“Are these the only two streets where anything happens?” is a question that students typically ask upon visiting downtown Oberlin for the first time. The answer, of course, is yes.
In spite of this fact, most students respond well to the realities of Oberlin. Considering what happens on campus — including numerous music, theater, dance, art, film and sporting events — a person would be hard pressed in finding nothing to do. Still, there have always been those who have struggled throughout their college careers to find the best place to escape.
Outside Oberlin should appeal to Obies who feel frustratingly isolated as well as those simply curious to learn more about what lies beyond campus. Currently accessible from the Quick Links menu of Oberlin Online’s front page, the website allows one to easily browse listings for recreational activities, music, film and theater events, as well as restaurants, shopping centers and sleeping accommodations in the Oberlin/Cleveland area. Students can post opinions on the listed places or add personal favorites.
The number of reviews posted on Outside Oberlin is relatively sparse so far, as it is a fairly recent addition to Oberlin Online. With greater awareness of Outside Oberlin student posts will increase.
“Everyone can get involved in this project, simply by taking an active role when visiting the website,” Ireta Kraal, OC ’03 said. “Most of the website’s future development depends of this kind of activity, and that’s how best to contribute to its future.”
Even without many posts, the website already offers a vast amount of factual information about places to go outside the area.
Users can make specific searches, and sort the results by such variables as name, cuisine type, city, user rating and price. Entering the word “Wellington,” for instance, will generate a list of places where one could spend a day, or night, in Oberlin’s neighboring community, including the General Store and Granny’s Suite B&B.
Some students were unimpressed with the new guide.
“[Outside Oberlin] tells me places I could go if I had a car, making me realize that I am stranded here, and that is kind of depressing,” sophomore Michelle Weinberger, remarked.
Fortunately for Weinberger and her fellow car-less students, Oberlin Online’s Escape Routes section offers links to maps and fare rates of local transportation companies, such as Lorain County Transit.
There are extensive options for people looking to travel farther afield. Cleveland in particular has ample listings for such destinations as museums, clubs, shopping centers, and bookstores.
Outside Oberlin is the culmination of a couple years of collaboration between students and College Relations. In response to the limitations of the traditional paperbound student handbook, the online project aimed to make the guide as up-to-date as possible and keep production costs down, according to the website’s “about” page.
For students who worked on the site’s development, personal goals were of central importance.
Kraal, one among many involved in the creation of Outside Oberlin, said that one of her principal aims was to “help other students venture outside the bubble of Oberlin.”
“I didn’t feel like there were many resources I could use when I was a student to help me find places to go when I needed to get away from campus,” she said. “I felt like I could help alleviate that problem for other students as I worked on the guide.”
Others have already ventured to some of the places listed on the site, car accessibility notwithstanding.
Steve Gross OC ’00 is a frequent contributor to Outside Oberlin, where he has posted numerous restaurant reviews over the past two years while living in Cleveland Heights.
“Generally it’s a good idea,” Gross said. “Given that Cleveland’s actually got a fair bit of cool stuff in it, it seems worthwhile to let students know what’s out there.”
Outside Oberlin can be found at http://exciton.cs.oberlin.edu/ColRelat/.