From Xavier University News, 11/9/06:

 

 

Xavier ranked No. 1 in United States for urban university landscaping

Only other Professional Grounds Management Society grand award in country went to San Francisco State

11/09/06

 

Xavier made news for its No. 2 ranking in the U.S News & World Report guide to colleges and for placing among The Princeton Review’s "Best 361 Colleges." Now, Xavier’s natural campus beauty has earned national recognition as well.

 

Xavier has received the national 2006 Grand Award from the Professional Grounds Management Society (PGMS) as No. 1 in the country for urban university landscaping. The only other Grand Award in the country went to San Francisco State University. The awards reception was held in Columbus on Nov. 4. The University won a PGMS Honors Award in 2000.

 

“Everyone always tells us how nice the campus is," says Walter Bonvell, Xavier grounds foreman who has worked here for the past 25 years. "Many people have put a lot of hard work into making this campus a beautiful place. Everyone in Physical Plant plays a part—the 12 full-time groundskeepers, the 3-5 seasonal groundskeepers, the electricians who do the lighting, the carpenters who build ornamental fencing, the plumbers who repair our irrigation systems, and the administrators who support our efforts.”

 

Xavier’s 148-acre campus includes about 20 acres of open space, eight of which are athletic fields. The grounds staff maintains 50 acres of turf, 25 acres of display beds and 30 acres of paved areas. The hilly terrain of the campus and the prevalence of pavers in the landscaping provide special challenges. Recent upgrades include plantings on the Hayden and Logan hillsides and at the Alumni Center. In addition, many more container plantings are gracing the campus.

 

http://www.xavier.edu/news/news.cfm?news_id=4565&archive=no

 

Their landscaping may be nice but their buildings are short and ugly and the campus overall is boring and bland.

I'm going to have to agree with David on that subject. But, for the many times that I've stayed in Kuhlman for camps, they always seem to be doing something to improve the grounds. Congrats Xavier!

From ColDay's Cincinnati Aerials (Part II) thread:

 

Xavier:

 

 

 

UC:

 

 

 

Cincinnati State:

 

 

 

 

...obviously things like plantings aren't best judged from 1800 feet aloft - but man, those plantings must have been awesome to make it the #1 urban-landscaped university in the frickin' nation, 'cause nothing in that picture strikes me as especially special...

 

Most people don't view a campus from the air.  Xavier may have a small campus, but it's not bland or boring.  The landscaping is beautiful, so it doesn't surprise me that they won this award. 

Is that just a part of UC? It seems small. I thought it was a bigger school.

 

Is Cincy St. a community college?

 

Xavier seems to be more surface parking than anything else.  UC doesn't appear to have any.

Is that just a part of UC? It seems small. I thought it was a bigger school.

 

Is Cincy St. a community college?

 

Xavier seems to be more surface parking than anything else.  UC doesn't appear to have any.

It doesn't include East Campus or the College of Applied Science near Eden Park but thats the big bulk of it.

How does Xavier win an award like this over Harvard, Georgetown, Columbia, Penn etc etc? This is pretty ridiculous.

To be fair, Columbia and Penn aren't exactly known for their urban landscaping either.  UC Berkeley is actually a wonderful urban landscaped campus and am surprised they weren't mentioned.

I think the point of the award is recognition of Xavier's superb "maintenance" of their landscaping, open space, atheltic fields, etc.  So in the eyes of  PGMS they do a better job at maintaining these faciliteis than do Havard, Georgetown, etc.

If it is debatable whether or not Xavier even has the best 'urban university landscaping' in Cincinnati...then I would have to think that there would be at least a few across the nation that do a better job.  Also if this is the case, then it is a pretty lousy thing, because the landscaping should be FAR better than what is there (across the nation).

To be fair, Columbia and Penn aren't exactly known for their urban landscaping either.  UC Berkeley is actually a wonderful urban landscaped campus and am surprised they weren't mentioned.

 

Most certainly agree with you concerning Penn.  You want landscaping around Philly, you visit one of the Main Line schools (St. Joes, Bryn Mawr, Villanova)

Villanova especially.

When I think urban I think cleveland state. xavier seems as urban as akron's campus.

Cleveland State's campus is certainly not urban.  If anything, it's isolationist, as it does not interact with the environment around it.  Xavier is more traditional campus, much like Akron's, I suppose.

Just for some context:

 

Xavier is roughly 3.5 miles from downtown Cincinnati (UC is about 2 miles), while the two are clearly not in the downtown, they are still located in VERY urban areas.

 

 

 

Is that just a part of UC? It seems small. I thought it was a bigger school.

 

Bear in mind...that block that you see is over a half a mile long on both sides!  It is larger than it actually appears, plus it is very densly packed together.

^UC fits alot of students into not much area.

Cleveland State's campus is certainly not urban.  If anything, it's isolationist, as it does not interact with the environment around it.  Xavier is more traditional campus, much like Akron's, I suppose.

 

The current president has a much different mindset than past regimes. President Schwartz actually just got a masters in urban planning a couple of years ago.  CSU will has a long way to go, but a lot has happened in just the past few years.

Oh, I assume so.  But I'd bet that can be said about every university in the state right now. 

 

Except Bowling Green.  Trash.  Utter trash.

Xavier and UC both are pretty Urban, especially UC though.

 

Wimwar, although you cannot tell from whatever that is 2000 ft. in the air, UC's campus is very, very dense. It's like a f**king labyrinth to someone that is not familiar with it's setting.

I wouldn't call Xavier "urban" but moreso in a streetcar suburban area of the city (North Avondale/Evanston).  UC is certainly urban, though.

Xavier and UC both are pretty Urban, especially UC though.

 

Wimwar, although you cannot tell from whatever that is 2000 ft. in the air, UC's campus is very, very dense. It's like a f**king labyrinth to someone that is not familiar with it's setting.

 

Xavier might as well be in the middle of nowhere I mean every person I know that goes there is afraid to step into Norwood. I mean damn, Evanston, Avondale, I can see that, but NORWOOD??!  I had to show these Xavier girls where the Krogers was on Montgomery road because they're barely even concious of their surroundings.  Xavier is not only physically isolationist but its a reflection on many of the students personalities so it kinda works out.

 

Melanie is about to go off on me ...hehehe

LOL....looking at the aerial shot of Xavier...it looks like Parma, sans the expressway.

^  Good call, it's kinda true

 

 

LOL....looking at the aerial shot of Xavier...it looks like Parma, sans the expressway.

 

It also looks like Cleveland...with a better arena.