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The Ultimate Southern College Town


krazeeboi

Which of these cities qualify as the quintessential college town?  

203 members have voted

  1. 1. Which of these cities qualify as the quintessential college town?

    • Athens
      39
    • Chapel Hill
      42
    • Charlottesville (VA)
      9
    • Clemson
      21
    • Columbia
      20
    • Huntsville
      0
    • Oxford (MS)
      10
    • Knoxville
      15
    • Tallahassee
      10
    • Other
      37


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Well, I guess of the options mentioned, I'll go with Gainesville, where my big brother was born & where my father earned his PhD.

I wanted Alabama to have some representation, so I just went with Huntsville because I knew it had at least two four-year schools.

FYI, the City of Tuscaloosa (pop. 78,000) includes colleges (University of Alabama, Stillman College (HBCU) , Shelton State Community College & Alabama Fire College) with a combined enrollment of about 30,000. Despite this, the city isn't as "college-dominated" as one might expect, as area colleges have relatively small numbers of employees, and there are other unrelated sectors (Tusc. County leads Alabama in automotive-sector employment, is home to the state's main mental health facilities, and has a sizable number of retirees).

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krazeeboi,

I realize you had no previous knowledge of Gainesville before this poll, so I'll give you a few quick facts. 

Gainesville is the home of the University of Florida, the 4th or 5th largest university in the nation depending on which figures you use.  This semester's enrollment is 49,000.    The city of Gainesville has a population of 100,000.  Gainesville, much like Athens, Oxford, and others, would be nothing without the University.  In addition, as RestedTraveler mentioned, Gainesville is home to one of the largest community colleges in the southeast with an enrollment of over 20,000 students. 

I could talk for hours on why I think Gainesville is the ultimate college town.  For those of you lucky enough to have spent time in Gainesville, you know exactly what I am talking about.  No discussion of college towns, whether discussing towns in the south or nationwide, is complete without at least a mention of Gainesville, FL.

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Thanks for the info. When I think of college towns and Florida, Tallahassee is the first thing that comes to mind. Perhaps I was thinking that the University of Florida was in Tallahassee instead of Florida State. Anyways, thanks again.

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Well, I guess of the options mentioned, I'll go with Gainesville, where my big brother was born & where my father earned his PhD.

FYI, the City of Tuscaloosa (pop. 78,000) includes colleges (University of Alabama, Stillman College (HBCU) , Shelton State Community College & Alabama Fire College) with a combined enrollment of about 30,000. Despite this, the city isn't  as "college-dominated" as one might expect, as area colleges have relatively small numbers of employees, and there are other unrelated sectors (Tusc. County leads Alabama in automotive-sector employment, is home to the state's main mental health facilities, and has a sizable number of retirees).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

"Alabama Fire College"? Is this a college for firefighters or something (seriously)?

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I'll have to say Raleigh.  We've got NC State (Largest university in the state), Carolina is right down the road, Duke is right down the road, plus there are 4 or 5 other colleges in town.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

But "right down the road" isn't in the city. :P

Now, if we were speaking of "best college metropolitan areas," the Triangle would put all others to shame. :thumbsup:

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"Alabama Fire College"? Is this a college for firefighters or something (seriously)?

Exactly. Fire departments from around the state have to send their trainees to the facility here. The fire college (which has been around for decades, but is now technically part of Shelton State Community College) also trains first responders, operates the Alabama Poison Control Center, and includes Davis Publishing (which was originally in California, and publishes firefighter study guides).

It's not like college in a traditional sense, but...

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Remember - the concept of a 'college town' is which the primary economy revolves almost exclusively to a college. Gainesville FL may be a town that I didn't consider before, b/c I thought it was slightly larger than a typical college town. But do some of you people really want to relegate Raleigh to just that? With state / federal government offices & technology firms being all exclusively tied to the college. Of course the colleges of the Triangle influenced the rise of the research park, but their existence isn't soley dependant on the colleges, there are other factors.

For that matter, Columbia, Atlanta, DC all have massive college populations, but these cities have much more of a expansive economy for them to be simply college towns.

