Tomorrow marks the beginning of reading week, a strange, limbo-like hiatus in college life that could challenge a black hole to a time-devouring contest and win. However, as you prepare to descend into books that have yet to be opened, papers that have yet to be researched and procrastination techniques that have yet to be imagined, take some time to remember that there is indeed a world beyond your caffeine-stocked dorm room. In fact, there’s a city right outside your window, and this month the Magazine takes on New Haven in all its urban, Connecticut charm.

Yale is unique in that it is an urban university with a vibrant campus life, unlike institutions like New York University where Greenwich Village is its Old Campus, and a “night out on the town” is taken literally. While this difference fosters a strong student community and is central to forming Yale’s identity, it tends to result in an apathetic ignorance among students of the city that houses them. Knowing how to get to Starbucks and Gourmet Heaven from virtually any spot within a mile radius doesn’t count as making an effort to understand New Haven. Is it only the student body that exhibits this Yale-centric conception of the city, or does this attitude extend to higher levels of Yale administration? The cover story this month takes on the controversial and complex issue of Yale’s relationship to New Haven. While Yale has an indisputably immense impact on the city, some question whether it invests a great enough proportion of its significant resources to its urban home.

Drs. Jerome and Roslyn Meyer, a local couple who met as undergraduates at Yale and now devote their efforts to improving aspects of the city, bring fresh voices to our monthly profile. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, the Whimsicology column takes readers back to the days of the Puritans, exposing the humorous circumstances surrounding New Haven’s history. And another one of our features might tempt you to dust off those running shoes and explore the city’s neighborhoods in an early-morning jog. After working up an appetite, head over to Nikkita, one of New Haven’s latest culinary offerings — just make sure you have the food column’s review in hand.

Though you may be about to go home for the holidays, the University is decidedly not going anywhere. So kill two birds with one stone by reading the Magazine: learn a little bit more about the city where you will spend (or already have spent) the majority of four years of your life, and get a head start on that reading week procrastination.