No discussion of Flagstaff communities would be complete without mention of Northern Arizona University. This week we on the Westside of town were certainly aware that students were back for the Fall. Pedestrian and vehicle traffic skyrocketed, with backups at intersections on Milton Road as students crossed from the west side residential apartments to campus and on Butler as they went to and fro from downtown jobs or shops (or bars?). According to the Arizona Daily Sun, enrollment is up and there are 200 more freshmen this year – a total of 3000. There is also a record-breaking number of new faculty members – 96. NAU brings vibrancy to Flagstaff that is rivaled only by our amazing natural features. A new bookstore opened this week, with much fanfare, following over $1 million in  renovations and privatization of the operations under the auspices of Follett Higher Education Group. The new managers have expanded the inventory and hope to make the store a campus “meeting place” as well as a supply outlet. The College of Engineering is in the news this month. It ranked 38th in a field of 100 colleges and universities that offer both undergraduate and masters degrees in engineering, according to the annual U.S. News and World Report survey. NAU has nearly 900 engineering students who major in six specialties, including civil, electrical, environmental and mechanical engineering, computer science and construction management. Speaking of construction, NAU is leading the charge for green buildings in the U.S. The new College of Business Administration earned the Silver rating from the Leadership for Energy and Environment. Now, the newer Applied Research and Development Building is going for the LEED® Platinum rating. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. Here is a picture of the new NAU Applied Research and Development Building, and a link to details of its design and construction.  Welcome back Northern Arizona University students and faculty! We’ll get used to your traffic – you bring Flagstaff too many good things for us not to. | 
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