Bates College - Local Atmosphere

Lewiston is quite a large city,...

Lewiston is quite a large city, and not necessarily the most student-friendly. Having said that, there is no shortage of nice, fun restaurants to take your parents to on parents' weekend, places to call for take-out, or places to shop for groceries and other essentials. Bowdoin College is about 45 minutes away, and Colby is a little further. They are our predominant sporting rivals. Students don't usually travel there to hang out unless there is a concert or sporting event of interest, or if, of course, you have a friend who goes to one of them.

Lewiston is a very unique...

Lewiston is a very unique city-even though it's the second-largest city in Maine behind Portland, it has a very low total income and a struggling economy. There is a large community of immigrants from Somalia in Lewiston. What's great is that Bates loves to reach out to help the community-lots of people on campus are learning Somali and volunteer to help families and teach both parents and kids English. Apart from this unique aspect of Lewiston, there are great, conventional activities going on. My favorite restaurant is Espo's, just over the bridge in Auburn, which makes its own pasta. Everyone's favorite takeout place is Lewiston's own Thai Dish, which makes the best chicken Pad Thai. There's a classic rivalry between Bowdoin, Bates, and Colby, but the three colleges actually do a lot together, be it a one-act theater festival or inviting one another to concerts. Girl Talk played at Bates this fall, and Colby and Bowdoin bused students over to see him. If you get the chance, drive up to Freeport and go to LL Bean-at 2 in the morning of course, since it's open 24 hours!

Lewiston is very small, and Bates...

Lewiston is very small, and Bates is in a more impoverished area of town, so there is occasional resentment from town members who may think that Bates are nothing more than stuck-up rich kids. There is tension between the residents and students because Bates students think town members hate us, and townies think that we hate them, which fuels even more tension because of a misunderstanding. There have been some violent altercations between townies and Bates students in the past, but the incidents are very isolated. College Street is usually safe, but students should be careful when walking anywhere at night, especially to the area near the bus station. There are a lot of abandoned buildings in the center of town, and if the town fixes them up and puts businesses inside, Lewiston could flourish. The town has a lot of potential, and there are a lot of hidden gems nearby like Guthries—where you can go to eat, have a glass of wine, and listen to live music—or Davinci's, a popular Italian restaurant in the area. The town is stereotypically thought of as sketchy, but if you look for it, you can find some cool places to hang out. Bates is the only college in the area—the closest is Bowdoin in Brunswick, but you can only get there by a car or if you spend a fortune on a taxi.

Lewiston is, well, Lewiston....

Lewiston is, well, Lewiston. It’s just a small, poor city with nice people. No other universities are present, and everyone knows to stay in well-populated areas in town because it can seem sketchy on the outskirts. There aren’t terrible amounts of places to visit; then again, I just like chilling on campus.

Do not walk around the town of...

Do not walk around the town of Lewiston at night. Most definitely visit Thorncraig Bird Sanctuary, a very pretty hill with many trails a few miles from campus. You can see Mt. Washington from the top.