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There aren't enough options to list every college town in the South. I voted for Columbia for several reasons, not the least of which is that I am a USC graduate and a huge Gamecock fan. There are other reasons to vote for Columbia, though. USC is a large university (25-30,000 students), but Columbia has many other colleges, too. Midlands Tech has close to 15,000 students and then there are 2 historically African-American colleges right next to each other: Benedict College and Allen University. These are very close to USC and they are also located close to Five Points. Benedict is also growing rapidly and almost single-handedly renovating their entire neighborhood....new dorms, new football stadium, new wellness center, etc... Columbia has Columbia College, one of the better wonem's colleges in the South; the Lutheran Theological Seminary, a liberal enclave close to Columbia College; Columbia International University, South University and the typical night schools: Limestone and Webster. The cool thing about Columbia is that there are 2 separate clusters of college students: Five Points/downtown area: USC, Waverly: Benedict and Allen and Eau Claire: Columbia College, the Lutheran Seminary and South University.

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But waccamatt, you couldn't possibly say that Columbia's primary saving grace is the colleges? To me - that is the biggest indicator of a colllege town, these are towns which simply wouldn't be the size they are, have the economic strength they have, or the cultural resources if it wasn't for the college. Now - I do agree that USC has influenced the home site more than many other colleges, such as the relationship in larger cities such as Atlanta. But the question I think is - what would the city be like without it's college? Columbia was already a well sized city before USC's enrollment increase in the past decades. This is because of it being a regional economic center, major government employment center, & a major military center.

Whereas, Athens or Chapel Hill would not at all be as they are without their colleges - Athens would be like Washington GA & Chapel Hill might be like Pittsboro or Sanford NC. Columbia without USC wouldn't be the Columbia we know & love, but... it would still be pretty much Columbia.

But maybe again - I might be making too much out of this :)

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Athens would probably be my #1 easily. Oxford, MS is rather small but would certainly merit consideration. Auburn, AL is also a great place. All of these places are freestanding college towns where the university is the center of life that have inherent beauty and good quality of life. Some of those cities are to large to identify with the university, they are just cities that happen to have a campus.

Fayetteville, AR was left off the list but is a terrific quintessential college town in one of the nicest and fastest growing parts of the country most people don't know about. It's gorgeous up in the Ozarks and the area is wealthy, progressive, and booming.

If I were a relocating professor in the Southeast I would look at Athens, Fayetteville, and Charlottesville.

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But waccamatt, you couldn't possibly say that Columbia's primary saving grace is the colleges?  To me - that is the biggest indicator of a colllege town, these are towns which simply wouldn't be the size they are, have the economic strength they have, or the cultural resources if it wasn't for the college.  Now - I do agree that USC has influenced the home site more than many other colleges, such as the relationship in larger cities such as Atlanta.  But the question I think is - what would the city be like without it's college?  Columbia was already a well sized city before USC's enrollment increase in the past decades.  This is because of it being a regional economic center, major government employment center, & a major military center.

Whereas, Athens or Chapel Hill would not at all be as they are without their colleges - Athens would be like Washington GA & Chapel Hill might be like Pittsboro or Sanford NC.  Columbia without USC wouldn't be the Columbia we know & love, but... it would still be pretty much Columbia.

But maybe again - I might be making too much out of this :)

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You're certainly correct. Columbia would still be a sizable city without USC, but I would also consider Boston to be a "college town" because of the large presence of students there. I preferred going to college in Columbia because it was a larger city. I've never been a small town kind of person and there was alot more to do here than in a typical college town.

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I think that cities like Knoxville and Columbia cannot be quintessential college towns. In some ways I don't think that Chapel Hill can be either, though I do think that it is still a college town. Knoxville and Columbia have other influences that are inportant enough that the central focus of the town does not have to be on the college. Oxford, Athens, Auburn, Clemson, Sewannee, etc are college towns. The college is central to all aspects of the town.

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I dunno. You gave it the 'ol "college try." :thumbsup:

Should you want to try again in the future, I can think of several other college towns (other than the ones that have been mentioned already) though that you may want to include.

I'm still not certain whether or not Morgantown, WV (WVU) or Huntington, WV (Marshall University) should be included. They're probably not "southern" enough, but both are very much college towns.

Charlottesville, VA (UVA) or Blacksburg, VA (VPU (aka. Virginia Tech)).

Bowling Green, KY (WKU).

Baton Rouge, LA (LSU).

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