College Selection Advice - NYU, Tufts, UNC Chapel Hill, Northeastern

One side of Tufts is in Somerville, a turn of the century “streetcar suburb” of Boston. It is a small city but it has the 16th highest population density in the US, so it has a “low rise” urban feel to it. It is separated from Boston by Cambridge, another small city that has the 26th highest population density in the US, but it has a “mid-rise” urban feel to it". Boston
which is a few miles away (across the Charles River) has the 51st highest population density in the US, but has a “high rise” urban feel to it. “Camberville” is home to Tufts, Harvard, MIT, Lesley University and Longy School of Music. Davis Square (near Tufts) and Harvard Square are the most popular hangouts and Kendal Square (near MIT) is loaded with high tech companies (including Google) and startups.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population_density

The other side of Tufts is in Medford, a less dense city that contains the Middlesex Fells (about 2 miles from Tufts), a 2,200 acre reservation with 100 miles of mixed use trails. Tufts also owns a “Loj” in the White Mountains of New Hampshire (near Dartmouth), A van is provided to travel to the the Loj (about 2 hours away). Anyone can go. The Tufts Mountain Club is one of the larger clubs on campus. They manage the Loj and the vans.They organize trips to the Loj. the Fells, one of two private indoor climbing walls in Somerville, and several local outdoor rock formations. The Tufts rock climbing team is top ranked in national competitions.
https://www.mass.gov/locations/middlesex-fells-reservation

There is a subway station (Red Line) in Davis Square that connects Davis, Harvard and Kendal squares to Boston
and Tufts runs a continuous shuttle between Tufts and Davis Square as well as a shuttle between Tufts and the SMFA campus (which is next to Northeastern).

In December 2021 Tufts will have a subway station (Green Line) on campus (next to a new CS building) that will provide additional connectivity to Boston.

Tufts has some “outdoorsy” types who almost never go into Boston as well as some “urban types” who may not even know that the Fells or Loj exist.

Nearly everyone goes into Davis and Harvard squares as well as Ball Square, Powder House Square and Teele Square in Somerville as well as the Medford Hillside and Medford Square. One of the primary attributes of a streetcar suburb is lots of squares surrounded by residences.