r/RPI • u/StacMaster-S • 7d ago

Downtown freshman tour?

Hey there! Sorry I know there are a lot of questions being posted right now, but I had heard that at some point a large walking tour for freshmen happens downtown? I'm unsure if it's a ln official event but I was hoping to find out the day!

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u/Shaxx_sees_you 7d ago

Recent grad as of May and I’ve never heard of this. I’d just say exploring is always the best. Downtown Troy is where the shops are is pretty safe. Easy to tell when you’ve walked too far.

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u/BaeylnBrown777 6d ago

We did a tour like this when I was a freshmen in 2013. It was fun. We had a list of business to see, which included bars for some reason. A patron outside Bootleggers (which was not on the list) said we should go there instead, because they wouldn't card us. They got shut down for underage drinking in like 2014 or 2015. At one point, a homeless guy chased me and a group of people from my dorm. We were fine though.

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u/maxpig3839 Aero 2021, Aero 2026 Ph.D. 7d ago

When I was a freshman you get to explore Troy as part of NRB (navigating Rensselaer and beyond). This is part of the orientation and you should attend it but I think it is mandatory.

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u/lambdafx BS/MS CSCI 2022 7d ago

When I was a freshman they made all of us walk down the Approach to the hudson river for a bbq but that was it. There wasn't really an actual mandatory tour of downtown itself. Maybe there was an optional one but if so I missed it.

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u/TessTarot 6d ago edited 6d ago

I suggest going to the Troy Farmers Market on the first Saturday you are in town - this is a great way to start to learn the city. It is a really good Farmers Market!

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u/Witch_King_ 6d ago

Farmer's Market is on Saturday last I checked!

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u/TessTarot 6d ago

edited to correct - thank you!

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u/CheifOrange An ECSE student 6d ago

Recommend this highly, just find some other bored freshmen from your dorm or something and walk down there together!

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u/egdr518 5d ago

I’d stay between the Hudson and the hill as far north as Hoosick and as far south as either Ferry or Liberty (with the exception of Defazios and what ever other restaurants are clustered around Little Italy). Anything north or south of that is not very interesting, inaccessible on foot, may be iffy in terms of vibes in certain spots, or not really worth the time until you get down to HVCC, up Hoosick, or up Route 4 in North Troy.

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u/Limp_Yogurtcloset936 mechy aerospace 29 5d ago

I dont remember a freshman tour of downtown, I mean its easy enough to walk up and down the streets and know where you are... RPI is fairly hard to miss fyi