The Northeast is known for its good universities/colleges and the towns that surround them. What are your favorite college towns in terms of amenities, collegial feel, urbanization, nightlife....

Here's a few that get my vote:
Cambridge, MA
Amherst, MA
Providence, RI
Ithaca, NY
Princeton, NJ
Annapolis, MD

Princeton. However, with the the close association the northeast has with UVA, it might be appropriate to stretch geography a bit and include Charlottesville.

Buffalo / Amherst - University at Buffalo

College Park, MD most certainly is NOT one of the northeast's best college towns. lol.

With 100+ institutions of higher ed, I say Boston. On a smaller scale, though I've never been there, Hamilton, NY, home of Colgate University, seems like a pleasant place. Colgate has an excellent geography dept, I wouldn't mind studying there! Geographers rule! :)

PHILLY!!!! We're practically an enormous college town. Hell, we have 81 colleges and universities in the metro. Over 20 of which, I believe are within a 10 minute drive of Center City.

I bet you know which city I'm gonna pick. Cornell University and Ithaca College (and a community college in the burbs).

http://ferrario.com/ruether/web_photos/commercial_photos/aerial/67.jpg

http://warmus.com/Cayuga-May-8-02-758_edited.jpg

http://skyscraperpage.com/gallery/data/3164/375ith7-3-4-30.jpg

:)

In my humble opinion, I don't think major metropolitan cities should be considered for this discussion. Of course Boston, NYC, Philly, Bmore, and DC are going to all fit the bill for having great amenities and nightlife.

In my opinion two great collegetowns nearby this area are Towson, MD and Newark, DE

I agree jayson about the city thing, although there are parts of town that I think should be considered. G'town IMO should be considered, it's very nice, as is Greenwich Village, and I don't know about the exact parts of Boston.

I think Amherst is really nice IMO, and if UVA is considered, it is south, but does have a lot of ties in the NE then it's up there and so is Princeton.

Absolutely Georgetown.

How's State College, PA?

It's ehh. It's a good town, very college oriented, it's above average, doesn't have the urban lifestyle, it's secluded, but it's above average among the towns that revolve around the college.

ummm...no biased opinions here.

My vote is Ithaca, but I went to Drexel.

Absolutely Georgetown.
Georgetown is definitely up there. DC in general is a great college town.

With 100+ institutions of higher ed, I say Boston. On a smaller scale, though I've never been there, Hamilton, NY, home of Colgate University, seems like a pleasant place. Colgate has an excellent geography dept, I wouldn't mind studying there! Geographers rule! :)

I would have to cast a strong vote for Hamilton, NY and Colgate U. I went there for my law degree, so I'm a bit biased...

Other beautiful college towns would have to include: Princeton, NJ., Oxford, OH. (Miami U.), Geneseo, NY (SUNY Geneseo), Ithaca, NY (Cornell), and Annapolis, MD. (Naval Acad.).

The most beautiful campus in all of Canada (IMO), is McGill University in Montreal. I used to visit a buddy of mine who went there, and I was absolutely blown away. The girls there were soooo hot! And the campus was pretty nice too..lol

I would have to cast a strong vote for Hamilton, NY and Colgate U. I went there for my law degree, so I'm a bit biased...
I didn't know there was a law school at Colgate, let alone one in Hamilton. :weird:

I didn't know there was a law school at Colgate, let alone one in Hamilton. :weird:

Well, there certainly was a department in the '70's. For some strange reason, they sought to do away with this course of study. When, I have no idea. Guess I haven't been paying attention much since I graduated.

Btw, the law school was at Colgate, (the school)--and Colgate (the school) is in Hamilton (NY)--(the town). Are we straight now?

Well, there certainly was a department in the '70's. For some strange reason, they sought to do away with this course of study. When, I have no idea. Guess I haven't been paying attention much since I graduated.

Btw, the law school was at Colgate, (the school)--and Colgate (the school) is in Hamilton (NY)--(the town). Are we straight now?
Strange. I wonder why Colgate did away with it's law faculty. I definitely wouldn't mind earning a JD there. Nice school/town.

I love Ithaca, The Colleges are great and the town is even better

^Sounds like a lot of Ithaca fans out there. From all the trash talking I hear from Cornell students, you would think it was the 7th circle of hell! I think they're mostly NYC people and Long Islanders who can't stand being more than a few miles away from 5th avenue. Personally I think it's a really nice place except for the bitter cold winters and the disproportionate amount of hippies. Also, it's been experiencing a growth spurt of late, bringing in more retail stores and services.

I heard Ithaca was a hell hole too. Don't get me wrong, can't say anything bad about Cornell.

Btw, I keep hearing good things about Princeton. Must be a great college town.

