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How do you feel about the students’ return to Lawrence?
Asked at Massachusetts Street on August 9, 2006
“It’s a busy time. I enjoy the quiet summers, but the students bring their own excitement back to town.”
“I’m not looking forward to it. It causes a lot of traffic problems and more delays and crowding on the T. I am excited about all the parties and meeting new people, though.”
“My friends and I always joke about the horrible driving and people going the wrong way down the one-way streets. It usually only takes them about two months to figure it out.”
“I work here, but I don’t live here. So it’s good for me because it’s good for business. It brings some more money back into town.”
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Comments
audvisartist 6 years, 9 months ago
What? Students? Where? Here? In Lawrence? No! You've got to be kidding me! Really?
jonas 6 years, 9 months ago
Glad that it's my LAST FREAK'N DAY DRIVING THE BUS!!!!!!
WOOOOOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I worked for awhile at an office on the corner of 11th and Kentucky, and starting in late July through August just about every day you'd hear lots of car horns and screeching tires and look out to see that one terrified driver barrelling the wrong way down Kentucky, until diving into the Vermont Towers' parking lot, where they would shake for a moment and then drive on.
I tried to get management to sponsor my construction of plaques that read "I successfully made it 100 feet down the wrong way on Kentucky street," so I could run out and give them to the drivers, but they wanted me to spend my own money on them. Sigh.
RETICENT_IRREVERENT 6 years, 9 months ago
Whoa-oa-oa! I feel good, I knew that I would, now
I feel good, I knew that I would, now
So good, so good, we got students. . . . I was a student, you were a student, it's Lawrence. . It's not like I'm doing some Kafka "Die Verwandlung", change and becoming a jaded grumpy old man.
Kuku_Kansas 6 years, 9 months ago
Even when I was a student...ugh, how I hated when ALL the students returned. My junion/senior years, I lived in Lawrence both summers.
It's amazing how traffic dos decrease, lines at restaurants decline and you can even see a movie on the weekend without a MAJOR wait.
That was how it was about 4 years ago though, I'm guessing it may have become worse since.
killjoy 6 years, 9 months ago
Gosh, even with the roundabouts, they still return.amazing.
Maybe we can give them free donuts from Joes.
I worked at a donut shop briefly while in college; I got fired for making the holes too big though.
consumer1 6 years, 9 months ago
Two words Eye Candy.
MomMeg 6 years, 9 months ago
I'm sending my oldest niece to KU this weekend - she's excited to start college. When I lived in Lawrence I remember the traffic on move-in and move-out weekends - grrrrr! Get whatever you need before Friday so you can just stay in all weekend!!
acg 6 years, 9 months ago
Yeah, TOB, I hear that. It used to be fun and exciting every year when the students came back to town. The parties and bars were always hopping, the hot guys playing bball at train park were always nice and there just seemed to be a general excitement to the air. I'm old now, and boring and a bit grumpy (as mentioned above) and they just annoy me. They're always lost, a lot of them are stupid and why does the music have to be so damned loud? But, then again, this is my hang up, not theirs. Enjoy your college years, kids. Growing up kind of sucks.
oscarfactor 6 years, 9 months ago
Yup... nothing like being awakened at 2:15 a.m. by drunken KU spawn wanting to fight everyone in sight. Garsh, I love this town!
craigers 6 years, 9 months ago
The crowds aren't as fun, but some restraunts have call ahead seating so no big deal. Students are good for business and I will echo what others have said. Stay away from the Target/Wal Mart shopping area out there. It will be a zoo.
lunacydetector 6 years, 9 months ago
does this mean they will be ripping up 23rd street (or any other major thoroughfare) anytime soon?
oh, i forgot. kasold is completely ripped up........never mind.
trinity 6 years, 9 months ago
ahhhhhhh, tob-you hit it; lawrence/KU in the fall! one of my very favorite things in the world.
ljreader 6 years, 9 months ago
blue73harley- I feel like I am in a parallel universe this morning. Ryan says the T gets crowded and Kelli works in Lawrence and lives elsewhere...weird, just weird.
