Maple Road is a sprawling main drag lined with the parking lots of chain restaurants and department stores. High-speed traffic and the distance from most residential areas make cars a near neccessity to eat at Hooters or go to the Boulevard Mall. It would take most people multiple trips to get a week’s worth of groceries from Wegmans back to the University at Buffalo on foot. This environment is disconnected from UB, yet it is the closest commercial district for the many students that live on North Campus.

For them, attending UB means calling this neighborhood home. On UB’s North Campus, the city of Buffalo is present in name only, as the university’s location in Amherst makes it almost four miles away from the city.

North Campus’ location has been the subject of much debate over the past few decades, but most criticisms have centered on the potential effect of a downtown campus on the city’s economy.

The impact of the sprawling North Campus environment goes far beyond money, though. For students who drive, it means a considerable chunk of money lost to gas prices, not to mention time lost during the commute. For those on campus without a car, it can mean a long walk or wait for a bus in harsh weather to reach their most basic necessities—getting a haircut, getting to class, getting food, etc.

Whether you’re walking or driving, however, the current state of North Campus and its immediate surroundings encourage three distinct trends in UB students’ behavior: a dependence on fossil fuels, a willingness to wait for up to 30 minutes for a shuttle bus that takes you 500 yards, and an increasing alienation from the city we call home.

A Controversial Decision

In the 1960’s, SUNY made a conscious decision to expand UB out of Buffalo. The school’s North Campus was built on 1,200 acres of land in Amherst, defeating a plan to build on the shores of Lake Erie in downtown Buffalo.

There have been countless reports and articles written about the decision since it happened in 1964. One such story, published in The Spectrum to mark the choice’s fortieth anniversary, explained a theory held by architect Robert Coles. In 1966, Coles helped start The Committee for an Urban Campus, an organization that lobbied against SUNY’s choice of Amherst over Buffalo.

In the article, Coles suggested that Charles Diebold, director of the SUNY board of trustees, chose Amherst because he was also an authority at Western Savings Bank, the bank that held a mortgage for the land in Amherst.

Another theory that is popular among contemporary UB students suggests that Amherst was chosen because it would discourage a mass gathering of people. This was a concern among University administrators in the 1960’s, when college protests against the Vietnam War were common.

In March of 1970, UB experienced the most disruptive protest in the school’s history. Police in riot gear were called in to fire tear gas at students marching outside of Hayes Hall on South Campus. A firebomb was thrown into the library, and a group of students held a sit-in at the president’s office. In May of the same year, four students were killed when the National Guard was called in to control a similar protest at Kent State University in Ohio.

Two months after the Kent State massacre, the State University Construction Fund published The Campus Plan, a two-volume book that detailed how the Amherst campus would be built. According to Dennis Black, UB’s vice president for student affairs, the campus was initially envisioned for 40,000 people. The first two buildings on North Campus were Baldy and Bell halls, which were completed in 1974.

‘The Walking World has Changed’

For students who live and study on the Amherst campus (by far, a majority of those enrolled at UB, but well under 40,000), the impact of The Campus Plan is an everyday reality.

Growing up in Little Neck, Queens, Alison Levine, a freshman at UB, had no use for a car. When she enrolled at UB, Levine, like many other freshmen, was placed in the Ellicott dorms. She has only been in downtown Buffalo three times.

Abby Hand is another resident of Ellicott. When she wants to go food shopping, a bus is available two days a week. “Those buses get really crowded, and it takes forever,” she says. She said that going out on weekends is so much of a chore that she often chooses to stay in. For residents of Ellicott, the Governors residence halls, and the campus apartments, life in Amherst outside of classes often depends on the possession of a car.

“The walking world has changed,” said Black. This is evident in most of Amherst. Strip malls, planned communities, and a very high rate of car ownership characterize the area adjacent to North Campus. “Besides Main Street in Williamsville, Amherst is not a walking town,” he added.

Dan Howard of the Amherst Planning Department has a simple rule to explain this: “People generally don’t want to walk over a quarter of a mile,” he said. From Ellicott, the stores on Maple Road are over a mile and a half away. But the street is not pedestrian-friendly, as the speed limit on five-lane Maple Road is over 40 miles per hour.

Black is quick to defend the location of North Campus. “Most other college campuses are stand-alone, located in the middle of nowhere,” he said. He also presented the argument that weather in Western New York during the academic year is so cold and windy that walking outside is rarely an option.

But Ellicott is situated a quarter mile from the academic spine. So, according to the Howard definition, the extensive bus service from Ellicott to Lee Loop is necessary. While SUNY owns 1,200 acres of land in Amherst, Black says, “We [currently] occupy the center 400 of it.”

“I think it is an investment. We have a resource,” said Black of the open space. “It represents a tremendous opportunity for growth.” Some of the land was used to build the Campus Apartments, giving UB students an opportunity to live in Amherst for a full four years.

Anna Steinberg has lived in Amherst her entire life. She is now a freshman at UB and decided to live in Ellicott in order to experience college dormitory life. “Amherst is safe,” she said, “but it gets annoying because you have to drive to a lot of places.” On average, Steinberg drives downtown at the rate of one visit per month. “Definitely for Sabers games,” she said.

The disconnect between North Campus and the surrounding amenities necessitates reliance on friends and the limited University bus service for those without transportation. As development along Maple Road progresses closer and closer to campus, however, these amenities are becoming less out of reach. Additional prospects calling for the construction of a commercial plaza between the Bookstore and Ellicott Complex provides further hope for a lessened commute. Until then, providing for students without cars continues to be a difficulty.