Considering Purdue? Think Twice.
Written: Jul 18 '02 (Updated Jul 18 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Historic homes, downtown area, healthy ecosystem, and low crime rate.
Cons: everything else
The Bottom Line: If you are driving along the I65 late at night and feel yourself getting tired, Lafayette would be an acceptable place to stop and catch up on sleep.
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| hway's Full Review: Lafayette |
Oh, God, how I wish I had known before I moved to Lafayette last year! I received a fellowship for my graduate studies at Purdue University, which I should be grateful for, but how I regret having come here.
The people: anti-intellectual, homophobic, unfriendly, uncouth, fascist, Bible-toting cretins, tattooed and toothless with the correlate number of brain cells.
The quality of education at Purdue has been a disappointment also, and overall the American students are remarkably uncurious and disrespectful, not to mention closed-minded and unimaginative. It's embarrassing.
You cannot get anything done here correctly the first time--whether it be class registration or healthcare. It's a bureaucratic nightmare, making my alma mater, UCLA, appear a paragon of efficiency.
But back to Lafayette...street signs posted cleverly behind trees and streetlights, if posted at all, no infrastructure--it resembles urban planning by Lewis Carroll. For such a tiny town the traffic is remarkable (and I am from Los Angeles!)
There is no art or culture, except for the occasional chamber music concert at Purdue, which is too expensive for the average student to attend.
The main drag is a long ugly highway and one has to drive five miles off the highway to grocery shop. Grocery shopping takes place in these warehouse type places such as SuperWalmart that will likely induce vertigo the first time you walk into one. Don't forget the milk or you will have to walk seven miles to the back of the store.
Restaurants are generally of the large-chain-quantity-over-quality variety, with the exception of Maize and Bistro 501, both downtown, which are impressive.
The smell in the air is horrendous. I can't describe it, but it is synthetic and induces nausea. (It is not the fresh fertilizer smell, evocative of pubs in the English countryside.)
One of the recent hot public debates here was whether evolution or creationism should be taught in public schools, which rather speaks for itself.
I think I could forgive everything, however, if the people were at least nice. I came here with a very open mind, and from a city that is not especially known for its friendliness, but this is the first time in my life I have lived in a place where I think people could stand around watching you die while they talk amongst themselves and light cigarettes rather than extend a hand to help. I think Alfred Hitchcock hit the nail on the head with "Trouble with Harry."
Good points: (1.) the historic ninth street, and (2.) a charming downtown area that would be perfect for a central promenade if anyone cared to use it. (3.) The courthouse downtown is lovely, and (4.) the place abounds with frogs, cottontails, squirrels and deer, and very interesting insects, suggesting a relatively healthy ecosystem.
Forgive my rant, but this place has worn on my nerves. I am attempting to brook another year to get my degree and I am gone.
My friend Tara, who lives in CA and has relatives in Muncie, argues with me that Muncie is much worse. It's not that I don't believe it, it's just that it's no consolation. Lafayette is the smallest and most inefficient place that I ever care to see, and my friend, I will cry tears of joy when I leave.
By the way, don't even think of being over twenty-five, female, and unmarried here, or you will be the village freak.
Recommended:
No
Best Suited For: Students
Best Time to Travel Here: Never
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Epinions.com ID:
hway
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Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 1 member
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