BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- When some Binghamton students complained that there was nothing to do in town, they decided to make their own solution. The Binghamton Block Party is the brainchild of students in BU's leadership institute class. Locals seem to think it's a great idea.

"I think it's done a good job. A lot of college kids are involved it seems. And they're showing how polite they can be and I think that's great," said Traci Cross-Lewis, a Binghamton resident.

While Binghamton's relationship with university students has never been truly strained, it never hurts to improve. If nothing else, it's a good way to put the two groups in the same spot.

"A lot of times we just have our things on campus. And not a lot of us have interaction between the city and the university," said Ravi Mathur, a Binghamton University senior.

The festival serves two purposes. On the one hand, it's a chance for Binghamton residents to see what BU students do when they're off-campus. On the other, it's a chance for students to see what their community has to offer. And in the end, hopefully it furthers town-gown relations.

"We have the townies and the suny-ies, right? This is to bridge that gap. But not only that, it's becoming a knowledge economy and the university is going to be pivotal to the future of the area," said Kathryn Fletcher, Director of Catalyst for Intellectual Capital.

Eighty different vendors and around 600 to 1,000 attendees helped get the block party off on the right foot. But there's still some work to be done.

"I'd like to see the students become more involved in downtown Binghamton and use the facilities like the arena and the forum and seeing some of the downtown events," said Gail Domin, Binghamton's Economic Development Planner.

Plans are already in the works for next year's bash, which organizers hope will be even bigger and better.

The Binghamton Block Party was sponsored by BU's student-led Catalysts for Intellectual Capital 2020 and the Binghamton division of Economic Development and Planning.