<p>I think this is a fascinating article on the impact of private research universities on the cities where they are located.</p>
<p>[Could</a> a Private University Have Made a Difference in Detroit? - Justin Pope - The Atlantic Cities](<a href=“http://www.theatlanticcities.com/jobs-and-economy/2013/07/could-private-university-have-made-difference-detroit/6350/]Could”>http://www.theatlanticcities.com/jobs-and-economy/2013/07/could-private-university-have-made-difference-detroit/6350/)</p>
<p>I like the article as well. </p>
<p>One unmentioned aspect I would have added is the flow of tax-deductible contributions to private research universities. The article examines single, large donations (Mr. Rice, Mr. Duke, Mr. Stanford, etc.), but it is the abundance of smaller, but still generous donations that allow universities to pursue much of their urban development agenda. Michigan Staium in Ann Arbor (aka “The Big House”, capacity > 110,000) is one obvious example of an enormous private capital project, although there are thousands of smaller examples. These projects are possible due in large part to tax-deductible donations.</p>
<p>It is also interesting that while public colleges (UMich specifically in the article) chose to move out of cities to find cheap land, private colleges moved in to cities around the same time. Western Reserve University (later merged with Case Institute of Technology) moved in to Cleveland around 1900 from a rural area 50 miles away. Trinity College (renamed Duke) moved to Durham from a similarly rural area around that time as well. Emory moving to Atlanta is another example.</p>
<p>Now, many of these large publics that were started in lower-population areas have created cities around them (Ann Arbor, Chapel Hill, Gainesville, etc.).</p>