Best College Towns!!

[raleightransplant]

I apologize if this has been brought up before...I love college towns, and think they can add quite a bit of vibrancy to an area(especially if w/in a larger metro). Here are the best places I've been, so please feel free to add...

1. Boston/Cambridge, MA

2. Austin, TX

3. Madison, WI

4. Chapel Hill, NC

5. Charlottesville, VA

6. East Bay(Berkeley)

7. College Park, MD

8. Columbus, OH

[PghUSA]

Depends on what you think is best . . . if your looking for a party I know Gainsville Florida and Morgantown WV are very good, Austin, Texas too.

Athens, Georgia I've always liked

Pittsburgh's University District is a very good one as well, one of the main reasons ESQUIRE Magazine named us the most "ROCKIN" city had a lot to do with the area around Carlow, Univ. of Pgh, and Carnegie-Mellon. Not all night life there though, culturally the district has some world-class venues.

[Benhamin]

Worcester, MA is a nice college town, especially considering it is part of the Boston metro. Lots of good schools with a variety of focuses.

[SmellyCat]

1. Boston/Cambridge, MA

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

"The Boston gig's been cancelled. Oh don't worry Boston's not a big college town."- Ian Faith, Spinal Tap band manager. - Spinal Tap

LOL

[SmellyCat]

Washington, DC should be near the top.

[PghUSA]

Quoting the best movie of all time! We are not worthy

DC is a good one but they get overshawdowed by the monments, history, cultural exhibits etc. Georgetown would be the "town" that is hopping in DC then again American U. and Howard U. aren't near GT (are they?) but that "end" of DC from what I heard is a pretty nice "college town". Again to call all of DC a college town is kind of like calling all of Pittsburgh a college town when really its only the eastern neighborhoods that have that flair.

Philadelphia also has some great universities all centered downtown.

[Ron Newman]

Worcester, MA is a nice college town, especially considering it is part of the Boston metro. Lots of good schools with a variety of focuses.

Worcester?? It may have some colleges scattered around, but it certainly does not feel 'collegiate' in the way that Boston, Cambridge, Amherst, Northampton, Providence, Hanover NH, or Burlington VT all do.

[SmellyCat]

I guess you really have to distingish between a college "town" and "city". Last I checked, DC, Boston and Pittsburgh were cities, not towns. USA Today recently did this survey and grouped the towns/cities by population:

Tier I (populations of 2.6 million or more)

Boston-Cambridge

Washington, D.C.

San Francisco Bay Area

Minneapolis/St. Paul

New York/Long Island/Northern New Jersey

Philadelphia

St. Louis

San Diego

Chicago

Atlanta

Tier II (Population between 1 and 2.6 million)

Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill, N.C.

Pittsburgh

Austin

Seattle

Nashville

New Orleans

Providence

Milwaukee

Columbus

Denver

Tier III (Populations of less than 1 million)

Boulder, Colo.

Bloomington, Ind.

Madison, Wis.

State College, Pa.

Ann Arbor, Mich.

Charlottesville, Va.

Burlington, Vt.

Champaign-Urbana, Ill.

Gainesville, Fla.

Syracuse, N.Y.

[AriPVD]

Ithaca, NY is a pretty decent college town. It grows quite small after 4 years, however.

[PghUSA]

^^ besides Cornell (which is pretty big but not a "state school" or is it?) and a local jr. college is there any other schools in Ithaca, true great college towns only need one big University but the more they have helps!

[The_sandlapper]

Here is another list that has been out for a while too. This list is according to ePodunk

TOP-RANKED COLLEGE TOWNS

BY COMMUNITY SIZE

BIG CITIES

1 Boston-Cambridge, MA

2 Minneapolis, MN

3 Denver, CO

4 Columbus, OH

5 Seattle, WA

6 Atlanta, GA

7 Austin, TX

8 Washington, DC

9 Cincinnati, OH

10 Saint Louis, MO

MEDIUM-SIZED CITIES

1 Columbia, SC

2 Tallahassee, FL

3 Madison, WI

4 Urbana-Champaign, IL

5 Ann Arbor, MI

6 Berkeley, CA

7 Athens, GA

8 Fort Collins, CO

9 New Haven, CT

10 Provo, UT

SMALL CITIES

1 Charlottesville, VA

2 Bozeman, MT

3 Hays, KS

4 Boulder, CO

5 Missoula, MT

6 Manhattan, KS

7 Burlington, VT

8 Bismarck, ND

9 Iowa City, IA

10 Chapel Hill, NC

TOWNS

1 Hanover, NH

2 Princeton, NJ

3 Brookings, SD

4 Middlebury, VT

5 Durango, CO

6 Bronxville, NY

7 Menomonie, WI

8 Oneonta, NY

9 Rolla, MO

10 Conway, SC

[PghUSA]

What does epodunk base their rankings on? Student population? Or do they take polls on quality of life or party scene.

