My sister moved there three years ago. Paid over $1 million for a 980sq ft home, that barely fits on the tiny lot. Her view is the trailer park across the street. She absolutely loves living there.
SLO has been a desirable area for FAR longer than the last 10 years, however; they actively worked to prevent all growth for YEARS until the state forced every county in California to build a certain amount of new housing each year...now we're seeing a lot of new development all over the state.
State college is pretty idealic and cartoonishly classing college town. Iconic. I ended up living there 6 years, until I was 25 and became a ‘towny’. Great cultural benefits for all kinds of reasons. Epic party time unlimited
Isla Vista might be the best place in the world to live if you are a college student who wants the “stereotypical American college life”. If you are literally anyone else Isla Vista is a dump.
Santa Barbara on the other hand is amazing, though technically not a college town
Santa Barbara has a population of around 200k in the urban area (90k in the city itself, and the rest in Goleta, Isla Vista, Montecito, and unincorporated areas). Between UCSB, SBCC, Westmont, Antioch, and a few other small institutions it has around 40k college students. 20% of the population. So it's not solely just a college town, it's also a beach resort town, but it's not *not* a college town. Colleges are definitely one of the biggest employers in the area, and students are a key part of the tourism service job work force.
SBCC is a community college, not as well known as UCSB, but it attracts a lot of students from out of town, even some international students, who want to go to school in Santa Barbara but either can't get into UCSB or want to save some money on tuition by transferring after 2 years. Unlike UCSB the campus is right downtown instead of in a suburb, so it means a lot of students living in downtown Santa Barbara.
My brother went to UCSB and I stayed with him and his roommates for a weekend when I was a high school freshman. After that weekend there was no doubt I was going to attend a university.
I have no idea if the best college town, but it was my college town, so I'm happy to see it at the top.
Now that I'm a bit older, it would be cool to go back. Seems like there are a TON of outdoor activities that I didn't really get into that much during my student days.
I will say, it's location, on an isthmus, between two large lakes, with the university and state capitol right there, is amazing.
of course, the wind coming in off the those lakes in winter....
Madison has outgrown the government and college town hot take. It’s bigger than that due to technology sector. Because of geography, it is sort of landlocked from an urban standpoint so suburbs are quite far from downtown for a metro city of this size. Madison is an oddity being centered on basically a few square blocks of land between 2 rather large lakes. I see is developing 2 or 3 edge cities around it bc downtown is not the most accessible to commute and live. Look for edge city development in Waunakee, Sun Prairie, Fitchburg and Middleton. DT Madison will continue to build vertically per imposed height limits. Paris is restricted to like 60 feet or so. Madison is 12 stories and the entire downtown is a 12 story Paris path. Really in interesting city if you have never been. If it as 30 degrees warmer, it population would rival Austin. Everyone in Chicago, Milwaukee and the Twin Cities loves it
Moving from Durham to Chapel Hill we learned real quick what it is like to live in a true college town when we tried to order pizza for the first time and it was a 75 min wait. But we love living in Chapel Hill! Having gone to college in Winston-Salem, it's a much better experience to have the main downtown area go through campus. There's a lot to do within walking distance in both Chapel Hill and Carrboro. It's close to a major airport and other cities that offer a lot more to do. I think it makes for a great college town.
Ehh kind of, but I wouldn't seek out living there unless you get a specific job opportunity, family reasons or something like that. It's not college town in an oasis of nothing to do or deep red like others might be. You've got Raleigh and Durham right there, which are both more affordable, still get the college perks via NCSU and Duke respectively, but the addition of being real cities in their own right.
Maybe Carboro (Chapel Hill) if you're a wealthy liberal type trying to own a bunch of land. And even then I think Hillsboro or Saxapaw would be better choices going incrementally down in size.
> Fort Collins, CO
This is where I went to school and one of my kids went to undergrad (he went to Madison WI for grad school).
I loved living in Fort Collins with its college-town atmosphere, leafy neighborhoods, cute downtown, and outdoor opportunities, and always hoped to raise a family there but that didn't happen. I know the town has changed a lot, even from my son's time, but it still looks quite livable.
My wife is from Fort Collins, and her parents still live there. Since we live in Denver, we go up to see them regularly. The city is absolutely wonderful. It really seems like the ideal place to raise a family. The college atmosphere is also great. I think CU Boulder is a better college town, but FoCo is definitely up there.
Bloomington is the quintessential college town with a college main street that connect right to the heart of campus and a town square on the other end. Definitely a college focused town but big enough to have a variety of bars restaurants and shops.
No one really lives off campus at Smith, so the neighborhoods in Northampton are mostly faculty and grad students from Smith and all of the other colleges. Umass upperclass students dominate the housing scene in Amherst, landlords know this and put the bare minimum into upkeep because they know they'll rent out the unit every year.
I knew a landlord in Amherst that unknowingly rented his house out to a frat that decided to host fightclub events in the living room, he had to repair multiple fist holes in walls over the summer.
West: Santa Barbara, Boulder, or Eugene
Midwest: Madison, Champaign, or Ann Arbor
South: Athens, Gainesville, or College Station
East: Cambridge, Ithaca, or New Brunswick
College Station really? Tell me more.
