What are the best college towns, based on collegiate feeling, attractiveness? How about Madison, Ann Arbor, Charlottesville, Chapel Hill, Princeton, Athens, Boulder, Austin (not necessarily in this order).....and isn't it sad that there are no real college towns in the nation-state that is California (maybe because Cal, Stanford, UCLA, and SC are all metro area schools).
Best, most attractive college towns
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Austin, College Station, Baton Rouge, Berkeley, Westwood, Gainesville.
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Cambridge, Gainesville, New Orleans, Burlington (VT)
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And Boston of course (the area that extends between BU and BC along Commonwealth Ave, that has to be the highest number of students concentrated in one area ANYWHERE)
Gainesvile, FL is an attractive college town? Haven't heard of that before. Also, there are some cities I would consider slightly too large to be considered a college town - Austin & New Orleans. If those cities would be included - Atlanta for that matter could be, I've seen somewhere where the city has one of the largest college populations.
My picks - Boulder, CO & Athens, GA
My picks - Boulder, CO & Athens, GA
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What about...Lexington, Ky
Boston/Cambridge is a huge college town, but its also a big city. I would consider a college town to be a town where the college or colleges are the central point of the town. But damn is there a great college feel in Boston. You got Northeastern, MIT, Harvard, BC, BU, Emerson, Berkley, Bunker Hill CC 
)) to name just a few
)) to name just a fewFrom Big Ten country:
other than the obvious (Ann Arbor and Madison), some other special places:
Bloomington: the limestone, rustic, leafy IU campus almost has a private school air about with, without the huge institituional type buildings that typify many state universities blends into a town that combines midwestern and southern charm in a hill country that many would find hard to believe is in Indiana. People are "breaking away" to go there.
Iowa City: hilly, wholesome, quaint, victorian, yet with its own brand of liberal sophistication, lots of great shops, restaurants, and bars. The Iowa campus sprawls on both sides of the river, seamlessly blending into the surrounding neighborhoods.
Evanston: once staid and conservative, a Chicago-induced building boom has created the area's best suburban downtown with a critical mass of high rise condos, great restaurants, high quality stores. Northwestern's beautiful campus starts downtown and spreads to the lakefront, its students enjoying a vibrancy they used to have to go into the city to get.
Hyde Park: though technically a neighborhood and not a college town, the home of former Big Ten member Univ. of Chicago is a leafy, intellectual bastion on the city's south side, with bookstores dominating the campus area more than bars. The magnificent gothic campus on the broad Midway and the charm of the large homes and quality apartments in what was once a 19th century suburb of Chicago are an unbeatable pair.
other than the obvious (Ann Arbor and Madison), some other special places:
Bloomington: the limestone, rustic, leafy IU campus almost has a private school air about with, without the huge institituional type buildings that typify many state universities blends into a town that combines midwestern and southern charm in a hill country that many would find hard to believe is in Indiana. People are "breaking away" to go there.
Iowa City: hilly, wholesome, quaint, victorian, yet with its own brand of liberal sophistication, lots of great shops, restaurants, and bars. The Iowa campus sprawls on both sides of the river, seamlessly blending into the surrounding neighborhoods.
Evanston: once staid and conservative, a Chicago-induced building boom has created the area's best suburban downtown with a critical mass of high rise condos, great restaurants, high quality stores. Northwestern's beautiful campus starts downtown and spreads to the lakefront, its students enjoying a vibrancy they used to have to go into the city to get.
Hyde Park: though technically a neighborhood and not a college town, the home of former Big Ten member Univ. of Chicago is a leafy, intellectual bastion on the city's south side, with bookstores dominating the campus area more than bars. The magnificent gothic campus on the broad Midway and the charm of the large homes and quality apartments in what was once a 19th century suburb of Chicago are an unbeatable pair.
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Austin is great, if you like hip stuff.
Oooh, and personally, I like the area around Rice University in HOU ( does West U count as a college town? RU is outside of it, but still ) I love that area. Huge trees, nice shops, diverse architecture, close to the med center and museum district, etc.
Oooh, and personally, I like the area around Rice University in HOU ( does West U count as a college town? RU is outside of it, but still ) I love that area. Huge trees, nice shops, diverse architecture, close to the med center and museum district, etc.
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OH, ic....
Austin is a college town. It only takes one day to figure that out. Austin revolves around the UT campus. The major sports teams in Austin is the Longhorns. The most active individuals in the community usually have some ties to UT. And basically if UT didn't exist in Austin, it would be another boring ol' city.
I'd say with as many colleges as Boston has it could probably constitute a college town too, but it is far more important than that.
I'd say with as many colleges as Boston has it could probably constitute a college town too, but it is far more important than that.
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