Environments by Design

Abstract

College towns enjoy a unique economic stability due to the consistency of an industry built around higher education. Stability of tenure, a strong public school system, readily available cultural, entertainment and recreation resources, along with a university-based health care system contribute to a college town’s vibrancy. This characterizes many college towns across the U.S. – State College, PA (PSU), Iowa City, IA (UIa), Austin, TX (UTx), Bozeman, MT (MSU), Fort Collins, CO (CSU), and the list goes on. Yet, while there are numerous economic and cultural benefits from a town-gown relationship, shared governance, planning and administration of these two cojoined entities is challenging. The inherent transience of students comprising 50% of a community’s population – often eight to ten months a year – exposes conflicting interests, low identity formation and a lack of community cohesion based on varying perceptions of social capital as compared to residents with more ascriptive identities.

Compounding this difference, recent changes in city zoning to attract density development in town-gown communities are shifting student housing to off-campus locations. This has resulted in an uptick in 10-15 story mixed-used and owner-occupied housing within a 2-mile radius of their city core. For most of these towns, this is an increase from a typical 1-5 story urban fabric, resulting in increased land coverage and impermeable area. A latent problem associated with urban densification at this rate is the creation of urban heat islands (UHI). Given college towns are poised to triple in size by 2050 more research is needed to understand strategies preventing UHI in city planning and land use management with density forecast modeling in mind. Therefore, gauging public opinion on everything from masks to markets can benefit from a systems approach aligning community engagement, density development and climate action for communities set to become the next generation of large cities.