CLASS REACTION Is Troy, NY a College Town?

I think Troy, NY can be considered a college town, in part.

True, RPI is not a big school like Penn State or U Michigan, but we do impact the community that we live in. And Troy and Albany do have many schools in the surrounding area, among them Sage, University of Albany, Albany Law, Albany Medical School, and Hudson Valley Community College. This affects the demographics of the area, adding young people to the area and so changing the culture of Albany and Troy.

Economically, many would argue that RPI does not give back to Troy. We stand aloof on a hill, rarely going into Troy to do anything. But many recent businesses might see it differently. The Ruck (a downtown pub) does great business with RPI, being owned in part by RPI's own rugby team and coach. The entire new Campus Habitat, which fixes up old Troy buildings to make them available to RPI students, also has been digging into Troy. The newly opened Brown Bag restaurant caters almost exclusively to drunk college kids, offering greasy food in the wee hours of the morning. Pizza Bella does a lot of its business because it's open until 3 PM and is so close to campus--where else can kids grab a bite after drinking? The Placid Baker and two new restaurant/bars (Bootleggers and Broadway Brew) all occupy the same strip, and so kids can go in and drink or grab a brunch type meal on the weekend. The Farmer's Market in Troy is always crawling with RPI hipsters who want fresh organic yogurt or homemade jams. And so recently, RPI has been shaping the Troy nightlife and economy, much more than people realize. If businesses are opening up so that they can depend on RPI students, then the economy of Troy and the surrounding area are much more impacted by us than we realize.

Furthermore, the geography of RPI (alone, on a cold, dark hill) prevents us from mingling with Troy adequately. Who wants to climb down the Approach to see Troy? Nobody, really. Or not that many people to make much of an economic or cultural difference. With the introduction of regular shuttle schedules, that traverse The Approach height easily, more students see that going into Troy isn't so bad and maybe even fun. The geography difference of RPI matters less with this transportation change.