Urban College Campuses

[urbanactivist]

Originally Posted by Owlhorn

At the risk of being told off for it not being urban enough, UT Southwesten Medical School in Dallas is a good candidate...

From the outside, UT Southwestern has a somewhat urban appearance, but if you're talking about functional urbanity, that would definitely be SMU. Eventhough both now have approximate transit connections, SMU is in a walkable neighborhood, while UT Southwestern is not.

[Owlhorn]

Funny, a lot of posters are defining things for the OP. Again, The UT Southwesten campus is integrated into that neighborhood. As I stated, its not urban in that Manhattan sense, but it is integrated in a city, not just a seperate entity. Perhaps the important part missed from my post

There are many administrative buildings and smaller clinics and labs integrated with non-medical businesses.

So please point out exactly which buildings are UT Southwestern, and which aren't without using the campus map(which simply doesn't show surrounding buildings. The only building that meets the suburban headquarters example is the one in the lower left. Most of the buildings are mixed in with the Parkland complex and the shorter buildings on the left. Its weird, yes. I actually went to see a UT Southwestern neurologist and I kept thinking the address was wrong. It was on a strip just north of the pic, next to an office furniture store and some sort of call center. He pointed out, that the campus is actually spread out throughout that neighborhood, with the newer buildings being the most notable parts. Again, without using the map, point out what is UT southwestern and what isn't. I'm not claiming ultra urban. I'm claiming well integrated into the city unlike even UT which is in a downtown setting, but is very defined.

[Owlhorn]

Originally Posted by urbanactivistTX

From the outside, UT Southwestern has a somewhat urban appearance, but if you're talking about functional urbanity, that would definitely be SMU. A "close" rail transit connection, and a great collection of walkable neighborhoods surround the campus.

SMU is very defined west of Central Expressway unlike UT Southwestern. More akin to Rice if anything. The OP is talking about integration. SMU has no integration. You're either on the SMU campus or you aren't. With UT Southwestern, you're in an area with lots of buildings of all kinds. Some of them are UT Southwestern, then the next building might be American Industrial Tire, then the next street might be a single-family neighborhood, then the next street is a UT Southwestern neuro lab. Again, its not ultra-urban, but rather an example of being well integrated into that neighborhood. Its weird. Eventually it may become a well defined, continuous campus, but right now its simply not. Even so, the new Parkland complex and Cityville will/are being constructed right in the middle of what would eventually become their concentrated , continuous campus.

[diskojoe]

Here are some pictures of the University of Houston Downtown where I attend school. It is located a One Main Street in the heart of Downtown Houston and is where one of the metro lite rail lines begins. It is comprised of about 4 different buildings. here is the one main building.



there is a great patio on the south side of the building


This is the B Building across I-10 on main.


good views from here too


here on the left you can see the commerce street building


id say its pretty urban

[urbanactivist]

Originally Posted by Owlhorn

Funny, a lot of posters are defining things for the OP. Again, The UT Southwesten campus is integrated into that neighborhood. As I stated, its not urban in that Manhattan sense, but it is integrated in a city, not just a seperate entity. Perhaps the important part missed from my post



So please point out exactly which buildings are UT Southwestern, and which aren't without using the campus map(which simply doesn't show surrounding buildings. The only building that meets the suburban headquarters example is the one in the lower left. Most of the buildings are mixed in with the Parkland complex and the shorter buildings on the left. Its weird, yes. I actually went to see a UT Southwestern neurologist and I kept thinking the address was wrong. It was on a strip just north of the pic, next to an office furniture store and some sort of call center. He pointed out, that the campus is actually spread out throughout that neighborhood, with the newer buildings being the most notable parts. Again, without using the map, point out what is UT southwestern and what isn't. I'm not claiming ultra urban. I'm claiming well integrated into the city unlike even UT which is in a downtown setting, but is very defined.

Though I am not the OP, I am a fellow forumer. So I have an interpretation of what the OP says just like you. Hopefully that doesn't have to be a cause for conflict.

What we can both agree on is that regardless of looks, both SMU and UT Southwestern are urban campuses. They are both in the center of the city of Dallas. They both have a major impact on the city. They are both interconnected by major freeways and mass transit to the city's other main destinations. But if you're interested in aesthetics of the respecitive campuses, I think there is room for debate.

Originally Posted by Owlhorn

SMU is very defined west of Central Expressway unlike UT Southwestern. More akin to Rice if anything. The OP is talking about integration. SMU has no integration. You're either on the SMU campus or you aren't. With UT Southwestern, you're in an area with lots of buildings of all kinds. Some of them are UT Southwestern, then the next building might be American Industrial Tire, then the next street might be a single-family neighborhood, then the next street is a UT Southwestern neuro lab. Again, its not ultra-urban, but rather an example of being well integrated into that neighborhood. Its weird. Eventually it may become a well defined, continuous campus, but right now its simply not. Even so, the new Parkland complex and Cityville will/are being constructed right in the middle of what would eventually become their concentrated , continuous campus.