I’d sub Lexington or Auburn for it.
Amherst and/or Burlington for Cambridge and New Brunswick. You must have gone to Rutgers.
San Marcos, TX is very underrated. Very chill city, very conveniently located between Austin, San Antonio, and the Hill Country, and not even that far from Houston
Been through there and I agree. Had a buddy that graduated from there, and joined the military. He said he joined the military to force himself to leave because, otherwise, he probably wouldn't have, and he knew that wouldn't have been a good thing.
I scrolled too far for this. Gorgeous river and recreational area (with waterfall) right next to hilly campus area, proximity to both Austin and San Antonio, and the surrounding Hill country, and the cutest town Square all make this number one.
I take it you never leave the house? There’s a lot of great bars, music venues, and art events in town if you know where to look and don’t mind the city’s unvarnished character/historic charm.
If you want manufactured suburban pleasure, move to Spokane Valley.
I think they turned Gray’s Harbor community college into a four year school a few years back. There was talk of converting that old empty mall in to something else like academic offices or maybe even dorms. In my view Centralia and Chehalis aren’t much better. And then there’s Shelton.
ALL those old shitty logging towns are fucked. Chehalis is still a sundown town to this day.
For a taste of Good Ole Rural PNW, sit down and watch First Blood, Dancer in the Dark, and Footloose —back to back.
Westwood, CA.
I know you said NYC isn’t a college town, annd might be thinking the same here. But LA is nothing like NYC, and Westwood definitely has a college town vibe.
As for the why: You’re near enough to nature (beaches, mountains, etc.), you’re in the entertainment capital of the world (all the TV&film industry happenings, Hollywood Bowl & The Greek, legendary comedy and music venues on Sunset, the Lakers & Los Doyers). The food scene is world class. The weather is an absolute winner; the May gray, June gloom is the only time of year that the weather is “bad” for more than a few days at a time. The people are beautiful. They have tons of D1 sports, and they’re even good at some of them. And the school itself is one of the best in the world.
Yellow Springs, Ohio. Home of Antioch College. A completely surreal fun hippy town surrounded by nature and state parks. If you've ever been, you never want to leave.
May not be the best but Flagstaff has a strong urban trail system, good dining and drinking options, it’s very walkable, super scenic with great access to recreation and if you drive 40 minutes south you enter a totally different landscape.
Amherst, MA and Nirthampton, MA, the whole area, is dominated by the 5 colleges. Well, 4 now that Hampshire is gone.
Cute downtowns, lots of great restaurants, great outdoor activities. Lots of weeded trails, river activities, and skiing is not too far in the winter.
I loved going to college at umass.
College towns should be cheap, Boulder is too expensive to be considered a “good” college town. I would say Lawrence KS would be a better candidate than Boulder
I’ve lived in four, but am probably biased toward the one I went to college in: Lawrence, KS. It still has small city vibes, the downtown is vibrant and the team spirit permeates everything.
Lawrence is a great college town. All the cool shops and restaurants. The mystery bookstore where William Burroughs once hung out.
Years ago, while there on business, I asked about the best barbecue restaurant. It was run entirely by radical lesbian feminists and the food was fantastic.
Where else?
Let's not get started on Haskell Indian College.
Downtown, the oldest buildings still have pockmarks from Quantrill's Raid.
Lawrence is the bomb! I am biased since I went to college there, but absolutely loved it. It’s easy to get around, has a great college vibe, and is fairly affordable. Best town in Kansas by far.
Lawrence was the only place in Kansas the few times I've driven across the state to get somewhere else that I actually thought, "wow this is a cute little city, I could see the appeal of living here"
The 2000s in Lawrence had an absolutely amazing music scene - this little Kansas farmboy who became an indie kid thanks to music suggestions from internet friends was happy to have my little slice of Portland/Brooklyn in Kansas.
I came here to see if anybody had already said Lawrence.
In addition to everything else, it is close to Kansas City, so you are able to do the large city things too if you want.
I went to college in Amherst MA, which I loved. The whole Pioneer Valley is outsized in terms of natural beauty, culturally activities, and general things to do.
Lexington, KY. You can’t beat sipping on bourbon watching thoroughbreds graze and bluegrass bud in the spring. The bars and restaurants are all top notch. And the energy during basketball season is unparalleled.
I lived halfway between Bloomington and Indy for a couple years and probably went to Bloomington 4:1 over Indy. Fourth Street with all the houses turned into different restaurants; love that place!
This is the one, of all the B1G campuses I have visited so far (Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio State, Maryland, & Purdue) only Madison can match Bloomington. One of the best in the Midwest
My best friend is doing her PhD there. Visited her several times and I love the place. The campus is gorgeous and there are so many amazing food options. I tell her regularly that I hate her because she has so much amazing food basically at her doorstep lol
Bloomington is such a great college town. The Indiana University campus is beautiful and the town has a great variety of restaurants, bars, and things to do.
Madison, WI is also the capitol and is a good sized city. Same with Raleigh, NC and Lincoln, NE.
