The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (December 2009)

A college town or university town is a community (often a separate town or city, but in some cases a town/city neighborhood or a district) which is dominated by its university population. The university may be large, or there may be several smaller institutions such as liberal arts colleges clustered, or the residential population may be small, but college towns in all cases are so dubbed because the presence of the educational institution(s) pervades economic and social life. Many local residents may be employed by the university — which may be the largest employer in the community — many businesses cater primarily to the university, and the students' population may outnumber the local population.

In Europe, a university town is generally characterized by having an old university, often founded before, or in some cases shortly after, the industrial revolution.^{[citation needed]} The economy of the city is closely related with the university activity and highly supported by the entire university structure, which may include university hospitals and clinics, university printing houses, libraries, laboratories, business incubators, student rooms, dining halls, students' unions, student societies, and academic festivities. Moreover, the history of the city is often intertwined with the history of the university itself. Many European university towns have not been merely important places of scientific and educational endeavor, but also centers of political, cultural and social influence to their respective societies throughout the centuries. Examples of these cities include Oxford, Cambridge, St Andrews, Szeged, Kraków, Leiden, Grenoble, Montpellier, Bologna, Coimbra, Salamanca, Leuven, Ghent, Heidelberg, Freiburg, Fribourg, Göttingen, Trondheim, Pisa, L'Aquila, Marburg, Jena, Ferrara, Uppsala, Siena, Pavia, Delft, Tartu, Tübingen, or Poitiers. Potchefstroom, Grahamstown and Stellenbosch are South African examples of university towns in the European tradition.

Besides a highly educated and largely transient population, a stereotypical college town often features a high number of people living non-traditional lifestyles and subcultures ("hippies") and high tolerance for unconventionality in general, an unusually active musical or cultural scene, and unusually left-wing politics, although there are exceptions; many college towns in the Southern United States are right-wing. Many have become centers of technological research and innovative startups.

Town-Gown relations[link]

As in the case of a company town, the large and transient population attracted to the university may come into conflict with longstanding natives. Students may come from outside the area, and thus represent a different—sometimes radically different—culture. Furthermore, students are concentrated in a small, young (but still adult) age demographic, whose living habits may be different from older members of society.

Economically, the high spending power of the university and of its students in aggregate may inflate the cost of living above that of the region. Indeed, it is not uncommon to find that many university employees commute in from surrounding areas, finding the cost of living in town too expensive.

Studentification, in which a growing student population move in large numbers to traditionally non-student neighborhoods, may be perceived as a form of invasion or gentrification. The phenomenon has several causes, including university enrollment expanding beyond the capacity of on-campus housing, inadequate zoning enforcement, and student culture. At the same time as neighborhood associations work to limit conversion of family homes to student rentals, some local residents may oppose the construction of large on-campus dormitories or expansion of fraternity and sorority houses, forcing a growing enrollment to seek housing in town. Moreover, a single-family home can be converted into several smaller rental units, or shared by a number of students whose combined resources exceed those of a typical single-family rental—a strong incentive for absentee landlords to cater to students.

In the US, educational institutions are often exempted from paying local taxes, so in the absence of a system for "Payments In Lieu Of Taxes" (PILOT), the university population will disproportionately burden parts of the local public infrastructure, such as roads or law enforcement. Some analysts argue that students relieve the burden on other parts of the local public infrastructure, such as local primary and secondary schools, by far the most costly line item in most North American city and town budgets, they provide tax revenues, through local sales tax and property tax paid by landlords. When a university expands its facilities, the potential loss of property tax revenue is thus a concern, in addition to local desire to preserve open space or historic neighborhoods.

As a result, members of the local population may resent the university, and especially its students. The students, in turn, may criticize the local residents' taking jobs at the university provided by student tuition and fees, and accepting the tax revenues (e.g., local sales tax, property tax on rented properties) that students generate, but resenting students' lifestyles. Some students refer to regular inhabitants as townies, a term with somewhat derogatory connotations.

This "town and gown" dichotomy notwithstanding, students and the outside community typically find a peaceful (even friendly) coexistence, with the town's receiving significant economic and cultural benefits from the university, and the students' often adapting to the culture of the town.

Settlement in college towns[link]

While noise, traffic, and other quality of life issues have not been resolved, some advocates of New Urbanism have led the development of neighborhoods in college towns by specifically capitalizing on their proximity to university life. For instance, some universities have developed properties to allow faculty and staff members to walk to work, reducing demand for limited on-campus parking; Duke University's Trinity Heights development is a key example. In many cases, developers have built communities where access to the university (even if not directly adjacent) is promoted as an advantage.