[waccamatt]

MEDIUM-SIZED CITIES

1 Columbia, SC

2 Tallahassee, FL

3 Madison, WI

4 Urbana-Champaign, IL

5 Ann Arbor, MI

6 Berkeley, CA

7 Athens, GA

8 Fort Collins, CO

9 New Haven, CT

10 Provo, UT

I can definitely vouch for Columbia. The University of South Carolina is right in the heart of downtown, but still has the old parklike part of campus called The Horseshoe.

[Spartan]

10 Conway, SC

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What?? Who considers Conway a college town? Can anyone other than monsoon name the college that is there without looking it up?

MEDIUM-SIZED CITIES

1 Columbia, SC

2 Tallahassee, FL

3 Madison, WI

4 Urbana-Champaign, IL

5 Ann Arbor, MI

6 Berkeley, CA

7 Athens, GA

8 Fort Collins, CO

9 New Haven, CT

10 Provo, UT

I can definitely vouch for Columbia. The University of South Carolina is right in the heart of downtown, but still has the old parklike part of campus called The Horseshoe.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree witth his list. USC is supported by the community, and game day at the Brice is always a big deal. Gamecock fan's are fanatic. Also, Columbia has Benedict College, which has some sports that are often overlooked.

I would probably switch Athens and Tallahassee.

[LeTaureau]

Here is another list that has been out for a while too. This list is according to ePodunk

TOWNS

1 Hanover, NH

2 Princeton, NJ

3 Brookings, SD

4 Middlebury, VT

5 Durango, CO

6 Bronxville, NY

7 Menomonie, WI

8 Oneonta, NY

9 Rolla, MO

10 Conway, SC

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I am really suprised that Amherst/Nothampton MA did not make this list. These towns are at the center of 5 diffrent schools including the sprawling UMass Amherst campus, and the extremely exclusive Amherst College (ivy league) and Smith College. I have visited this area many times, and the student atmosphere is awesome. I got alot of play at Amherst College

[The_sandlapper]

For shame (lol). You guys haven't heard of Coastal Carolina! The "Chants"!

Remember I used to live at the beach.

Anyway Coastal is one of the fastest growing schools if not the fastest growing in SC.

And I have no idea what ePodunk based their rankings on?

My favorite college town though, if you can call it that, is Cambridge! I thought Harvard was all hype until I actually went there. It blew me away! But then again I'm just a dumb hic from SC.?!

[ATLman1]

Athens, where UGA is located, is the perfect college town. It is an unbelievable place. It was voted the #1 college town a few years ago. If you haven't been you need to go. GO DAWGS!

[DHall]

It's nice that we have surpassed Norman by a country mile, which I would have atleast put in tier two. Those guys have some of the nation's best schools (weather, geology, engineering, petrolium engineering) and is clearly supported by the commnity, hell if it wasn't Oklahoma City would have an NFL team. Their campus is old, snowy, lushly landscaped, and "jumping" or in other words, active. There is Campus Corner, a little hot spot simillar to 6th Street in Austin, and the university is tucked away in an older architecturally significant neighborhood in Norman. They have one of the nation's best university art museums, and what is clearly one of the nation's 3 most traditional football heritages. A heritage that was until now only second to Notre Dame.

You might not want to surpass Stillwater, on the other side of Oklahoma City either. I wouldn't surpass Arkansas college towns either.

[PghUSA]

Best College Town?

www.TheCollegeCity.com

hey it works for me

[satalac]

i'm really suprised knoxville, tn hasn't been brought up yet. true, the city isn't what i'd call fun, but once you hit campus, sweet jesus...... also, if you really want to have the full college experience, go to a home game at ut (the real ut with the true orange, not some piddly school in texas with burnt orange ). the tailgating is always the best in the country. plus once at the game you have 108,000 plus people screaming. oh yeah, i forgot the most important thing. the girls. my god, they are gorgeous. the only school that i can think of that might give them a run for the money are the girls from ole miss. but anyways, a fun time to be had by all.

[PghUSA]

^^ Knoxville is a great college town, the mountains, and yeah even the girls

[Brickell]

I've been to knoxville and it just didn't seem like a college town. UT had a nice campus, but the city itself didn't seem to revolve around the college; like a Gainesville or Athens does. That was just my impression though.

[sleepeatguitar]

I am totally surprised that that the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area was not spoken about too much! You have three top colleges that call this area their home. UNC, Duke, and NCSU.

[MathNerd05]

Knoxville is indeed a fantastic college town. I'll get some pictures of Oxford so you can see the hidden beauty of Mississippi.

[satalac]

Knoxville is indeed a fantastic college town. I'll get some pictures of Oxford so you can see the hidden beauty of Mississippi.

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oh i know about the hidden beauty at ole miss. my best friend's bro goes there. when he comes home he brings back "trophies" and their friends. simply stunning. he's a pike there and has been trying to get me to come down and experience the grove in all of it's glory. i'm so ready for college football to come back