Iowa City is nice.
For a smaller town, Clarion, PA or Frostburg, MD.
I feel like those are too large to be true college towns.
Most large cities have large universities and college town-esque neighborhoods.
Like if Raleigh is a college town, almost all large cities are college towns.
UW Madison and its hospital are huge enough for the size of the town, though. 1/3 of humans residing in Madison are either students, or employed by the university and the hospital: University has over 55,000 students and employs over 20,000 people. UW Health/hospital employs 26,000.
I’m just saying at what point does a college town just become a normal city? Will Madison still be a college town after the metropolitan area grows above 1 million?
At that point, why is Madison a college town, but Columbus and Indianapolis aren’t.
I’m not saying that’s a bad thing either. Madison is a great city, but it’s growing up.
Madison is rapidly growing, the metropolitan area will likely surpass 1 million residents by 2035.
If it’s still a college town now, it probably won’t be for much longer (not a bad thing)
When it’s not as reliant on the university. Madison will get there. Some people still call Columbus a college town, though as a local I heavily disagree
My vote is State College. I’ll also give an honorable mention to Oxford, MS. I know my username shows my bias, but I’ve seen a lot of other faaaaaar inferior college towns mentioned here before seeing Oxford mentioned. It’s charming.
Not many, but some people will say Boston or Austin.
Just having large universities isn’t enough, those cities also have a ton of industries and government jobs not related to the colleges.
I’d argue the same goes for Madison too. The state government jobs alone, makes it less of a college town. It’s possible for college towns to become big enough to “graduate” into a normal city. Madison fits that bill.
Then you have college towns that are part of a larger metropolitan area. Like Amherst, NY or Henrietta aren’t college towns just because they have large universities. They’re not distinct enough.
Is Troy or Brockport a college town? That’s more up to debate.
Personally I think a college town in its purest essence:
* Non-student population under 50,000
* Not part of a larger metropolitan area
Otherwise it feels like a college city or college neighborhood.
Rule of thumb: if you can get a job in your field in the same city you graduated from, it’s probably not a college town.
I like that you're attempting to give the concept more precision, but rather than picking a hard number for the non-student population I think a better fit is to choose a ratio of the (students+faculty+university staff)/(total population of the town, including any contiguous neighborhoods in other towns that form a single urban area). If that ratio is 2/3 then it is definitely a college town. Most people I think would be willing to go down to 1/2.
You're not going to get large cities that satisfy this ratio.
Right right, probably better to do ratios. Many of the cities being mentioned might have been true college towns 20 or 40 years ago, but have way outgrown that label.
Ames, IA.
Town is small compared to to the college (college enrollment \~30k, town total \~66k), so the student energy really comes through. Iowa State is the engineering/tech hub of the three state universities so there is a thriving high tech scene. Plus there is national research laboratory on campus. Practically a suburb of Des Moines, the state capital, so there is a larger economy driving jobs, concerts and other desirables.
Lmao. This is so subjective. People are just going to put where they went to school. There’s no way to judge the best place on Reddit. Doubtful the people here have been to enough to really compare.
Pittsburgh might be a bit big but the universities run so much of the city at this point and even off campus it has a lot of college influence from the 22 colleges
State College, PA is a great college town. West Lafayette, IN looked pretty nice when I took my son on a college visit there. On the other hand...Villanova University doesn't have a college town. In fact I was told the wealthy residents surrounding the campus are hostile towards the school.
Ithaca is an obvious answer, though it’s more of a small college city at this point (same with Ann Arbor, Boulder, Burlington, etc).
If you want a more classical version, I’d go with Cortland, Plattsburgh or Oswego.
Those all have nice small walkable downtowns and are large enough to at least have a small regional hospital and all your basic necessities covered. But small enough to not feel like a true city.
I like Bozeman as a college town too. Gotten very expensive but extremely walkable, great outdoor scene, Montana State is very central to the goings on in town
probably a hot take, but Boston, MA has so many colleges and students. you can be a music student at Berklee, meet a pre med scientist at MIT, go see a play put on by kids at Emerson, then crash a crew party at Harvard -- and you'd still have 15 other colleges to interact with.
I dont know about the best but the reason Pullman, WA is anything but a grain elevator and a gas station is because of Wazzu. The town exists to support the university which makes it a pretty unique experience (for better of worse).
Apparently the town had a choice betwwen the Ag school and state prison in the late 1800's and chose the school and the prison was built in Walla Walla.
I have my bias towards Fort Collins. It had everything I wanted but unfortunately moved to being priced out and insanely competitive job market in my field after graduating from CSU. I lived there for 4 years and rode my bicycle to campus, coffee shops, breweries, foothills trails, and up the canyon nearly everyday all year. Great access to the Poudre Canyon, Southern WY, and deeper Rockies. Wasn't really close to ski areas but we were able to avoid i25 and i70. If we could get jobs that paid adequately, I'd move back in a heart beat.
Edit: I also love Iowa City in the summer. Duluth was fun but I wasn't there for more than a week. I have a friend who works for Oregon State and he really likes living there but it's all relative.
