Ten Square Miles, Surrounded by Reality
Abel McSurely-Bradshaw
Ithaca, New York has to be one of the strangest cities in America. It’s most easily recognizable for its schools—Cornell University and Ithaca College. It is known for its liberalism, its waterfalls and a nationally known music festival called Grassroots. Much like Boston, most of its population consists of college students. Come summertime, half the city is empty. Shortly after the students leave, they are replaced a couple weeks later with music festival hippies by the busload that pour in bearing tofu and non-conformity. Many of these long time non-conformists end up loving Ithaca so much, that they stay. From these travelers eco-friendly communities are created, homeless populations skyrocket and a never-ending Bush protest begins. It is a very liberal, very white place. It is a place of acceptance of all ideas except the wrong ones, who are open to all cultures but will never change their own.









