A New Neighborhood Every Fall: Aging in Place in a College Town

ABSTRACT

Older adults who live in residential neighborhoods adjacent to college and university campuses have a unique experience that makes them vulnerable to marginalization and displacement. As these neighborhoods become increasingly dominated by college students living in rental properties, older adults find themselves in the minority in a neighborhood where they have lived for many years. In addition, these neighborhoods are attractive to universities, city governments, and private companies for their development potential, which can result in gentrification. A year-long ethnographic study of a campus-adjacent neighborhood in a small US college town that is home to a medium-sized public university sheds light on the relationships between members of 5 stakeholder groups that have a vested interest in the neighborhood. The study highlights the need for additional research on different types of neighborhoods and their effects on aging in place in addition to outlining social work interventions in campus-adjacent neighborhoods that are designed to enhance these intergenerational spaces.

KEYWORDS:

• Aging in place
• college towns
• displacement
• gentrification
• neighborhood relations

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a doctoral dissertation grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development with additional support from the School of Social Work at the University of Maryland Baltimore.

Notes

1. The term private refers to those higher education institutions (HEIs) that are nongovernmental entities accountable to a board of trustees; whereas, the term public refers to those higher education institutions under government auspices. This discussion refers to red brick institutions (a term from the United Kingdom), as opposed to online institutions that are not rooted in a physical place. The terms college, university, and HEI will be used interchangeably.

2. Pseudonyms to protect the identity of study participants.

3. Local references will be generically cited in the text, but not included in the list of references to maintain the anonymity of study participants. Note that the official Census count is disputed by city officials who estimate that it undercounts students who, because they spend the majority of their time in Mountainside, ought to be counted here. According to the City’s 2011 Comprehensive Plan, the undercount may be as many as 1,132.

4. Sonnad (2003) noted that the phrase town-gown originated during the Middle Ages, when students at European universities were distinguished from local citizens by the academic regalia they wore to classes. These robes had multiple symbolic meanings and helped to shield students from drafty classroom buildings. Today, the regalia are only worn at ceremonial occasions, rather than on a daily basis. In this study, the phrase town-gown refers to relationships, positive or negative, among university and community constituents. These relationships include, but are not limited to campus-adjacent neighborhoods.

5. A unit could consist of a house or an apartment.