Student housing is also an important component of college towns. In the United States most state universities have 50 percent or more of their enrolled students living off-campus. This trend, which began in the 1960s, originally meant the conversion of near campus single-family homes to student housing, creating "student ghettos."

Colleges and other developers began building purpose-built off-campus student housing areas in the 1970s in more college towns. The Cotton District in Starkville, Mississippi is an especially well-designed example of such a development. Beginning around 2000 in the United States, nationwide real estate investment trusts (REIT) and publicly traded corporations began developing student housing complexes.

Another notable development since the 1990s is the surge in popularity of retirees relocating to college towns. Retirees are attracted to these locations because of cultural and educational opportunities, college athletic events, good medical facilities (often at teaching hospitals affiliated with medical schools), a low cost of living, and often a pedestrian- or public transit-friendly development pattern. Several development companies now specialize in constructing retirement communities in college towns. In some cases the communities have developed formal relationships with the local institution.

The demand for housing from students, faculty, staff, and retirees has kept college town home prices stable during the housing market downturn that began in 2005.^[1]

College towns worldwide[link]

The college town is largely an American phenomenon, according to Blake Gumprecht, an assistant professor of geography at the University of New Hampshire;^[2] in Europe, Africa and Asia, most institutions of higher education grew together with major cities—with considerable exceptions such as Pantnagar, Aligarh, Cambridge, Oxford, Durham, Aberystwyth, St. Andrews, Coimbra, Stellenbosch, Lund, Potchefstroom, Trondheim and Heidelberg. As new institutions are increasingly founded in outlying locations to serve growing student populations, the phenomenon of the college town is recognizable worldwide. Examples of cities which University activity is having an increasingly social, cultural, technological and economical impact on their popullation are Spanish cities like Donostia-San Sebastian (Basque Country, northern Spain) and San Cristóbal de La Laguna (Tenerife, Canary Islands).

See also[link]

• List of college towns
• Student ghetto
• Town and gown
• Company town
• Specialized City
• Category:Academic enclaves

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Gumprecht, Blake. "The American College Town", The Geographical Review 93:1, January 2003.
• Gumprecht, Blake. "Fraternity Row, the Student Ghetto, and the Faculty Enclave: Characteristic Residential Districts in the American College Town", Journal of Urban History, 32:2, January 2006.
• Gumprecht, Blake. "Stadium Culture: College Athletics and the Making of Place in the American College Town", Southeastern Geographer 43:1, May 2003.

Luke Bryan
Bryan in April 2010
Background information
Birth name	Thomas Luther Bryan[1]
Born	(1976-07-17) July 17, 1976 (age 35)[2] Leesburg, Georgia, USA[3]
Genres	Country
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, acoustic guitar
Years active	2005-present
Labels	Capitol Nashville
Associated acts	Billy Currington, Jason Aldean, Ash Bowers, Travis Tritt, Lady Antebellum, Jeff Stevens
Website	www.lukebryan.com

Luke Bryan (born July 17, 1976) is an American country singer. Bryan began his musical career in the mid-2000s, writing songs for Travis Tritt and Billy Currington. After signing with Capitol Records Nashville in 2007, he released the album I'll Stay Me, which included the singles "All My Friends Say", "We Rode in Trucks" and "Country Man". Followup album Doin' My Thing included "Do I", which Bryan co-wrote with Charles Kelley of Lady Antebellum, and the number one singles "Rain Is a Good Thing" and "Someone Else Calling You Baby". Tailgates & Tanlines, released in 2011, includes "Country Girl (Shake It for Me)" and his third number one, "I Don't Want This Night to End". Bryan co-wrote all of his singles with the exception of "Drunk on You" and co-produced all three albums with Jeff Stevens.

