Ivory towers are replacing smoke stacks in Alabama and all over the US.

This can be a good thing, but there is a core problem:

Until relatively recently, most universities and the cities surrounding them went about their business without taking full stock of what each meant to the other. Many local and state government leaders, notes Temple University political scientist Carolyn Adams, "don't see these institutions as having an economic development function much beyond employment and land development." For their part, hospitals and academic institutions aren't accustomed to thinking of themselves as de facto economic bigwigs or pondering the responsibilities that go along with that status; for many, the prevailing attitude toward the communities that host them has essentially been, "You should just thank your lucky stars we're here."

Universities and academic medical centers can do great things for the surrounding community, but even well-intentioned efforts can backfire if they are perceived as being simply dictated by the university without community input. Universities have become so big and influential that they cannot act without having a major impact on the community around them; that brings responsibility, and you can't tell the community to shove off and leave you alone.

This piece brings up an especially critical aspect to this issue: "Universities and large medical centers don't get bought out or relocated by their owners."

This is exactly why major schools need to invest in the community around them. The Johns Hopkins Medical School is in a notoriously bad part of town, and the university can't just pick up and leave. For the sake of their own employees, if nothing else, the university has a strong vested interest in the success of the surrounding community.

In some sense, universities are well-suited to this job: making the world a better place is part of the mission statement of any university I've ever been a part of. Improving the community is a great way to win over local hearts and minds and will ultimately benefit the university.