Colleges Help Drive Urban Revival, But Town-Gown Relationships Can Be Fraught

Yale University has made a significant investment in New Haven, helping to turn the city around over the last 30 years.  New Haven was stumbling and struggling in the 1980s and early 1990s. Downtown was moribund, litter-strewn and dangerous — a Yale student (among others) was killed on the street in 1991. Yale alumni started checking in from around the country, telling school officials that the negative image of the city was discouraging applications. The university had two choices: It could leave the city that had nurtured it since 1716— and such a drastic move was actually considered — or it could make the city better. University leaders chose the latter path.