Breaking up the city fun

This was the situation that I found myself in one day at my old apartment complex. I was in there to turn in my new lease, which was giving the complex another whole year of my money after the year I had already spent there.

But as I was leaving, I heard the complex manager talking with the parent of a new arrival. The man was asking the manager if there were a lot of students in the place, to which the manager responded that it was hard to avoid them in this area.

Now, as the old saying goes, it wasn't what she said, but how she said it. There was this tinge of resentment behind it, as if the presence of college students was almost this necessary evil.

Now, I can't say for sure that this was her meaning. I'd like to give my manager the benefit of the doubt because all of my interactions had been good with her and she has been nice to me on the few times we've talked.

But if you talk to students around here, you'll also know that it is not hard to imagine people having disdain for the student population of Rohnert Park.

When I think of a college town, there are several places that come to mind. I think of Davis because the city has made bicycle travel such a part of the community as a result of UC Davis' policy of not letting freshmen have cars.

I think of Berkeley because of the sheer amount of shared history the city has with the college.

And Chico immediately comes to mind because there is a business where I can get my hair cut and a beer on tap without even leaving the store.

Rohnert Park does land on this list.

A former Star editor wrote a song that asked this question of Rohnert Park: "So why does everything/Close shop/Close down/In Rohnert Park, At 10?"

Don't they know they/Live in/A college town/That's up till 3AM?"

Rohnert Park does not want to be a college town. That's my personal opinion, but looking at the series of laws directed against the student population, including the recent "party ordinance," I feel that is an accurate statement.  

Rohnert Park wants to be Mayberry, the small town where everyone knows each other's names. But Rohnert Park can never be that because of Sonoma State.