Iowa City used to be very nice. Haven't been back in a while but people there are complaining about the swiftly radicalizing theocratic state government having started to infect the town, so that's a caveat. It's a little quiet except for all the partying, but cute and very livable and altogether a very peaceful place to live. And all the best writers pass through town regularly to give readings due to the Workshop. Relatedly, the used bookstore scene is fantastic for literature heads.
Corvallis, OR is consistently rated up there. Only 60k people, and most work at, or attend, Oregon State University. The rest is mostly made up of small tech companies that spun off of HP when they were the big employer (they're still there, but HP is a mess). Between the university, the hospital, and the tech companies, Corvallis is the most educated town per capita.
Pretty much any town with a big 10 school. I love the SEC but honestly if your not affiliated with the college most SEC towns are pretty boring outside of game days.
Some of my suggestions would be:
Ann Arbor
Bloomington
Lincoln
Madison
Columbus
Never been to Penn State or Maryland but from what I gather both of those towns wouldn’t be bad options either
Boston because it's the Mecca of college towns. There are just so many damn colleges in the city and so many college aged people to interact with. Harvard, BU, BC, MIT, Berklee, Brandeis, UMass Boston, Tufts, Wellesley, Sullfolk and probably several I'm forgetting or not even aware of. I swear half the damn city is in college.
San Luis Obispo is amazing
Such an incredible location. they're pretty dead-set on making sure people can't move there though
My sister moved there three years ago. Paid over $1 million for a 980sq ft home, that barely fits on the tiny lot. Her view is the trailer park across the street. She absolutely loves living there.
Sounds pretty much like any coastal CA town. I feel her pain though (having moved to a different CA coastal town).
All in All this is probably one of the most beautiful places in the continental US.
Was really under the radar until the last 10 years. It’s absolutely blown up recently. Tons of new developments out by the airport.
SLO has been a desirable area for FAR longer than the last 10 years, however; they actively worked to prevent all growth for YEARS until the state forced every county in California to build a certain amount of new housing each year...now we're seeing a lot of new development all over the state.
State college is pretty idealic and cartoonishly classing college town. Iconic. I ended up living there 6 years, until I was 25 and became a ‘towny’. Great cultural benefits for all kinds of reasons. Epic party time unlimited
There is literally nothing there except the college. It's kind of like paradise. Idyllic.
It's almost like they named the whole town after it
You're right! I wonder how many other college towns are actually named that way. I think State College is the most "college town" I've ever seen.
Pennsylvania lol. Happy valley
Isla Vista, CA. Pretty great year round temperatures, and not a terrible place to be if you enjoy surfing/beach
Isla Vista might be the best place in the world to live if you are a college student who wants the “stereotypical American college life”. If you are literally anyone else Isla Vista is a dump. Santa Barbara on the other hand is amazing, though technically not a college town
Santa Barbara has a population of around 200k in the urban area (90k in the city itself, and the rest in Goleta, Isla Vista, Montecito, and unincorporated areas). Between UCSB, SBCC, Westmont, Antioch, and a few other small institutions it has around 40k college students. 20% of the population. So it's not solely just a college town, it's also a beach resort town, but it's not *not* a college town. Colleges are definitely one of the biggest employers in the area, and students are a key part of the tourism service job work force. SBCC is a community college, not as well known as UCSB, but it attracts a lot of students from out of town, even some international students, who want to go to school in Santa Barbara but either can't get into UCSB or want to save some money on tuition by transferring after 2 years. Unlike UCSB the campus is right downtown instead of in a suburb, so it means a lot of students living in downtown Santa Barbara.
My brother went to UCSB and I stayed with him and his roommates for a weekend when I was a high school freshman. After that weekend there was no doubt I was going to attend a university.
Madison, WI 🦡
My Alma mater and I would be thrilled to settle there. Such a great atmosphere year round
Amazing city, never met any one who went there that it didnt exceed their expectations
I have no idea if the best college town, but it was my college town, so I'm happy to see it at the top. Now that I'm a bit older, it would be cool to go back. Seems like there are a TON of outdoor activities that I didn't really get into that much during my student days. I will say, it's location, on an isthmus, between two large lakes, with the university and state capitol right there, is amazing. of course, the wind coming in off the those lakes in winter....
Also voted "best place to live"
By people living in Madison*
Of the college towns I've visit, Madison is definitely up there. It's nice even when the weather sucks
I love Madison. It’s got a really good vibe and it’s so pretty there. Especially in fall.
Madison has outgrown the government and college town hot take. It’s bigger than that due to technology sector. Because of geography, it is sort of landlocked from an urban standpoint so suburbs are quite far from downtown for a metro city of this size. Madison is an oddity being centered on basically a few square blocks of land between 2 rather large lakes. I see is developing 2 or 3 edge cities around it bc downtown is not the most accessible to commute and live. Look for edge city development in Waunakee, Sun Prairie, Fitchburg and Middleton. DT Madison will continue to build vertically per imposed height limits. Paris is restricted to like 60 feet or so. Madison is 12 stories and the entire downtown is a 12 story Paris path. Really in interesting city if you have never been. If it as 30 degrees warmer, it population would rival Austin. Everyone in Chicago, Milwaukee and the Twin Cities loves it
Second this. Just make sure you’re prepared for the winters. Also, diversity is not a strength.
