In lieu of the construction of Bata Library over the duration of the 2017/2018 academic year, Peterborough’s downtown serves as a safety valve for a packed campus. On campus, Trent students this year will have to make do with less: space, butt receptacles, and the juice to keep phones and laptops charged. If students want to avoid the zoo of campus, they will have to take steps into Peterborough’s downtown jungle.

Downtown Peterborough can reduce the pain of a soul crushing wait at Otonabee for a agonizingly apathetic cafeteria staff to display what happens when you invest in a nihilist cookbook.

Here is a list of places to study downtown. Made with love, it is in no particular order.

Hasseltons

You like to never charge your devices and travel in packs for safety? Hasseltons is the place for you. With plugs galore in the back and ample public space for plotting the downfall of anti-ketchup lobby, Hasseltons provides.

The Spill

Never play down the ability to avoid people you know when the time in the hourglass is running down. The spill is a favorite of locals, dimly lit, occupied sparsely throughout the day, it’s perfect for a solo study session.

Black Honey

If you’re a prolific snacker with and a goddamn liability when the internet is at your disposal, Black Honey is what you want. They have their own bakery that pumps out grandma tier scones, and their lack of wifi will prevent you from spending time coming up with the perfect caption for your Snapchat story.

The Only

Do you love walls that would be a nightmare on acid and are you keen on smashing the patriarchy? If so, get down to The Only. Students who engage in study enhancing drinking feel at home here, but stay clear if you’re unsure about cinnamon infused coffee. The staff are smarter than your profs.

Dreams of Beans

For the faint of heart, a quaint quiet place to study with a big brick wall in between a lounge and the cashier to separate commerce and quiet from one another. Art in the cafe is good, but not great enough to distract from a dangerously long sentence. The coffee is roasted exactly the way the ideal existential crisis goes, in house.

Caffeina

Ideal for the student that looks down on Ikea furniture but looks up to the concept of income inequality being a net positive for society. More polished than a liberal arts student’s desperate appeal for “a little help” covering rent for the month, Caffeina is clean, and houses the seemingly affluent. I go there and I like it.

Natas

For the student who has breakfast at 4pm. Natas stays open late and serves coffee to people after sunset. A favorite of vampires and non-functioning-fireplace enthusiasts, Natas threatens to be pretentious, and is definitely on George street.

Silver Bean

A perfect destination for those with crippling commitment issues, as it will be closed at the end of September. It sits on the Otonabee and is a perfect place to get two birds stoned with one joint if you want a sunburn and a study area. Perfect for the people who get their soul sucked out of them when exposed to fluorescent lighting for more than 3 minutes.

The Peterborough Library

Located in the underbelly of this town, Peterborough square: the most common place to see a face tattoo. The Peterborough library has no windows, and no distractions, acting as an intellectual prison from which one can escape at literally any moment they choose.

Obviously there are other places to study downtown, and hopefully new students find them, but any of these places listed above is a good place to start.