I go to Boston University, whose campus is a mile long long stretch of a single city street. For the past year i've lived in a dorm on the edge of the mile stretch and biked almost half a mile to class every single day. This year I was shafted for the housing lottery this year but scored a spacious single on the complete opposite edge of campus just as far away from class. Friends think I'm an idiot for not doing "summer swap" to get a dorm room closer to class but I always smile and tell them I have a bike and need to use it, so I'd actually rather live farther from class. My part time job is only two miles away so I bike there every other day during the semester.

My other options include, taking the T railcar, the BU shuttle bus (both of which run along our campus), or walking. Last year walking to class took around 20 minutes, while the BU shuttle ran every half-hour and took 10 minutes. The T also took about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, biking only took 4-7 minutes, and my favorite part about biking was getting places quicker than any other form of short distance commuting means every non-biker used on campus and having fun while doing it. Standing in a crowded T is not fun. Neither is walking outside for 20 minutes in 20 degree weather.

In Boston, as in any large city, theft is a huge problem, and any college campus in boston is a gold mine for bike thieves. I use two locks (OnGuard U-Lock and Cable Lock) to secure everything on my bike and take my seat with me when I leave it outside and havn't had anything stolen. I've had friends with bikes stolen but only for silly newbie mistakes (leaving bike outside unlocked while moving into his apartment, leaving bike locked with hardware store chain and padlock overnight outside student union). Fortunately the BUPD has free bike registration in case of bike theft and recovery and encourages students to only use the Kryptonite Fugghedaboutit lock.

Of course, my 1/2-2 mile commute is paltry compared to most of your's, but it sure beats my other options.