<p>A lot of prospective students and their parents are surprised to see downtown. It’s not exactly a quaint, leafy college town like, say, Williamstown or Wellesley or, an upper class suburb like Greenwich or Lake Forest where many of the Wes students grew up. This can be a shocking wake up call.</p>
<p>But neither is it a dangerous, crime-riddled city populated by fearsome homeless people. It’s the real world. It has great restaurants, stores, cafes, churches, historic New England buildings, car repair shops, hardware stores, churches, a historic synagogue, and other businesses. There are also some empty storefronts. More so during this recession. There are also homeless people. Homeless people are not by definition dangerous. Living away from a sheltered upper class suburb can be educational. Isn’t this what college is all about? The biggest danger to most Wes students comes not from seeing poverty, but from not looking both ways when crossing the street.</p>