International Students Rethink US, Greenest MLB Stadium, Newest Retirement Destination & More
Around the College Towns: Links and commentary related to urbanism and higher ed for the week of April 12 - April 19.
Note: I am breaking my own rule with this links round-up article. I would rather cover news that has fallen through the cracks, but there is simply too much national stuff that is directly impacting my work and field. I am hoping things normalize soon so I can get back to small-town complaints about a 3-story dorm or a cool sidewalk boulder. Send over any tips, authors, or content to cover.
International Education Exodus
Last week, I wrote a critique against deporting international students for piddling reasons. Things are only heating up. I am starting to hear more international students souring on the US. It is a shame that it has come to this.
Even the Chinese government has warned students about going to the US. I have been hoping that international education wouldn’t get caught up in the trade war, but I guess it already has.
To make matters worse, the Trump administration is retreating further by cutting Fulbright. I had to hear for a decade and a half how scary China’s Charm Offensive was, including cracking down on Confucius Institutes. I always thought that if we don’t like Chinese influence, why not try to match with our own public diplomacy? We are going the other direction, and we shouldn’t get mad if other countries take a measured approach.
Universities Pushing Back Against Trump
It looks like Harvard, MIT, and a range of other universities are pushing back against Trump’s demands. This response came after Columbia, my alma mater, caved. I just wanted to add a couple of thoughts at the differences between Harvard's positions and Columbia’s.
Despite both being Ivy League, Harvard is still atop the hierarchy. They have more powerful and connected alumni. They are also richer (endowments of $53.2 billion vs. $14.8 billion). Trump also chose Columbia to go after first, giving Harvard and other institutions time and information on what was coming.
Columbia’s campus was still in disarray before Trump even took office. The protests were still bubbling, the campus had been closed to outsiders, and there was a general mood of distrust between various factions and responses. It made sense that they caved to outside pressures.
I don’t really know what is going to happen here, but my guess is the entire sector will rally around Harvard at the center. It is always like that anyway, well before Trump.
Other Links
California bill would mandate colleges to allow students to sleep in their cars on campus. I will have a future article on this issue.
Dear Abbey received a letter from a spouse of a professor whose career has stalled as an adjunct. So many years lost with the false hope—my hope is more people start to realize the plight of PhDs.
A Red Dirt county band funds Oklahoma State U NIL. Ok, this one is for my nostalgia. I’m sure most of you don’t know the dated 1999 hit “Boys From Oklahoma” recorded at the Wormy Dog Saloon.
Limestone University might be closing; a porn lawsuit has been posited as one reason. It also has D2 sports, meaning it would be one of the highest divisions of institutions to close. Strange case.
China and Vietnam are looking to expand rail connection. Trump’s global trade war has pushed these two regional rivals even closer.
People are shocked at how small ‘rooms’ are in this NYC pod hotel. I don’t hate it! We need to better utilize our space for different tastes and needs.
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Around Substack
Note: I also think it’s important to shout out some fellow Substackers whom I am reading here this week. Here are a few:
at the gives a history of why trains are so slow in the US. Many believe that it just has to be this way because the US is too big or has not culture of rail, but these myths are not true.
A century ago, railroads in America and western Europe were of similar quality. In many ways, the U.S. actually had a more advanced network. America’s art deco “streamliners” were the fastest trains in the world, connecting cities like Chicago and Milwaukee in less time than today’s Amtrak.
The weather is finally getting nice, so that means it’s baseball season! Brandon Pytel at
ranks all MLB stadiums in terms of greenness. I love the idea of stadiums with good urbanism, and walkability is a big part of that, which makes them more green, too.
, who you may recall as @Comparativist from Twitter before the site imploded, has a new Substack called. In a recent post, he has some nuggets about the US-China trade war live from Hong Kong.Last summer in L.A., my buddy and I parked in a nearby neighborhood and tried to walk to Dodger Stadium, a move that was as dumb as it was dangerous: There were few sidewalks, and our walk after the game was largely without streetlights, two flagrant examples of neglected walkable infrastructure.
So: a full-blown trade escalation. A 72-hour spiral of retaliatory tariffs between the world’s two largest economies.
And in Hong Kong?
Nothing. No changes. No government statement. No countermeasures.
Finally, I was also interviewed by Miranda and Juan Zhang from
on some of my writing here on Substack and other work. I’m glad to see institutions embracing Substack.
For Americans especially, we have a strong cultural aversion to our own government telling us what to do. It’s in our cultural DNA. So when they tell a generation that their favorite app is bad and must be banned, they are going to flock even more to TikTok.
Finally…. the World’s Newest Retirement Hot Spot?
With all the aging Boomers, rapidly approaching Gen Xers, and just any of the FIRE people, retirement locales have become an important part of urbanism discussions. The old traditional retirement places like Florida or even college towns (I will have a future article on this) have become oversaturated and expensive.
Americans have turned abroad to spend their non-working years. Of course, we have heard about Costa Rica or other tropical paradises, but how about a new player in this space? China.
That’s right, China is now considering adding a retiree visa category to appeal to foreign retirees. I’m sure it won’t be for everybody, but I must admit that I have daydreamed about a relaxing balcony overlooking Suzhou’s canals, just 30 minutes on high-speed rail to central Shanghai.
While China may get a wave (or at least a trickle) of retirees who want those sweet tariff-less yoga pants and handbags, Chinese retirees are flocking to Southeast Asian destinations. It is making me think we need to open a new front of international mobility to study the grey hairs moving abroad.
Thanks for linking to my article! I'm actually taking the train to an Orioles game in Baltimore today 🚆