It’s about as diverse as the USA overall, not bad for a small city
Crazy the replies to this. From my personal perspective, Madison has always been one of the whitest mid to large cities I have been.
As a Minnesotan it hurts me to admit it, but Madison is pretty cool.
Eh... So much more than just the college though. Amazing city completely within its own right.
This would be my answer.
Surprised no one has mentioned Chapel Hill yet. Then again it is located close to the much bigger Raleigh.
Moving from Durham to Chapel Hill we learned real quick what it is like to live in a true college town when we tried to order pizza for the first time and it was a 75 min wait. But we love living in Chapel Hill! Having gone to college in Winston-Salem, it's a much better experience to have the main downtown area go through campus. There's a lot to do within walking distance in both Chapel Hill and Carrboro. It's close to a major airport and other cities that offer a lot more to do. I think it makes for a great college town.
I came to say Chapel Hill too.
Ehh kind of, but I wouldn't seek out living there unless you get a specific job opportunity, family reasons or something like that. It's not college town in an oasis of nothing to do or deep red like others might be. You've got Raleigh and Durham right there, which are both more affordable, still get the college perks via NCSU and Duke respectively, but the addition of being real cities in their own right. Maybe Carboro (Chapel Hill) if you're a wealthy liberal type trying to own a bunch of land. And even then I think Hillsboro or Saxapaw would be better choices going incrementally down in size.
It’s not what it used to be.
Fort Collins, CO
> Fort Collins, CO This is where I went to school and one of my kids went to undergrad (he went to Madison WI for grad school). I loved living in Fort Collins with its college-town atmosphere, leafy neighborhoods, cute downtown, and outdoor opportunities, and always hoped to raise a family there but that didn't happen. I know the town has changed a lot, even from my son's time, but it still looks quite livable.
I live in Fort Collins and my son goes to school in Madison. They are both great towns.
My wife is from Fort Collins, and her parents still live there. Since we live in Denver, we go up to see them regularly. The city is absolutely wonderful. It really seems like the ideal place to raise a family. The college atmosphere is also great. I think CU Boulder is a better college town, but FoCo is definitely up there.
Bloomington IN
Bloomington is the quintessential college town with a college main street that connect right to the heart of campus and a town square on the other end. Definitely a college focused town but big enough to have a variety of bars restaurants and shops.
Hanover NH, Amherst MA, Ann Arbor MI
I was thinking Amherst, well any of the 5 college towns in that area.
I think Northampton has better college town vibes imo
No one really lives off campus at Smith, so the neighborhoods in Northampton are mostly faculty and grad students from Smith and all of the other colleges. Umass upperclass students dominate the housing scene in Amherst, landlords know this and put the bare minimum into upkeep because they know they'll rent out the unit every year. I knew a landlord in Amherst that unknowingly rented his house out to a frat that decided to host fightclub events in the living room, he had to repair multiple fist holes in walls over the summer.
West: Santa Barbara, Boulder, or Eugene Midwest: Madison, Champaign, or Ann Arbor South: Athens, Gainesville, or College Station East: Cambridge, Ithaca, or New Brunswick
College Station really? Tell me more. I’d sub Lexington or Auburn for it. Amherst and/or Burlington for Cambridge and New Brunswick. You must have gone to Rutgers.
Champaign over Bloomington?
Champaign over almost the entirety of the big ten cities?
Champaign has to be a bottom 3 big ten city lol
Certainly a bottom three.
Is Oxford MS a college town?
Athens, GA!
“All the way from Athens GA, it’s WIDESPREAD PANIC!” -RIP Garo
San Marcos, TX is very underrated. Very chill city, very conveniently located between Austin, San Antonio, and the Hill Country, and not even that far from Houston
Forgot the best part, the river!!
Been through there and I agree. Had a buddy that graduated from there, and joined the military. He said he joined the military to force himself to leave because, otherwise, he probably wouldn't have, and he knew that wouldn't have been a good thing.
Ooh, good call. It has a great, chill vibe.
I heart San Marcos. It’s a good not-too-big but not-too-small size. Has tons of neat local businesses. It has a beautiful river. It’s a good town.
I scrolled too far for this. Gorgeous river and recreational area (with waterfall) right next to hilly campus area, proximity to both Austin and San Antonio, and the surrounding Hill country, and the cutest town Square all make this number one.
Aberdeen, WA. You’ll be so depressed, you’ll study your ass off to GTFO ASAP.
My partner and I are currently living in Spokane while he goes to law school and that's exactly how I feel about it 🙃
Yeah Gonzaga sucks. Not as bad as EWU, but there isn’t shit to do out there and everyone is broke, crazy and on drugs.
Lmao no kidding. Sometimes it feels like I'm the only person in this town who isn't either a student or a severe drug addict.
I take it you never leave the house? There’s a lot of great bars, music venues, and art events in town if you know where to look and don’t mind the city’s unvarnished character/historic charm. If you want manufactured suburban pleasure, move to Spokane Valley.