About Philly, I dunno, crime seems pretty bad. From what I understand, UPenn beefed up it's security big time. I think there's a problem when students are being murdered. This goes Johns Hopkins in Baltimore too. Both schools have bad histories concerning campus security. Now, they are being looked at as models. Too bad people had to get murdered before things were improved. :(

Boston. It is a collegiate mecca. Boston is also the city with the most college rated in the top 10 I believe. Almost no city can compare with the colleges in Boston such as Harvard, Wentworth, BU, BC, MIT, NU, and many more. Boston average about 300,000 students (or so I heard) per year going to college here and the surrounding colleges. Boston contains around 57 colleges. According to Malo's list in "America's Stupidest Cities" thread, Boston is rank number 2 (but I don't think Minneapolis can actually beat Boston) so I believe that Boston is the town with the best colleges.

^ Nah, man, Boston has 100+ colleges and universities. Freakin' shitload.

Colleges and universities

See also the list of colleges and universities in Massachusetts.

The Boston area is well-known for its colleges and universities.

Boston College was the first institution of higher education to be founded in Boston, though it moved from the city's South End to then-rural Chestnut Hill to escape Boston's rapid urbanization in the late nineteenth century.

Harvard University, the nation's oldest university, was founded in Cambridge, where it maintains its main campus, though the bulk of its current land holdings lie in Boston.

The greater Boston area is home to over 100 colleges. In addition to schools in Boston proper, including Berklee College of Music, the Longy School of Music, Boston Conservatory, the Boston Architectural Center, Boston University, Emerson College, Emmanuel College, Fisher College, the Massachusetts College of Art, the New England Conservatory of Music, Northeastern University, Simmons College, and Suffolk University, surrounding cities host Babson College, Bentley College, Brandeis University, Hellenic College, Lesley University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Merrimack College, Pine Manor College, Regis College, Tufts University and Wellesley College, among others.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston

^ Nah, man, Boston has 100+ colleges and universities. Freakin' shitload.

Colleges and universities

See also the list of colleges and universities in Massachusetts.

The Boston area is well-known for its colleges and universities.

Boston College was the first institution of higher education to be founded in Boston, though it moved from the city's South End to then-rural Chestnut Hill to escape Boston's rapid urbanization in the late nineteenth century.

Harvard University, the nation's oldest university, was founded in Cambridge, where it maintains its main campus, though the bulk of its current land holdings lie in Boston.

The greater Boston area is home to over 100 colleges. In addition to schools in Boston proper, including Berklee College of Music, the Longy School of Music, Boston Conservatory, the Boston Architectural Center, Boston University, Emerson College, Emmanuel College, Fisher College, the Massachusetts College of Art, the New England Conservatory of Music, Northeastern University, Simmons College, and Suffolk University, surrounding cities host Babson College, Bentley College, Brandeis University, Hellenic College, Lesley University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Merrimack College, Pine Manor College, Regis College, Tufts University and Wellesley College, among others.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston

Never trust Emporis!!!!! :)

Never trust Emporis!!!!! :)
Shitload nonetheless. :lol:

The one thing I don't like about Colgate or Cornell is that they are located in the middle of nowhere. I went to school in the middle of nowhere and couldn't wait to get out. I need to live in an urbanized area above at least 200,000 or so.

Boston overall is a great town for colleges, but I wouldn't consider it a college town, maybe the specific districts or parts of town that are good for the colleges though.

The one thing I don't like about Colgate or Cornell is that they are located in the middle of nowhere. I went to school in the middle of nowhere and couldn't wait to get out. I need to live in an urbanized area above at least 200,000 or so.

I can certainly understand where you're coming from with regard to your statement, but for my two cents, I absolutely loved Colgate/Hamilton. It also didn't hurt that at the time, Cazenovia College was right down the road, and was an all-girls school (then). Weekends were wild!

Plus, if we really wanted to get away from the rural atmosphere for a bit, we simply drove into Syracuse and partied along Marshall Street. It was the drive home that killed us...lol

newark, delaware is a fairly nice town. i'm a little wary of the local government and its power (and sometimes its incompetence too). i don't see people wielding their authority like that even in wilmington. the city has too powerful of a local government in my opinion. i like the government to lay back and handle problems only when necessary. newark it seems like things are done just so they can be done, or so that someone in the local government has a little more influence, or just so everyone knows that they decide what goes on. for instance, the dumbest thing i know that the newark city council did was a couple years ago. they voted on the patriot act. since the patriot act is federal law, it is illegal for a government to ignore it, contradict it, etc. but that didn't stop the newark city council from voting on it. they voted on "whether they liked it or not". the final tally was 5-4, with opposition to the patriot act winning. so their official statement was that the newark city council was against the patriot act. my question is, dud they have to have an official vote just to see who liked it? can't they just express their opinions on their own? why did they have to waste everyone's time (and probably their tax dollars too) with an official vote that does not matter in the first place?

