For over half a century, both scientists and science fiction writers have hypothesized and mused over what the aftermath of a global nuclear war would look like. Nuclear fallout would bring ash-filled skies, blotting out the sun with constantly overcast skies and bringing harsh weather marked by heavy rains and seemingly endless, bitterly cold winters.
The cities left standing would be decidedly bleak, filled with shattered windows and dilapidated buildings populated by lawless gangs roving cracked streets and homeless, possibly mutated figures lurking in the dark alleys. With a damaged infrastructure, a ruined economy and a lack of any good food, the benefits of finding refuge in such a crumbling city would be outweighed by both the danger and the despair.
If my description of this post-apocalyptic hellscape sounds familiar to you, then perhaps you are a returning senior who has already braved the streets of Binghamton. If, however, you are a freshman or even a sophomore at our fine University who is considering moving off campus and into the hustle and bustle of the city of Binghamton, allow me to take this opportunity to encourage you to reconsider.
From my experience, I have found that people have many reasons for wanting to leave campus, but allow me to discuss just two. While all reasons may seem legitimate after prolonged exposure to Sodexo food, it doesn’t take long for the excitement of living Downtown to wear off.
Campus dwellers claim they want to get away from the dining hall and to eat real food at restaurants and to cook in their own kitchen. This desire assumes that college students have two things that they notoriously do not: time and money. Dining at a restaurant, particularly one of the rare good restaurants found in Binghamton, requires money that you will have spent long before that point on gas for your new commute to and from campus — another perk of Downtown living.
Even if you did have the money, you would certainly enjoy being treated like you did not by the employees of the establishment who rely on business provided by the student community and loath the very students that provide it.
The next issue is time. The idea that you can cook yourself something better than dining hall food every night assumes a great many things. Assuming that you did have the time to shop for your ingredients and that you got around to using them before they spoiled and then assuming that you had the time — not to mention the skill — required in preparing your meal, you must then consider the leftover portions.
Unless you plan on spending most of your college experience cooking, you will quickly find yourself eating the same spaghetti leftovers for a week, broken up by the occasional Nirchi’s pizza.
Another reason for living Downtown I will discuss only briefly, as you will quickly see my point. My fellow students frequently state their excitement to live closer to the bars. Upon any real consideration, however, is it really desirable to live closer to the bars? Hearing Lady Gaga blare until 1 a.m. every night, the fights on the streets as the drunken students head home and the endless police sirens that follow grows old rather quickly. You may think that sounds fun, but the last time you think that will be the first time you have to clean a passerby’s vomit off your front door.
Please stay on campus and enjoy the college experience. Play some ultimate Frisbee and eat bad cafeteria food. Enjoy your two-minute commute to class and sneaking beer into your dorm, because that’s what college is. You have the rest of your life to live in a tiny apartment in a crappy city.