Main Street offers little to KSC students and proves too expensive for most

Many have said Keene, N.H. is the perfect college town–downtown Main Street offers a collection of business from stores, to restaurants and coffee shops. While the downtown scene may be warm and inviting through the small-town New England feel it showcases, that coveted look and atmosphere comes with a price tag proving sometimes too hefty for the average almost-broke college student.

Some college students feel that the prices of businesses deters them away from dining and shopping downtown, rather than inviting them in for a cup of coffee.
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While popular downtown restaurants like Fireworks and The Stage are great spots to eat, the cost for a good time is not taken lightly by most.

We did some research to find which businesses and restaurants downtown offered deals for college students. For many students it is inconvenient to dine downtown because of the prices affiliated with a meal. Students expressed that they have everything they need here on campus.

But, when you want a change of scenery, the convenience of such a close downtown city will provide you with that change.

Freshman Kevin Lvovich said that he eats on campus regularly.

“None of my friends ever go downtown to get food,” he said. For Lvovich, the meal plan in the Zorn Dining Commons, which he already pays for, is the easiest way to save money.

Sophomore Lindsay Conroy said the only restaurants she stops in downtown are Ramunto’s and Subway.

These two restaurants offer some of the more affordable prices for downtown dining for college students. Conroy said that she doesn’t want to pay for food, when she can eat at the dining commons for free, or get food inexpensively at Ramunto’s and Subway.

Sophomore Blake Pearson echoed Conroy and said, “It’s cheaper to get food here [on campus].”

Unlike most restaurants, Ramunto’s offers deals to college students-from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday through Saturday, Ramunto’s offers pizza at a discounted price–$2.00 for a slice of cheese, $2.50 for a slice of pepperoni, and $3.00 for a specialty slice.

However, for students it is not all about receiving a discount at a restaurant; many expressed that they would like to use their Flex money at local venues.

We both grew up in college towns where we’ve experienced being able to use our student IDs when making purchases to receieve discounts.

We thought we’d be able to do the same here, but we were wrong. After calling restaurants and shops downtown, we found no one who offered a KSC deal.

Southern New Hampshire University and University of New Hampshire let students use their student ID to pay for purchases at local businesses downtown.

After talking to students we found most thought this would be a convenient aspect to the Owl card.

Sophomore Torrie Crenson said she was in favor of students being able to use their IDs downtown.

She said, “That’d be nice to be able to use your Keene ID and Flex off campus.”

From the students we talked to, many students vocalized that if The Works offered discounted prices to KSC students with a valid ID they would go more often. Perhaps these local businesses could throw us a bone and boost their revenue at the same time?

Julie Conlon can be contacted at        

jconlon@keene-equinox.com

Sam Norton can be contacted at

      snorton@keene-equinox.com