In a repeat of a story that was written in January 2007, the Republic spoke to several ASU students who were very dismissive of downtown Phoenix and the new ASU campus. The consensus, as it was in 2007, seems to be that "there's nothing to do downtown," and that there's no "campus feel."
In some ways, I can sympathize with the comments about the lack of a campus feel. When I looked at colleges, I definitely wanted the wide open green spaces of a traditional college campus; I couldn't imagine going to school at an urban campus like Boston University or NYU.
But I can't relate to the sentiment that there's nothing to do in downtown Phoenix. There's plenty to do if one looks hard enough-- granted, it's not spoon-fed to students like a walk down chain-laden Mill Avenue. And more than that, the ASU students who populate the downtown campus in 2008 need to be leaders who relish being urban pioneers. Instead of complaining, what about taking over a cool but unknown downtown bar like Seamus McCaffrey's or Lost Leaf on Wednesdays or Thursdays, and causing the rest of the city to take notice and follow along?
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I think that both versions of this article might have been influenced by leading questions. It seems like the students were asked a variety of questions skewed toward partying and nightlife without regard for the bigger picture of what college is about. It is likely that if the same students had been asked about access to internships with media organizations and government agencies, they might have spoken more favorably about Downtown.
Also, there are many students who really don't care for the insular nature of traditional campus life and want to be part of a more diverse urban community. I felt that way when I was in college and therefore went off campus as much as possible. Over time, there will be some self-selection into different degree programs based on the type of lifestyle desired by each student.
Right now, there's some inevitable grumbling because students who started a program at one site are being made to transfer to a site that may not appeal to them as much. For the most part, however, ASU has made intelligent decisions about which programs to locate Downtown, and I suspect there won't be a lot of mismatches between degree program and lifestyle choice among future students.
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