BY TALLY SHARMA

In print | Published December 7, 2006

While many would characterize Swarthmore’s relations with the Ville as amicable, some businesses have articulated the concern that the lines of communication between college and Ville are not nearly as open as they should be. Representatives from the Ville and the college agree that in order for these communities to coexist and benefit from one another’s presence, key changes must be made in the future.

President of the Board of Directors for Downtown Swarthmore’s Revitalization Ken Wright said that in terms of residents’ attitudes towards the college, his sense was that the town sentiment ranged from a willingness to be involved to downright suspicion concerning some of the actions the college takes. “Some students get involved with Rotaract, in addition to some other community service activities generally through the Lang Center,” he said. “The largest group really doesn’t have much to do with anyone. They’re generally pretty apathetic.”

“There is a small group in the Ville that actively opposes the college,” Wright said. “Anytime the college does anything, they complain and say that there’s some sort of Machiavellian purpose behind it; when the college buys a house, for example, they say that it’s trying to take over the town. They are a real group.”

While College Vice President Maurice Eldridge ‘61 confirmed that such attitudes do exist within the Ville, he also said that the college makes an active effort to challenge them. “There are always those who view the college as the giant on a hill,” he said. "I really try to dispel those perceptions and ensure that people don’t operate on that principle." Despite these detractors, Eldridge said that college relations with the Ville are substantially better than they have been in the past.

From the professional perspective, however, some businesses in town have found that there are ways in which the current student-Ville relationship could be improved upon. Chris Bruno, owner of Da Vinci’s, said that it is sometimes difficult for him to compete with the allure of on-campus Kohlberg and Science Center coffee bars, in addition to the straightforwardness of a meal plan. “I have discounts here, but it’s still money out of your pocket,” he said. “My prices are in line with what college students have to pay for their meal plans, but my food’s better.”

Bruno’s solution to this setback would be the expansion of an already-present voucher system at Da Vinci’s for student athletes unable to eat at regular hours. “It would be nice to have the same option for regular students as well,” he said. “Maybe students could have one meal per week here.” Additionally, Bruno encouraged students to make particular suggestions regarding businesses in town. “I’m just putting stuff on the menu that I think of,” he said. “If an overwhelming number of people say they want corn beef sandwiches, we could have a corn beef special. It sounds simple, but it could go a long way in a small town like this.”

Head of Swarthmore Town Center Marty Spiegel agreed with Bruno’s assessment that students need to communicate more with the Ville. “For business owners, certainly there’s always the question of how they can capture more of the student market. This has always been an issue. Business owners need to know what students need,” he said.

According to Wright, the fact that some businesses in the Ville may not provide for students’ needs is “a function of several things. Most shops in the town don’t go out of their way to cater to students,” he said. “When they do provide discounts, students generally don’t respond very well. They feel that nothing will work.” Wright cited Dunkin’ Donuts as a business that established itself with the hopes of benefiting enormously from its proximity to the college, but has yet to achieve its expectations. “[The owner] would just be shocked at the lack of patronage of college students,” he said.

Another obstacle that Spiegel saw to the functioning of local businesses was the fact that there is very little opportunity for them to advertise economically. “Small ads get expensive, even in The Phoenix,” he said. “I would gladly use it if I could afford it more often. It’s also difficult to gauge the effectiveness of advertising.”

In accordance with plans for the college to build an inn, Wright also said that one proposal has been to move the college bookstore next to it. “This would give students some reason to get across the tracks,” he said.

Raul Ordonez ‘09 said that while generally the businesses in the Ville are very accessible at certain times, they also lack the flexibility to be open when students are usually available. "I’ve always felt like the people in the Ville are pretty accommodating," he said. “They could be open more on the weekends; this is when people are free, and that’s usually when everything in the Ville is closed.”

Spiegel said that while it would be ideal for the Ville and the college to ultimately become more communicative with each other, the first step is to ensure that students and town residents want this. “What I like about a small town is the personal connection you can have with merchants; it would be great if students could eventually be more in tune with the merchants,” he said. “If students don’t feel that the town is important, this won’t work. The same goes for the town. People have to be interested. If all parties have a mutual goal, I believe that we could have some very positive results.”

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