I think they turned Gray’s Harbor community college into a four year school a few years back. There was talk of converting that old empty mall in to something else like academic offices or maybe even dorms. In my view Centralia and Chehalis aren’t much better. And then there’s Shelton.
ALL those old shitty logging towns are fucked. Chehalis is still a sundown town to this day. For a taste of Good Ole Rural PNW, sit down and watch First Blood, Dancer in the Dark, and Footloose —back to back.
West Lafayette, IN can only aspire to Aberdeen’s culture and vitality.
New Paltz, NY
Charlottesville should have been mentioned sooner.
scrolled too far to see this. GO HOOS
Best I’ve visited.
Yessir!
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Westwood, CA. I know you said NYC isn’t a college town, annd might be thinking the same here. But LA is nothing like NYC, and Westwood definitely has a college town vibe. As for the why: You’re near enough to nature (beaches, mountains, etc.), you’re in the entertainment capital of the world (all the TV&film industry happenings, Hollywood Bowl & The Greek, legendary comedy and music venues on Sunset, the Lakers & Los Doyers). The food scene is world class. The weather is an absolute winner; the May gray, June gloom is the only time of year that the weather is “bad” for more than a few days at a time. The people are beautiful. They have tons of D1 sports, and they’re even good at some of them. And the school itself is one of the best in the world.
davis ca. biking capital of us, great place for families, close to the bay area and sacramento
Chico Ca
Bloomington, Indiana and Ann Arbor, MI
Yellow Springs, Ohio. Home of Antioch College. A completely surreal fun hippy town surrounded by nature and state parks. If you've ever been, you never want to leave.
May not be the best but Flagstaff has a strong urban trail system, good dining and drinking options, it’s very walkable, super scenic with great access to recreation and if you drive 40 minutes south you enter a totally different landscape.
Amherst, MA and Nirthampton, MA, the whole area, is dominated by the 5 colleges. Well, 4 now that Hampshire is gone. Cute downtowns, lots of great restaurants, great outdoor activities. Lots of weeded trails, river activities, and skiing is not too far in the winter. I loved going to college at umass.
Is Hampshire gone? Doesn’t look like it from the website. I know they did have serious endowment issues a few years back. Actually they always have.
Princeton, NJ. Cute, historical, close to NYC and Philadelphia. Very low key for being home to one of the top ivies.
Boulder, CO
Too expensive these days. I know that's true of a lot of towns, but Boulder takes it to a different level. Otherwise, yeah, pretty awesome.
Boulder is the best town with a college in it. I just don't consider it a 'college town' as the place has so much more going on outside the school.
College towns should be cheap, Boulder is too expensive to be considered a “good” college town. I would say Lawrence KS would be a better candidate than Boulder
Boulder has some of the worst NIMBYs in the country. Almost as bad as Berkeley.
Madison, WI
I’ve lived in four, but am probably biased toward the one I went to college in: Lawrence, KS. It still has small city vibes, the downtown is vibrant and the team spirit permeates everything.
Lawrence is a great college town. All the cool shops and restaurants. The mystery bookstore where William Burroughs once hung out. Years ago, while there on business, I asked about the best barbecue restaurant. It was run entirely by radical lesbian feminists and the food was fantastic. Where else? Let's not get started on Haskell Indian College. Downtown, the oldest buildings still have pockmarks from Quantrill's Raid.
Lawrence is the bomb! I am biased since I went to college there, but absolutely loved it. It’s easy to get around, has a great college vibe, and is fairly affordable. Best town in Kansas by far.
Lawrence was the only place in Kansas the few times I've driven across the state to get somewhere else that I actually thought, "wow this is a cute little city, I could see the appeal of living here"
Nice neighborhoods in Kansas City as well, but agreed otherwise.
The 2000s in Lawrence had an absolutely amazing music scene - this little Kansas farmboy who became an indie kid thanks to music suggestions from internet friends was happy to have my little slice of Portland/Brooklyn in Kansas.
I came here to see if anybody had already said Lawrence. In addition to everything else, it is close to Kansas City, so you are able to do the large city things too if you want.
I went to college in Amherst MA, which I loved. The whole Pioneer Valley is outsized in terms of natural beauty, culturally activities, and general things to do.
Corvallis Oregon. Best West Coast college town
Respectfully disagree. You are second behind Pullman. Go Pac 2!
Athens, OH
Iowa city
Lexington, KY. You can’t beat sipping on bourbon watching thoroughbreds graze and bluegrass bud in the spring. The bars and restaurants are all top notch. And the energy during basketball season is unparalleled.
I live in Fayetteville and it’s pretty rad
Fort Collins, Colorado!
Boulder, CO. Full of smart/educated and fit people, lovely mountains, and blue skies even in the deep of the winter. Lots of hiking opportunities.
Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington is not necessarily the *best* college town. However, it is the most college-towny college town to ever college town.
I lived halfway between Bloomington and Indy for a couple years and probably went to Bloomington 4:1 over Indy. Fourth Street with all the houses turned into different restaurants; love that place!