but enough about the government. if you put the government in the back of your mind (which i do until i hear about something stupid), and concentrate on just the city, it is a very nice city. the university of delaware campus is arguably one of the nicest campuses in the country, with beautiful georgian buildings, stately old trees, flowerbeds tucked into corners, etc. the city has a good nightlife, enough to make ud one of the 30 best party schools in the country (ud used to be in the top 5 every year until about 5 years ago, until when the school got a grant to curb drinking; but the partying is bouncing back to normal levels). there are many close-to-run-down houses that students eat up for the school year; however, many new apartment buildings and houses have been built on sites that used to have old factories or houses, and so the city is slowly replacing the crumby houses with nicer ones. lastly, newark has a typical small-town main street, but with a little more traffic and no stores that wouldn't fit in (so you won't see a awn care store on main street, or something like that).

newark, delaware is a fairly nice town. i'm a little wary of the local government and its power (and sometimes its incompetence too). i don't see people wielding their authority like that even in wilmington. the city has too powerful of a local government in my opinion. i like the government to lay back and handle problems only when necessary. newark it seems like things are done just so they can be done, or so that someone in the local government has a little more influence, or just so everyone knows that they decide what goes on. for instance, the dumbest thing i know that the newark city council did was a couple years ago. they voted on the patriot act. since the patriot act is federal law, it is illegal for a government to ignore it, contradict it, etc. but that didn't stop the newark city council from voting on it. they voted on "whether they liked it or not". the final tally was 5-4, with opposition to the patriot act winning. so their official statement was that the newark city council was against the patriot act. my question is, dud they have to have an official vote just to see who liked it? can't they just express their opinions on their own? why did they have to waste everyone's time (and probably their tax dollars too) with an official vote that does not matter in the first place?

It seems like all of Delaware is heading in that direction. I plan on moving back to the Newark area once I'm done with grad school here, but I have absolutely no plans to move back to Delaware.
My latest gripe about Newark is that they just got red light cameras and they had road signs up saying "Red light Cameras Coming Soon!!!" as if we were excited about it

I'm planning on moving to Cecil county maryland which gives you all the benefits of that area with none of the harsh authoritarianism.

It seems like all of Delaware is heading in that direction. I plan on moving back to the Newark area once I'm done with grad school here, but I have absolutely no plans to move back to Delaware.
My latest gripe about Newark is that they just got red light cameras and they had road signs up saying "Red light Cameras Coming Soon!!!" as if we were excited about it

I'm planning on moving to Cecil county maryland which gives you all the benefits of that area with none of the harsh authoritarianism.

the city of newark is alright, but it just doesn't fit in when the state has a laizze-faire policy, and lets things run their course. i'm used to the county cops not doing a thing in the suburbs, and barely making their presence known. same for the city of wilmington. the cops don't patrol north wilmington, like maybe near ps middle school, too much because a place like that isn't that bad. and i-95 is virtually untouched by state troopers. i'm more used to the policy of "we know what we can and can't do, so leave us alone". the city of newark just needs to back off a little.

Too many farms in DE for me. Great schools on campus, but nothing outside. Boston has many schools, but I agree not to include big cities as college towns even if they may be. And the hippies in Ithaca make it a prime location for some of the wildest parties North of Cans-&-poon NM.

Cambridge Mass has to top the list. It has MIT and Harvard and a few more that I can't think of! WOW!!!! plus it has the "T" Red Line subway, Harvard Square, The Charles River, stores, restaurants, book stores, movie theaters and it is right next to Boston. What more could you ask for???

I must also cast my vote for Cambridge MA/Boston.

It's pretty hard to top Cambridge and Boston in this category.

I'm just a "little" late to this thread.

I can't believe nobody mentioned Syracuse!!!

Syracuse was THE place to go to from Cornell (Ithaca) and Colgate, among others!

It's a really great "small" "big" city!!!

For its size, Ithaca definitely gets my vote with Cornell University and Ithaca College.

Buffalo is a really good one, too, for its size as well, with Canisius College, SUNY Buffalo (UB), Buffalo State College, Medaille College, D'Youville College, and Erie Community College.

Nobody mentions Rochester NY? It beats Ithaca, Syracuse, Buffalo and probably a lot of others on your list...by far. Personally I prefer it even better than Cambridge...but thats because I'm biased.

I'm surprised Worcester, MA didn't make the list.

Nobody mentions Rochester NY? It beats Ithaca, Syracuse, Buffalo and probably a lot of others on your list...by far. Personally I prefer it even better than Cambridge...but thats because I'm biased.


are you kidding?

