Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
the best, most "collegiate" of college towns are found outside major metropolitan areas. think of places like Charlottesville, Chapel Hill, Athens, Oxford, Bloomington, Madison, Ann Arbor, Iowa City, Lawrence, Austin, Boulder, Eugene...I'll grant you Austin has become major metro as of late, but traditionally it was more college town. And Ann Arbor is metro only in the sense that it is the fringe of metro Detroit
So what about college towns that really are smack in the heart of a major metro, basically suburban in nature, but somehow manage to create their own environment to a degree, that bubble that really does make them look, feel, and act like a real college town.
Which one of that group wins the aware for "The Nation's Best College Town In A Metropolitan Area. I'm thinking municipalities here, but, of course, I would be open to considering city neighborhoods that function like towns and offer a real sense of the collegiate........i.e. Hyde Park (Univ. of Chicago) or Westwood (UCLA).
East Lansing MI would be a good fit, except that it is in a mid sized metro.
i agree East Lansing is a very good college town, but I was really thinking more along the lines of "major metro". thus I was not thinking of places like Madison, Austin, or Columbus because they are hardly major metro.
I'm thinking more along the lines of Cambridge, Chestnut Hill, College Park MD, Coral Gables, Evanston, Univ Pk TX, Tempe, Norman, Berkeley, Palo Alto. each of these has a major university, but is located smack dab in the midst of a major metro area. By that list, I am not suggesting they are "the best".....I'm merely using them to illustrate the type of places I'm thinking of.
Lowell, MA? UMass Lowell now pretty much dominates the City, about 15,000 students in a city of 105,000. River Hawks Hockey gets a lot of press in local papers/radio stations. Its on the Lowell line Commuter rail into Boston (about 25 miles north), it may be too far away from Boston though.
Villinova Township is close to Philly and is a college town.
The problem I have with Fenway/Brighton in Boston or UCity in Philly is they are not dominated by 1 university. Fenway does not feel like a college town because BU, Northeastern, Simmons, Wentworth, Mass Art, Wheelock, and Emmanuel all in one area doesn't allow any one college to dominate in a way that one would in a typical college towns (such as State College, PA)
the best, most "collegiate" of college towns are found outside major metropolitan areas. think of places like Charlottesville, Chapel Hill, Athens, Oxford, Bloomington, Madison, Ann Arbor, Iowa City, Lawrence, Austin, Boulder, Eugene...I'll grant you Austin has become major metro as of late, but traditionally it was more college town. And Ann Arbor is metro only in the sense that it is the fringe of metro Detroit
So what about college towns that really are smack in the heart of a major metro, basically suburban in nature, but somehow manage to create their own environment to a degree, that bubble that really does make them look, feel, and act like a real college town.
Which one of that group wins the aware for "The Nation's Best College Town In A Metropolitan Area. I'm thinking municipalities here, but, of course, I would be open to considering city neighborhoods that function like towns and offer a real sense of the collegiate........i.e. Hyde Park (Univ. of Chicago) or Westwood (UCLA).
Chapel Hill is on the edge of (actually, one of the "points" of) the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill metro, otherwise known as the "Research Triangle" or more commonly "The Triangle"; which has a metro population of about 2 million.
The areas around Vanderbilt in Nashville feel very young/collegiate. Belmont is right there too so lots of young people and businesses that cater to young people.
Morningside Heights (where Columbia is located) is dominated by the university. It doesn't have a traditional college town feel, but it definitely feels distinct from other neighborhoods in NYC.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