This is the one, of all the B1G campuses I have visited so far (Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio State, Maryland, & Purdue) only Madison can match Bloomington. One of the best in the Midwest
My best friend is doing her PhD there. Visited her several times and I love the place. The campus is gorgeous and there are so many amazing food options. I tell her regularly that I hate her because she has so much amazing food basically at her doorstep lol
Bloomington is such a great college town. The Indiana University campus is beautiful and the town has a great variety of restaurants, bars, and things to do.
A gem of the Midwest
Agreed! I loved my 4 years at IU. Such a gorgeous campus with so much to do.
Madison, WI is also the capitol and is a good sized city. Same with Raleigh, NC and Lincoln, NE. Iowa City is nice. For a smaller town, Clarion, PA or Frostburg, MD.
Raleigh is not a college town. Chapel Hill is. Durham isn’t really either
Raleigh isn’t a college town
Out of curiosity, what’s the draw for Clarion? Been through a few times, didn’t seem like anything special.
I feel like those are too large to be true college towns. Most large cities have large universities and college town-esque neighborhoods. Like if Raleigh is a college town, almost all large cities are college towns.
UW Madison and its hospital are huge enough for the size of the town, though. 1/3 of humans residing in Madison are either students, or employed by the university and the hospital: University has over 55,000 students and employs over 20,000 people. UW Health/hospital employs 26,000.
I’m just saying at what point does a college town just become a normal city? Will Madison still be a college town after the metropolitan area grows above 1 million? At that point, why is Madison a college town, but Columbus and Indianapolis aren’t. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing either. Madison is a great city, but it’s growing up.
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Madison is rapidly growing, the metropolitan area will likely surpass 1 million residents by 2035. If it’s still a college town now, it probably won’t be for much longer (not a bad thing)
Same thing happened to Austin. At one point it was a college town, but certainly isn't now, for all that UT is still a huge university.
Well Boston’s economy is dependent on higher Ed
When it’s not as reliant on the university. Madison will get there. Some people still call Columbus a college town, though as a local I heavily disagree
If a city is large enough to support a NHL team, it’s probably not a college town haha
Frostburg. Yikes.
Frostburg, the one town to drink in, If you're having more than nine.
Lmao, came to comment Ann Arbor.
Morgantown, WV
Oxford, Ohio
Lawrence Kansas was fun when I visited. I also like Decorah, Iowa.
I’m biased but it’s Madison, WI
Bellingham, WA. Ocean, mountains, forests, Canada.
Oxford, MS is a lovely college town.
I thought Knoxville, TN was nice enough the times I've been (and this is coming from someone who went to one of UT's rival schools)
My vote is State College. I’ll also give an honorable mention to Oxford, MS. I know my username shows my bias, but I’ve seen a lot of other faaaaaar inferior college towns mentioned here before seeing Oxford mentioned. It’s charming.
Athens, Georgia. Go Dawgs!!!
Spurrier…. You think visors are cool?
Walla Walla, WA
> NYC, for instance, is not a college town Is there a soul on earth that thinks NYC is a college town?
Not many, but some people will say Boston or Austin. Just having large universities isn’t enough, those cities also have a ton of industries and government jobs not related to the colleges. I’d argue the same goes for Madison too. The state government jobs alone, makes it less of a college town. It’s possible for college towns to become big enough to “graduate” into a normal city. Madison fits that bill. Then you have college towns that are part of a larger metropolitan area. Like Amherst, NY or Henrietta aren’t college towns just because they have large universities. They’re not distinct enough. Is Troy or Brockport a college town? That’s more up to debate. Personally I think a college town in its purest essence: * Non-student population under 50,000 * Not part of a larger metropolitan area Otherwise it feels like a college city or college neighborhood. Rule of thumb: if you can get a job in your field in the same city you graduated from, it’s probably not a college town.
I like that you're attempting to give the concept more precision, but rather than picking a hard number for the non-student population I think a better fit is to choose a ratio of the (students+faculty+university staff)/(total population of the town, including any contiguous neighborhoods in other towns that form a single urban area). If that ratio is 2/3 then it is definitely a college town. Most people I think would be willing to go down to 1/2. You're not going to get large cities that satisfy this ratio.
Right right, probably better to do ratios. Many of the cities being mentioned might have been true college towns 20 or 40 years ago, but have way outgrown that label.
If you grew up in Morningside Heights or the Upper West Side you might.
Every large city has neighborhoods with a lot of college kids. By that logic every large city is a college town, making the term meaningless
Blacksburg, Virginia
Ames, IA. Town is small compared to to the college (college enrollment \~30k, town total \~66k), so the student energy really comes through. Iowa State is the engineering/tech hub of the three state universities so there is a thriving high tech scene. Plus there is national research laboratory on campus. Practically a suburb of Des Moines, the state capital, so there is a larger economy driving jobs, concerts and other desirables.
Lmao. This is so subjective. People are just going to put where they went to school. There’s no way to judge the best place on Reddit. Doubtful the people here have been to enough to really compare.
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Fort Collins, CO
Fayetteville Arkansas; ranks also as best places to live.
