Living in a college town might seem like an unusual decision once you’re out of school. Sure, living there might make sense while your own children are in school, if you’re going back to college to enhance your career or if you’re taking a teaching opportunity. But if you aren’t connected to the university, staying in a college town or choosing to move to one might seem like a strange choice. It isn’t.
Let’s be clear as to what a college town is. Here, we’re talking about a smaller community in which a large university provides employment for a significant portion of the town’s residents, and many other residents are involved with businesses that serve students and alumni. In these towns, the student population makes up a significant part of the population. Examples include Ann Arbor, Michigan; Ithaca, New York; Madison, Wisconsin; Ames, Iowa and State College, Pennsylvania.
College towns offer a number of perks beyond simply having university-level classes down the street. Here are five benefits that come from living in a college town.
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Low cost of living. College towns tend to have a low cost of living. After all, landlords are often renting properties to college students without a lot of money.
Often, the sticker price of rent in such towns is fairly low, but the leases may involve a lot of protection for the landlord against property damage. If you’re a mature adult who isn’t going to have a big party every weekend, you’re likely to avoid all of those extra expenses.
Furthermore, such towns are often full of a wide variety of low-cost services, such as inexpensive restaurants and many secondhand shops, which are usually well-stocked. They typically have good yard sale markets since students often buy items and leave them to be resold when they depart.
Cultural opportunities. College towns often attract cultural events and tours from musicians, stage companies and speakers that would not otherwise come to a town of that size. This gives you the opportunity to live in a relatively small-town environment while still seeing top-notch cultural events.
Sometimes, these performances and concerts are on campus but open to the public, so you may want to watch the schedule of events there. Many college towns, however, have other venues, such as bars and small concert venues, that are often used by traveling performers. There’s usually something to see or do all the time, at least in comparison to other towns of similar size.
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Low-cost entertainment opportunities. The universities themselves tend to provide an abundance of low-cost or free entertainment opportunities to the community. For starters, politicians, authors, celebrities, artists and other public figures often appear at universities and colleges in speaking and question-and-answer forums that are open to the general public for free.
Beyond that, universities and colleges often have a range of special-interest groups that work to share that interest with the broader community, offering demonstrations and events on campus and in the town itself. Pay attention to the local news, community calendar and college’s calendar to find all kinds of low-cost entertainment options.
Easy ways to make money. Many universities have thriving research projects that seek out citizens of the surrounding town for paid opportunities. You might be paid to play a game or eat a strange food and give your thoughts on the experience, for example, as researchers study some aspect of what you’re doing. It can often be an easy way to earn a few bucks.
Plus, many college towns have businesses that offer simple ways to earn a few extra dollars. While these businesses might target students, members of the community are typically welcome. You might be able to make extra money from donating plasma, driving for a ride-hailing service or offering up transcription and editing services through sites like Upwork (both professors and some students will use this).
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Exceptional medical services. If you choose to live near a university with a good medical school, you’ll have access to top-notch medical services at a reasonable price, which can be a great bargain. Medical schools tend to offer a wide variety of medical services to the public, with those services used as learning opportunities for students.
For people in town, this typically means that medical appointments and procedures involve an experienced doctor paired with a student or two. The student learns about the practice of medical care while the doctor tries to provide a good model for the student. Thus, if you don’t mind having a student watching and learning from your medical visits, using the local medical school’s services can be a great bargain for excellent care.
All in all, there are a lot of perks that come from living in a college town beyond the educational opportunities. Don’t overlook those benefits.
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5 Financial Advantages of Living Near a University originally appeared on usnews.com
