College town
Many European university towns have not merely been important places of science and education, but also centres of political, cultural and social influence throughout the centuries.
[4] Although the concept of a university town has developed since the European Middle Ages, equivalents already existed in earlier times and in non-European cultures.
For example, in later Classical times the city of Athens – no longer having any political or military power, but renowned as the greatest center of learning in the Roman Empire – had many of the characteristics of a university town, and is sometimes called such by modern scholars.
[citation needed] In most of Europe, medieval universities grew or were founded in major urban areas rather than in college towns, although there were exceptions such as Siena in Italy, Tübingen in Germany and Cambridge in England.
In the US, by contrast, the development of universities preceded urban growth and founders of colleges often chose (after the models of Oxford and Cambridge) to site their institutions away from cities, although, as at Cambridge, Massachusetts, home of Harvard University, the metropolitan areas have sometimes since expanded to take in the college town.
This drove the further development of Collegetown, with rooming houses becoming apartments and the conversion into student accommodation of many family homes that had been built in the areas furthest from campus.
However, it was not until Cornell invested in Collegetown projects in the 1980s that there was any significant change, with large, student accommodation blocks described as "a cross between dormitories and apartments" replacing the old houses in the area close to campus.
Economically, the high spending power of the university and of its students in aggregate may inflate the cost of living above that of the region.
When a university expands its facilities, the potential loss of property tax revenue is thus a concern, in addition to local desire to preserve open space or historic neighborhoods.
