LIVING IN A SMALL COLLEGE TOWN
As Kate Carlton pointed out, a college can be a handy steppingstone back to the land. Then again, you might want to stay right there once you settle down to a living in a small college town.
September/October 1971
By John Miller
AS KATE CARLTON POINTED OUT IN THE PRECEEDING ARTICLE, A
COLLEGE CAN BE A HANDY STEPPINGSTONE BACK TO THE LAND. THEN AGAIN,
YOU MAY WANT TO STAY RIGHT THERE, ONCE YOU SETTLE DOWN TO
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Not everybody wants to live in the city these days but, then again, not everybody wants to run off and live in the wilderness either. Which kind of leaves the small town as the "middle ground" alternative . . . and there are lots of small towns hanging around the country to choose from.
Of course, not every borough and hamlet is guaranteed to appeal equally to every seeker after the Good Life. Some are only baby-sized imitations of alarger metropolitan mess with traffic, pollution and assorted city-type hassles of their own. Others—although clean, non-industrial and quiet—may prove to be far too conservative and sexually and religiously uptight for (yes, even) you.
The whole situation might appear rather grim if it weren't for one particular variety of small rural town that quite often combines all the best of everything in low pollution and high opportunities to develop a free life style . . . and that one particular kind of town is the small country college town.
Which is to say that the rural university borough is frequently a delightfully kinkier version of the much more common straight country town. Often still clean and beautiful (since its major local industry is a tree-lined campus rather than a pulp mill or factory), such a village also tends to view "unusual" behavior with a rather tolerant eye.
With the relaxation of yesterday's rigid rules and restrictions for college students, many "backwater" university communities have felt free to experiment with alternative life styles and have come to realize the advantage of their isolation from the city. Far from the madness of great centers of population, these small colleges have often created something of an oasis of individual freedom in the middle of a society that appears to be increasingly restrictive.
There's probably no place in the country (other than a college or university) where such large numbers of people voluntarily come together . . . often simply for the purpose of living and interacting with others who have similar personal goals. To an increasing extent, the college experience has become less a four year hassle for a degree than a series of personal encounters . . . important in and of themselves.
In this context, many small university towns have come close to the real meaning of community . . . in that people who desire to become freer and more creative are attempting to do so with a high degree of community self-participation, harmonious interaction and peace. Such experimentation, of course, creates a healthy opportunity for alternative life style experiments by others—student and non-student alike—in the surrounding area.
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