LOL. I was thinking the same thing.
sgtwolverine 6 years, 9 months ago
TOB, I feel the same way about Ann Arbor. The students can be pretty exasperating sometimes, but they do add something to the town that you can't get from anything but a fresh student population. It adds a new interest to the town.
Besides, fall means football season, and that's my favorite part of the year. I'm currently engrossed in photographing the preseason experiences of the local high school team, so I'm definitely ready for the games to start. And being on campus in Ann Arbor on a football gameday is an experience like none other. So much fun. Can't wait for 02 September now.
BS20 6 years, 9 months ago
I am already back...
RETICENT_IRREVERENT 6 years, 9 months ago
On the other hand, maybe I am jaded. I "use" Lawrence for work and enjoyment, but live on my own little "My Side of The Mountain" with my penknife, a ball of cord, forty dollars, and some flint and steel. I can avoid most of the student issues if I have to. . But KU students are a defining identity of Lawrence, and I hope will remain to be.
YourItalianPrincess 6 years, 9 months ago
I think its great when the students come back. Its makes things a bit more crazier here in Lawrence. Yes, traffic get more conjested and the stores are packed, but its always fun for us during basketball season. The students make Lawrence an exciting place when it comes to KU sports.
Our non-profit group is planning our next benefit fundraiser. We will be hosting Health Care Access this time around. We are looking for 3 more bands ( famiily event= no fowl language ) to play on Oct 7th in South Park.
We wil also be having more going on this year. Of course we will have our bake sell, so if anyone wants to help out that would be great. We have been working so hard on this event we are looking forward to yet another terrific day in the park.
Have an awesome day everyone. Its going to be a hot one today, so drink lots of water.
katybleu 6 years, 9 months ago
Personally I dread it. The bad traffic jams, fender benders, crowds downtown, cops everywhere, and enhanced crime. Well at least there will be more jobs being advertised and available, because jobs are only available when the students return. This is Lawrence - you deal with it, even if you don't like it.
sgtwolverine 6 years, 9 months ago
I guess that rules out the chicken dance, TOB.
mom_of_three 6 years, 9 months ago
It was crazy in Target last weekend, with parents and students cruising the aisles for apartment necessities. (If parents drive the shopping carts that badly, imagine how they drive the automobiles) I plan to stay away from that side of town, until late, late at night, when most of the students will be going to parties
RETICENT_IRREVERENT 6 years, 9 months ago
Sgt. Sorry for my tardiness, I wish you a belated 1 day late happy birthday.
YourItalianPrincess 6 years, 9 months ago
You two are just to funny.
sunflower_sue 6 years, 9 months ago
I enjoy lots of young people wandering around inside of stores looking like they are in some sort of trance or asking their friend (Like it's the most important decision they'll ever make): "Well, what do you think? Should we get Bounce or Snuggle?" Then I see them at the checkout spending all of Daddy's money and I'm just so happy the students are back.
Plus...you see people walking around with giant hickeys on their bodies that look like someone tied them up with a "ball of cord," and went at them like a "hoover sucking vampire" or something. And then they have to go into public and attempt to act all normal and everything. Oh, how I feel for those poor souls. And how are you this morning, RI? :o) :o)
sgtwolverine 6 years, 9 months ago
Thank you, R_I. So far, 25 feels similar to 24, except I can rent a car without issue. (Is that the age these days?)
omb, sometimes they don't come bearing fruitcakes -- sometimes they ARE the fruitcakes.
sunflower_sue 6 years, 9 months ago
Sgt, you can now officially rent a convertible! You've magically become more trustworthy overnight.
sunflower_sue 6 years, 9 months ago
Sgt, you can now officailly rent a convertible. Welcome to the age of insanity! Yesterday, you magically became more trustworthy in the eyes of the govt.
sunflower_sue 6 years, 9 months ago
OK, I posted the 10:59 5 minutes before the 10:58 one and it disconnected from the server. (Just to explain the 2 posts.) I guess it really is the age of insanity!
dulcinea47 6 years, 9 months ago
LOL Sunflower_sue! I enjoy that too... also like watching young guys at the laundromat, calling their mom to find out how to get blood out of a white shirt, etc. Good stuff.
Hate the wrong-way drivers, and unfortunately that continues throughout the fall when out-of-towners come for the football games.
jayhawks71 6 years, 9 months ago
"you see people walking around with giant hickeys on their bodies that look like someone..."
