A Welcoming College Town

Posted on by Department of Housing and Community Development

It’s fall y’all, and that means students are back in school…

Every fall, college towns experience an influx of new residents, as students move in and prepare for the academic year. Students are a unique, target audience and consumer demographic that can add a lot of excitement and vibrancy to a downtown.

Photo credit: Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance

Main Street organizations in college towns proactively connect their commercial district to their anchor educational institution and its student population in a variety of ways. They hang banners, flags, and signs downtown to connect to the look and feel of campus. They solicit downtown businesses to feature college/university merchandise, along with student essentials. Some establish a loyalty (or perks) card program that grants students regular discounts. Many use social media to share recommendations of places where students can hang out, study, dine, and shop downtown and feature student-friendly deals and specials (because students love a bargain). Some even promote work, internship and volunteer opportunities available downtown. A popular way to draw students into downtown is to host a welcome event during move-in or orientation week.

Here are a few examples:

Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance’s (HDR) annual Block Party in the ‘Burg welcomes thousands of first-year James Madison University (JMU) Dukes downtown. Students walk from campus to Court Square—led by JMU’s Marching Royal Dukes, the university President, and the City of Harrisonburg’s Mayor—to sample the best of downtown’s restaurants and retailers. Students also receive Dukes Love Downtown bags filled with local goodies.

Main Street Lexington (MSL) officially welcomes Washington and Lee University (W&L) first-year students downtown during their annual Get Downtown event. Downtown merchants open their doors and invite students to discover what they have to offer.

There are so many ways to connect with student populations. We’d love to hear how you’re making your neighboring college/university students feel welcomed and inviting them to explore downtown!

Photo Credit: Main Street Lexington