 Waterville, with about 16,000 residents and more than 40,000 people living in the city and abutting towns, is a retail center for a wide area of central Maine. Shopping plazas near the city’s two Interstate 95 exits have brought familiar names like Staples, Ruby Tuesday’s, Starbucks, Home Depot, and Applebee’s. Downtown you can get excellent Asian and Middle Eastern food and there are many other coffee shops and restaurants, including the Freedom Café, which features family-style cooking, soul food, and generous portions. Colby is within walking distance of downtown, or the College’s regular jitney service will get you there and to other shopping areas.
There’s a downtown movie theater as well as a local multiplex. At the independent Railroad Square Cinema, you’re likely to see an award-winning foreign film before it gets nominated for an Oscar. The city is host each year to the Maine International Film Festival and was named one of six sites (along with St. Louis, Santa Fe, Honolulu, Dallas, and Silver Spring) for the American Film Institute’s Project 20/20 festival, which promotes cultural understanding through film.
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 The Hill ’n the Ville festival, started by Colby students, and the Voices of the Kennebec festival, celebrating the area’s cultural diversity, are annual events downtown.
Colby is a partner in the Waterville Main Street civic organization and in several other downtown programs and initiatives, including the Waterville Regional Arts and Community Center. Each year Colby students put on performances in the historic Waterville Opera House. Volunteer programs, including Colby Cares About Kids, have built strong bonds, particularly between college students and local schoolchildren.
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