Sue, you are confusing the students with people that live in North Lawrence. I can already feel the heat I will take for that comment. :-)
antonyall 6 years, 9 months ago
Beside the fact that Lawrence does become a "larger city" whilst the college kids are in town, the truth is that this institution places Lawrence on the national map and as such in this respect it is a great thing. Lawrence does have a unique welcoming charm and as far as I am concerned the many wonderful things about this remarkable town do not change whilst the college kids are here, simply because the full time residents of Lawrence are all such wonderful people. Lawrence will always shine!
adky 6 years, 9 months ago
Hopefully there will be fewer students this year. If they have read about what a pathetic university it is, they may realize they would be better off going to Emporia State.
RETICENT_IRREVERENT 6 years, 9 months ago
Soothsayer Sue,
WHAT IS THIS? 20 QUESTIONS?
Are you psychic, or just psychotic?
And how are you today, s.s.? Have a good uninterrupted night of sleep? Or did someone not ignore you?
sunflower_sue 6 years, 9 months ago
RI, a bit of both. Hee hee! About my sleep...interrupted about every 45 minutes 'cause my little one has decided (for the last 2 nights) that getting up in the middle of the night to puke would be a good idea. The hubby's solution to this is to stick the sick kid into bed w/ me and take the empty bed for himself. Normally not a problem but the little one sleeps like me...like a dung beetle that has been flipped onto it's back and is constantly trying to "right" itself. sigh BTW, all your talk of penknives, balls of cord, $40, and flint and steel makes me think of "Clan of the Cave Bear" or something. Interesting.
TOB, my own radio show? I guess I could develop a foreign accent. But speaking of hardcore...I see that Dillon Brown is a "video producer." Hmmm......
jonas 6 years, 9 months ago
Not to let facts get in the way of fun, but the T-Bus # 8, the one, somewhat self-explanitorily, that runs through campus, gets rediculously crowded during the school year. It'll average about 120-150 riders a shift (6.5 hrs, thereabouts). The rest of them stay about the same.
sunflower_sue 6 years, 9 months ago
TOB, tmi, tmi! rofl!~
RETICENT_IRREVERENT 6 years, 9 months ago
s.s.
As to the uninterrupted sleep.... a birdy told me someones "timing" was off.....
As to the "penknife, a ball of cord, forty dollars, and some flint and steel." statement. Didn't you ever read ""My Side of The Mountain"
Wilbur_Nether 6 years, 9 months ago
anonymous_ljworld_poster posted "How do I 'feel' about it?? ......As opposed to..... What do I 'think' about it??"
The question is framed so as to gather reactions--typically those reactions are more affective than cognitive. Not always, of course.
Nothing wrong with the way the question was framed--nor with your strong affective response to the word "feel."
sunflower_sue 6 years, 9 months ago
Haven't read that one. "Timing?" You're gonna have to e-mail me on that one. Unless you meant "interrupted" sleep. Then, I totally get it.
Kontum1972 6 years, 9 months ago
fodder for the breathalyzers and the LPD.....
saramaatta 6 years, 9 months ago
The best thing about Lawrence is the fact that it's a college town. If people don't like that, then why live there?!
acg 6 years, 9 months ago
Completely off topic, I just went and watched the Topeka Blvd. bridge blow up and it was awesome!! First time I've ever seen demolition up close like that. It was hotter than hell and they were 35 minutes late and we were all sweaty and then hit with a rolling dust cloud so I'm seriously grubby now but it was totally worth it. If any of you ever have a chance to witness something blowing up, I highly suggest you do it.
trinity 6 years, 9 months ago
hey acg ya think any of the tv stations in topeka taped that&will post it? sounds cool to me
sgtwolverine 6 years, 9 months ago
acg, did they really mean to blow up the bridge, or did a bunch of donuts combust?
acg 6 years, 9 months ago
I think they actually meant to blow the bridge. ; ) I can't believe how many people showed up. There must have been 1000 people lining the river and another thousand on the streets lining both sides of the river. I know someone filmed it, because there were news choppers everywhere. You might try ksnt 27, trinity.
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