Biography[link]

Bryan was born and raised in Leesburg, Georgia. At age fourteen, his parents bought him his first guitar, and after learning to play it, he joined various local bands and began to play in local clubs.^[3] After graduating Lee County High School, Bryan planned to move to Nashville, Tennessee; however, this move was delayed, due to the death of his brother, Chris, on the same day he planned to leave. Luke attended Georgia Southern University, and is a member of the Eta Zeta chapter of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.^[4] After graduation Luke went to work for his dad, despite everyone encouraging him to move to Tennessee. His dad encouraged him to relocate and he arrived in Nashville in 2001, signing a record deal only two months later.^[5]

[edit] 2007-2008: I'll Stay Me

He moved to Nashville on September 1, 2001 and landed a deal as a songwriter within two months. In that time his first serious girlfriend was Terri Hasty. ^[3] Among his first cuts was the title track of Travis Tritt's 2004 album My Honky Tonk History.^[6] An A&R representative at Capitol Records saw Bryan perform at a club, and signed him to a recording contract. In the meantime, Bryan co-wrote Billy Currington's single "Good Directions", which went to number 1 on the Hot Country Songs charts in mid-2007.^[7] Bryan co-wrote his debut single, "All My Friends Say", with producer Jeff Stevens. This song reached a peak of number 5 on Hot Country Songs in mid-2007. In August 2007, Capitol released Bryan's debut album, I'll Stay Me.^[8] Bryan wrote or co-wrote all but one of its 11 songs. The album's second single, "We Rode in Trucks", peaked at number 33 in early 2008, while "Country Man" reached number 10.

Thom Jurek of Allmusic gave the album a positive review, considering Bryan's lyrics "in the mainline of honky tonk tradition" although he thought some of the sound was "calculated".^[8]

[edit] 2009-2010: Doin' My Thing

In March 2009, he released an exclusive EP to iTunes titled Spring Break With All My Friends that featured two new songs, "Sorority Girls" and "Take My Drunk Ass Home," plus an acoustic version of "All My Friends Say." After this EP, he released his fourth single, "Do I". Bryan wrote the song with Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood of Lady Antebellum, whose lead singer Hillary Scott also sings backing vocals on it.^[9] It debuted at number 53 on the country singles charts dated for May 9, 2009 and reached number 2 in December, having been held from the Number One spot by Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now". "Do I" was included on Bryan's second album, Doin' My Thing, which was released in October 2009. Also included on the album was a cover of OneRepublic's "Apologize".^[10] Bryan wrote the album's next two singles, "Rain Is a Good Thing" and "Someone Else Calling You Baby", with Dallas Davidson and Jeff Stevens, respectively. Both of these songs went to number 1 on the country music charts.

Allmusic gave this album a positive review as well, with Stephen Thomas Erlewine considering Bryan more "relaxed" in comparison to his debut.^[10]

[edit] 2011-present: Tailgates & Tanlines

Bryan released his seventh single, "Country Girl (Shake It for Me)", to country radio on March 14, 2011. Also co-written by Bryan and Davidson, it served as the lead-off single to his third studio album, Tailgates & Tanlines, which was released August 13' 2011. The album debuted at number 1 on the Top Country Albums and number 2 on the Billboard 200. "Country Girl" peaked at number 4 on the country charts and number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100. Bryan co-wrote the album's second single, "I Don't Want This Night to End", with Davidson, Rhett Akins and Ben Hayslip, who are collectively known as the Peach Pickers. In early 2012, this song became Bryan's third number 1. "Drunk On You" is the album's third single. On March 6, 2012, Bryan released his fourth Spring Break EP entitled Spring Break 4 ... Suntan City. Along with the title track, which Bryan co-wrote with Dallas Davidson, Rhett Akins and Ben Hayslip, the EP includes "Spring Breakup,"Little Bit Later On" and "Shake the Sand."^[11]

Personal life[link]

Luke Bryan married Caroline Boyer on Dec. 8, 2006. They welcomed a son, Thomas "Bo" Boyer in March of 2008.^[12] Their second son, Tatum "Tate" Christopher, was born in August of 2010.^[13]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Extended plays[link]

Singles[link]

• ^ACurrent single.

Other charted songs[link]

Music videos[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• LukeBryan.com

Dent May is an American musician, based in Oxford, Mississippi, US.

Biography[link]

May attended Jackson Prep, then later NYU Film School and Ole Miss, where he studied English and Southern studies, and found his home in the music of Serge Gainsbourg and Lee Hazlewood.^[1] May was also a member of a Mississippi power pop group called the Rockwells.^[2]

He is signed to the Paw Tracks label which released The Good Feeling Music of Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele.^[3] May was chosen by Animal Collective to perform at the All Tomorrow's Parties Festival 2011.^[4]

Videos[link]

A video for his recording Oh, Paris! was co-directed by John Rory Fraser and May.^[5]

Recognition[link]

Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele were chosen as one of the Best New Bands of Mississippi by Boston Phoenix Annual 50 Best Bands in America.^[6]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele MySpace.com
• 2009 Dent May Interview at Bandega.com