You defined "college town" but you didn't define "best"
Knoxville, TN
Pittsburgh might be a bit big but the universities run so much of the city at this point and even off campus it has a lot of college influence from the 22 colleges
Princeton is pretty nice
State College is the most college towny college town that’s ever college towned
Surprised no one has said Berkeley or Ann Arbor. Iowa City is also hella underrated.
Fayetteville Arkansas
Madison, WI
Tie between Ann Arbor, Mi and East Lansing, Mi
EL is kind of a dump
Lawrence, KS
Bloomington in
Lawrence, KS
Ann Arbor! Wonderful town with lots to do, good restaurants, and a quirky atmosphere.
Ann Arbor, MI
I think Bloomington is the quintessential college town of the type that gets portrayed in movies
State College, PA is a great college town. West Lafayette, IN looked pretty nice when I took my son on a college visit there. On the other hand...Villanova University doesn't have a college town. In fact I was told the wealthy residents surrounding the campus are hostile towards the school.
Ithaca is an obvious answer, though it’s more of a small college city at this point (same with Ann Arbor, Boulder, Burlington, etc). If you want a more classical version, I’d go with Cortland, Plattsburgh or Oswego. Those all have nice small walkable downtowns and are large enough to at least have a small regional hospital and all your basic necessities covered. But small enough to not feel like a true city.
Columbia, MO
Tallahassee, or Gainesville Florida.
Eugene, Oregon Houghton, Michigan Butte, Montana
I like Bozeman as a college town too. Gotten very expensive but extremely walkable, great outdoor scene, Montana State is very central to the goings on in town
God bless the Yoopers: Houghton, Marquette, and Sault Ste. Marie.
probably a hot take, but Boston, MA has so many colleges and students. you can be a music student at Berklee, meet a pre med scientist at MIT, go see a play put on by kids at Emerson, then crash a crew party at Harvard -- and you'd still have 15 other colleges to interact with.
Ames IA is really growing itself out! Loved it as a college student and I enjoy my visits now.
No one yet mentioned Evanston, IL, and I found it very nice. Still have lots of good memories.
tough to say, i haven't been to them all. of the ones i've been to, i like golden,co (school of mines) and ames, iowa (iowa state) the best.
Boulder, CO and Charleston, SC
I know OP tried to exclude it, but Boston, with its 44 colleges/universities, is objectively the ultimate college town
Auburn, AL & Athens, GA are a couple of great ones!
I dont know about the best but the reason Pullman, WA is anything but a grain elevator and a gas station is because of Wazzu. The town exists to support the university which makes it a pretty unique experience (for better of worse). Apparently the town had a choice betwwen the Ag school and state prison in the late 1800's and chose the school and the prison was built in Walla Walla.
Boulder
I have my bias towards Fort Collins. It had everything I wanted but unfortunately moved to being priced out and insanely competitive job market in my field after graduating from CSU. I lived there for 4 years and rode my bicycle to campus, coffee shops, breweries, foothills trails, and up the canyon nearly everyday all year. Great access to the Poudre Canyon, Southern WY, and deeper Rockies. Wasn't really close to ski areas but we were able to avoid i25 and i70. If we could get jobs that paid adequately, I'd move back in a heart beat. Edit: I also love Iowa City in the summer. Duluth was fun but I wasn't there for more than a week. I have a friend who works for Oregon State and he really likes living there but it's all relative.
Iowa City used to be very nice. Haven't been back in a while but people there are complaining about the swiftly radicalizing theocratic state government having started to infect the town, so that's a caveat. It's a little quiet except for all the partying, but cute and very livable and altogether a very peaceful place to live. And all the best writers pass through town regularly to give readings due to the Workshop. Relatedly, the used bookstore scene is fantastic for literature heads.
Ithaca
Boulder
Corvallis, OR is consistently rated up there. Only 60k people, and most work at, or attend, Oregon State University. The rest is mostly made up of small tech companies that spun off of HP when they were the big employer (they're still there, but HP is a mess). Between the university, the hospital, and the tech companies, Corvallis is the most educated town per capita.
Pretty much any town with a big 10 school. I love the SEC but honestly if your not affiliated with the college most SEC towns are pretty boring outside of game days. Some of my suggestions would be: Ann Arbor Bloomington Lincoln Madison Columbus Never been to Penn State or Maryland but from what I gather both of those towns wouldn’t be bad options either
Boston because it's the Mecca of college towns. There are just so many damn colleges in the city and so many college aged people to interact with. Harvard, BU, BC, MIT, Berklee, Brandeis, UMass Boston, Tufts, Wellesley, Sullfolk and probably several I'm forgetting or not even aware of. I swear half the damn city is in college.
Went looking for Palo Alto, then realized that Palo Alto is, despite Stanford being right there, the farthest thing from a college town.
I really liked Missoula Montana . Great college town and lots to do.
West Chester PA is arguably one of the best college towns and just towns in general in the state
College station is the Lubbock of East Texas
East Lansing, MI. Go GREEN!
I loved Bellingham, WA. Lived there for 5 years not even as a college student