I'm surprised Worcester, MA didn't make the list.

The thing about Worcester is that it's more or less a bedroom town for people working inside the 495 belt. Yeah, it has some excellent colleges, but the city is stuck between Amherst/Northampton and Boston (both figuratively and literally): Amherst/Northampton exist almost entirely to support the 70,000 or so students who study at the Five Colleges and thus have entire down towns dedicated to servicing students, while Boston is a world-class city with a massive economy independent of education. Worcester is neither of these and as a result ends up feeling like a mid-sized city which happens to have some reputable colleges and universities, but without the whole "student village" feel that you find in Amherst and Northampton.

If you go to Umass and you don't feel like staying on campus on a Friday night, where do you go? NoHo.

If you go to BU and you don't feel like staying on campus on a Friday night, where do you go? You're in central Boston: the world is your oyster.

If you go to Clark or Holy Cross and you don't feel like staying on campus on a Friday night, where do you go? To visit your friends in Boston or at Umass - you sure as hell don't stay in Worcester!

are you kidding?


Ok the Cambridge part may have been a joke :)...but I stand by the rest of the statement.

Ithaca!

Morgantown, WV - West Virginia University.

Not sure if it is part of the northeast or mid-atlantic area, but is a stones throw away from the Pennsylvania border. I guess geographically you can put Morgantown in either region.

Morgantown has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation 3.9%, and is quickly becoming one of the fastest growing college towns/communities in the nation. It has a population of about 30,000, and when you add the 29,000 students that attend there 3/4 of the year, Morgantown turns into a nice cozy small-city of about 60,000 people.

Great town if you like the outdoors, as there are plenty of hiking/biking trails, camp sites, rivers & streams for fishing, awesome views of natural surroundings in upper Appalachia. Morgantown supplies a very thriving night life with good restaurants and bars, and has top tier NCAA Division I sports teams with Mountaineer football and basketball. Tailgating is awesome on Saturdays; I know I went to WVU! Not to mention, it's a pretty darn good looking campus and town.

I think of WVU as a Northeastern/Mid-Atlantic university (and it certainly gets most of its out-of-state students from PA, MD, VA, etc. I also consider much of northern WV to be part of the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic (Wheeling/Northern Panhandle... north-central around Morgantown and Clarksburg and the eastern Panhandle around Martinsburg)

Morgantown is also part of the Pittsburgh Economic Area (as defined by Bureau of Economic Analysis) and the Pittsburgh Designated Market Area... so it identifies with the "Northern Appalachian" region of the "Interior Northeast".

It's a nice town... sorta similar in scale and environment to State College, PA (Penn State University)... though Morgantown is closer to a major city... State College is about as remote as you can get in the Northeast

...

the Wall Street Journal profiled Morgantown, WV yesterday
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123783142333116161.html

As an overall package, it has gotta be Boston. 2 of the best Universities on the planet are there(MIT and Harvard) not to mention quality schools like Boston U and Boston College in addition to dozens of other schools.

Hanover, NH perhaps...

Hanover, NH perhaps...

Actually, this post is full of win and accuracy. End thread.

the northeast has tons of great college towns.

the northeast has tons of great college towns.

like Alfred, NY... home of Alfred University

i knew someone that went there. upstate alone has tons of college tonws; clinton, oswego, ithaca, albany, hamilton, potsdam, geneseo, plattsburgh, oneanta, cazanovia, morrisville etc..

i knew someone that went there. upstate alone has tons of college tonws; clinton, oswego, ithaca, albany, hamilton, potsdam, geneseo, plattsburgh, oneanta, cazanovia, morrisville etc..

don't forget about Olean... home of St. Bonaventure University!

I choose Ithaca, hands down!!! Cornell has Collegetown ... and add that to Downtown Ithaca and you have a tremendous amount of things to do. Bars, clubs, diners, coffeehouses, etc etc etc. There are the Falls...state parks, wineries. Gas stations and convenience stores deliver just about anything including beer and cigarettes. You can find food deliveries til 2am...or you could drive to a 24 hour place to eat any day. Sports galore (Cornell or Ithaca) and you have short drives to larger cities such as Syracuse for some semi-professional sports. It is an amazing beautiful are and no other college town is like it!!!

Princeton is easily the best college town that I've been to. The architecture is amazing, both for the college and the town, and it seems like there are more things to do than in other college towns.

Princeton is easily the best college town that I've been to. The architecture is amazing, both for the college and the town, and it seems like there are more things to do than in other college towns.

what is the best college town in Delaware?

what is the best college town in Delaware?

Newark, by default; it's the only one.

Newark, by default; it's the only one.

what about Dover and Wilmington?

what about Dover and Wilmington?

No, they're not college towns.