is decrepit. And Poughkeepsie is just as big a hole as Middletown is. So I'd go with the best fit and not worry so much about the town.

johnwesley

Coincidentally, Middletown got a mention in Barbara Ehrenrech's Op-Ed column, "Is It a Crime to be Poor?" last Sunday:http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/op...=1&ref=opinion

[thanks, to Wesleying's shoutbox for the tip]

madjoy

I mean, when visiting colleges, I always say to trust your gut. If your son's gut was saying that this wasn't the place for him, trust it.

That said, I'm also puzzled by the reaction and Middletown's "run-down"-ness. I just graduated, and now I live next to Columbia University in NYC. Like Wesleyan, the immediate area surrounding Columbia is all very nice and "polished" for the upper-middle-class students to feel comfortable. But walk a few blocks north and east, and you get into territory that's decidedly unpolished (though, in my opinion, still a fun and nice place to be - but again, I guess I'm not the sort of person who prefers the polished). At Wesleyan, it's similar but not nearly as extreme as Columbia. There are parts of town that aren't upper middle class and where upper middle class kids may feel uncomfortable. There are poor people walking around, and the police don't immediately chase them away for being poor (most of the time). But I can't think of anyplace that Wes students regularly go that I'd describe as "run-down" - even the north end of Main St.

Johnwesley, you forgot to add Eli Cannon's to that list Yum.

johnwesley

that was froshdad, but, i'd be happy to oblige
Eli Cannon's - Middletown, CT

johnwesley

middletowneye: Food Proves to Be A Public Relations Bomb for Middletown

[and, a shoutout to the Wesleying shoutbox]

johnwesley

Further proof that the men of GQ read CC: GQ: America's 25 Douchiest Colleges: GQ Features on men.style.com

johnwesley

CORRECTION: Wes does merit an honorable mention right underneath Brown @ #1:
"Honorable-mention limousine-liberal institutions: Duke, Reed, Oberlin, Wesleyan, Bard, RISD." however, nothing quite like #7.