Absolutely... (for SMU)exact same situation as Rice... even down to the surrounding shopping venues. Rice's campus is sandwiched in between the Medical Center and Rice Village, one of Houston's premier shopping destinations. The campuses are well-defined, and do not have an overly "urban" form. But they are still urban. My interpretation of what the OP is saying is that they are more interested in the urban aesthetics of the campus than they are the function. neither SMU or Rice would meet the aesthetic criteria.

UT Southwestern isn't in downtown... though is somewhat near Victory. Yes, many buildings are integrated, but it's a medical school so one would assume that it either runs its own hospitals or is in close proximity to some. I'm not trying to refute your point, but just saying that it doesn't "look" urban in the same way that UH-D or Baylor Medical School does.

[wtncffts]

Although it's subjective, I think one way to get at this question is to imagine this from a tourist's point of view. Without any local knowledge, would they know they were on a campus? Could they tell that they were on a campus or is it possible for them to think they were just in the 'normal' urban environment?

For instance, just from the places I have firsthand knowledge of, McGill is definitely not an 'urban campus' in the sense that I think the OP wanted. The main campus has pretty defined borders (McTavish, Sherbrooke, University). I think green space and gates, both of which McGill have, are significant clues here.

Concordia and UQAM, on the other hand, definitely fit more into the urban campus definition at work here.

ETA: Another way of looking at it is from, say, a bird's eye or satellite view. Again, without knowledge, labels, or any other indication, could a reasonable person tell that they are looking at a school? If so, it's not within the definition.

[JManc]

i got my undergrad degree at UH-Downtown and took all night classes...the views were fantastic.

[Xelebes]

For Edmonton: Norquest College, Grant Macewan University and Alberta College. Enterprise Square, a satellite campus of University of Alberta is kinda iffy

[simms3_redux]

While these colleges are not exactly "fully integrated into their urban environments" so don't bash my opinion, the following have not been mentioned and are IN urban environments:

Georgia Tech (where I attend) borders downtown and midtown Atlanta. It is served by two MARTA stations and is walking distance or biking distance to any location within midtown or downtown.

Carnegie Mellon (where I almost went) and Univ. of Pittsburgh. They are in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh and are located in a very urban environment. (and if these two are mentioned, then Emory University near Decatur is in a similarly urban neighborhood just a few miles from downtown Atlanta, and Emory reminds me of Carnegie Mellon is so many ways).

University of Pennsylvania (and Drexler University) in University City, just across the Schuylkill River from Center City.

MIT and Harvard in Cambridge. MIT is especially urban and hopefully I can get into Sloan in a couple of years.

I also don't recall seeing Georgetown, GWU, or any of the other D.C. schools on the list. Both of the "georges" are fully integrated urban schools in one of the most urban cities on the continent.

Also in Canada University of Toronto is pretty urban.

Also, once again not "integrated into the urban environment" like some of the extremists on here refer to, but Northwestern and University of Chicago are in urban environments and Northwestern has a downtown campus.

Lastly, in Atlanta, Georgia State (was mentioned with a question mark) is probably one of the most integrated and urban campuses on the continent. It has built new dorms and new "colleges" downtown, but mostly it has just taken over older buildings and converted them to university use. It has a couple of MARTA stops (really just one but walking distance to numerous others) and the students are forced to live and walk around downtown Atlanta. They add tons of life to the area. One good thing is that the university used to just be a commuter school, but is now more of a traditional university, but downtown. It's every bit as urban as NYU, Pace, and some of the others mentioned, and it does not look at all like a traditional university. One can drive through that area of downtown and see a bunch of younger looking people walking around (and coffee shops, chain eateries, etc that go along with the population) and not even realize they are driving through a university of 35,000 students.

Bottom line: aside from many of the large state schools (with the exceptions noted) many universities, especially the top tier universities, are located in urban environments and are often partially or fully integrated with their environments. (oh yea, can't forget Brown (ugh lol), Yale, Vanderbilt (pretty dang urban), UCLA, USC, Berkeley, Univ. of Washington, Wash. U., and the list goes on).

Even colleges in smaller "college towns" provide a walkable, fairly dense environment for the students. They have to because many students don't have cars in college and young people enjoy walking to bars, restaurants, and shops, as well as using parks.

[tjh1]

Thanks for the responses! I apologize that I have responded until now (i don't check this forum as much as I should & it had slipped my mind that I had created this thread) and for not being more specific in what I meant by "Urban College Campuses."

What I'm interested in is campuses in an urban setting that:
(i) Are integrated with buildings owned & not owned by the specific university.
(ii) Do NOT have designated boundaries, i.e. no park-like areas, no campus gates/entrances.
(iii) Are in a "downtown-like," urban, mixed-use neighborhood.

Excellent examples of what I am looking for would be: NYU, Point Park University in Pittsburgh, University of the Arts in Philadelphia, or Loyola Chicago's Water Tower Campus. If these campuses wish to expand, they're most likely to buy an existing building and either renovate it or build a new building in its footprint.

Schools that do NOT fit what I am looking for are: UT-Austin, USC, Southern Methodist, or Rice. Yes, these schools are in or near urbanized areas, but they are predominantly in a designated area on land owned by the university and offer a traditional college campus atmosphere.

[ThatDarnSacramentan]

I'd say Portland State University is one of your best bets. Trust me, I was there a week ago, saw it for myself. You should look into it.