Town/gown relationships

The relationship between Oberlin College and the City of Oberlin is a fairly good relation when compared to other college towns across the country. Many students, faculty, and townies sometimes misunderstand the relationship between the two; but there are often conflicts between the two.

Many townies, who consider themselves to be more conservative, find the outspoken liberalism of the college to be somewhat confining, which leads to constant criticism of Oberlin College. Although, it should also be noted that the students who are willing to volunteer at the city schools, the Big Parade, and Illumination are widely appreciated by the townies.

A certain significant fraction of townie children are juvenile delinquents, and this poses problems for the College and its students. On Thanksgiving 2006, an Oberlin student was punched in the face by one of a group of about 15 townie children, one of whom told him to "go back to the College." The day after Thanksgiving, two students were mugged by townie children wielding BB guns.

[edit] Off-campus housing issues

Many townies are concerned with the college's decision to no longer allow off-campus living.

[edit] Bad?

Many boarding houses are expected to be vacant, causing problems for families who have long depended upon students to fill rooms.

[edit] Good?

That is, unless one considers the fact that the price of housing in Oberlin will drop considerably, allowing young couples looking to start families to move to Oberlin, rather than the surrounding area which currently provides comparable housing for much less. Also, while the impact on the small proportion of boarding-house families is unappealing, the impact on the larger proportion of absentee landlords who do not even live in the area and spend only a small amount of their revenue on fixing their houses, sucking college student money out of town, is much more appealing.