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.
What I really want doesn't exist. I want all the conveniences, quirkiness, cultural opportunities and artistic outlets, diversity, and the pedestrian oriented life of NYC, but in a town of 100,000 people. Sadly, I don't see that happening anytime soon (the smaller towns just don't offer that sort of lifestyle). Hence why I keep slogging it out here in my large urban area where, for example, last night I was able to listen to 3 hours of avant-garde music in a hidden art gallery in the back of a Chinese restaurant for $5 and get a taxi home in 8 minutes.
Tone509 - I lived in a college town for 3 years. I couldn't wait to move out of it. It felt like everything revolved around the school and almost everyone was in their mid-twenties. And there is a certain naive smugness about a lot college students that sometimes gets on my nerves. It was okay for a time, but not for me.
I respect your feelings on your experience, j33. I haven't lived in a college town since, well, I was in college. I'm not opposed to returning to one for the reasons you posted about for your ideal community. However, from what you shared, I see that there could be potential drawbacks as well.
Over the years, I've lived in two towns/cities that would be considered "college towns." Neither time did I feel overwhelmed by the students.
Providence, RI - I worked at the medical school, some 5.5 miles from the campus and rarely found myself surrounded by the students, except my own and they were postdoctoral students with whom I enjoyed many a good moment. The city has about 125,000 people and it is easy to get lost!
Williamsburg, MA - I was surrounded by 5 colleges, and I don't think I run into more than a few students, and again, only when I wanted to or if I headed closer to U-MA. The county seat is Northampton, with about 30,000 people; my town was about 1250 and rising (1996).
I am likely to look for another city/town with similar characteristics but nothing offers the plethora of goodies a big city offers. All that food delivered!
I chose Other, because my husband and I have figured out what we like:
Small town urban.
We are done with big cities, but neither of us are crazy about the 'burbs, and rural requires too much driving.
I myself chose regular urban, but I totally know what you mean by "small town urban" and some of the descriptions folks have given to describe it (as well as those who mentioned "Mayberry" or "college towns").
(If anyone's from NC, and they know the town of Carrboro, then they know what this description is like.)
I'm convinced half of the people who end up stuck in suburbia really wanted this, but had trouble finding it, and thought suburbia was the next-best thing.
I'm not from NC (but lived there for a short time in the early 60s) and was recently out your way: Raleigh. Not a bad place by my reckoning!
Quote:
Originally Posted by RaleighRob
I myself chose regular urban, but I totally know what you mean by "small town urban" and some of the descriptions folks have given to describe it (as well as those who mentioned "Mayberry" or "college towns").
(If anyone's from NC, and they know the town of Carrboro, then they know what this description is like.)
I'm convinced half of the people who end up stuck in suburbia really wanted this, but had trouble finding it, and thought suburbia was the next-best thing.
Perhaps east-coast college towns have a different feel to them than Midwest college towns given the general population density of the east coast. Because I honestly felt very trapped in the college town I lived in while I was in college and for the six months I lived there after I finished school, it was a small town in the middle of nowhere surrounding by farming communities and anything that wasn't associated with the University extraordinarily rural and farming oriented (which for all of its beauty, I've never been able to relate to).
heh
J33, you cracked me up with your description of college kids' naive smugness.
I think there can be a bit of truth to that description, though I do not think it completely permeates every student body.
I do like the youthful energy found in college towns; maybe it's just nostalgia on my part but it might also have to do with live music, indie flicks and even the naive smugness, which sometimes I find endearing.
RaleighRob
I think you are right, some folks who embrace the 'burbs might be better off in a small town, but just don't know it. The job thing might make it difficult, though.
We are wrestling with that right now.
I hate to sound like a broken record, but just as there are suburbs and suburbs, there are college towns and college towns.
I loved Champaign, IL when I first went there, but eventually I couldn't stand it. Too insular, too much sameness, no diversity of thought. Everyone was a liberal. Pretty much everything in that town revolves around the University of Illinois. Businesses that offer terrible service stay in business because of rapid student turnover. A lot of hostility towards the students by the "townies". Sort of biting the hand that feeds you, though I could understand their perspective as well.
Boulder, CO on the other hand has much more going for it than just the U. of Colorado. Boulder actually has some relationship to Denver (an exurb, perhaps?). Many people in Boulder work in Denver. Many people in Denver work in Boulder, and not just at CU. There are a lot of high-tech companies in Boulder, though that term is a bit trite. Unfortunately, Boulder also has some of the bad things about college towns: lack of diversity of thought, lifestyle based on college-age people, etc.
College towns usually have arts and sports offerings that are not found in other cities their size, particularly if they are fairly small cities.
So the_pines, do you consider what Pittnurse describes here as an exurb?
Probably. It can depend on the geographic location also. Im not to fond of really college towns where the biggest demographic is all young adults. I like everything balanced. You need old people for wisdom and understanding. They're going to be your engineers and such. You need young people for vibrance and taking over for the ones who cant do it anymore. You need kids to dream big and keep people honest. It could make it boring I suppose but I would rather be busy staying healthly and active than partying or entertaining myself all the time. I also like a LOT of natural scenery. I like fresh air and plants. I havent invested as much time as I would like studying plants and gardening as I have animals and geography. My biggest concern is my girls schooling right now. In bigger cities they will face to much peer pressure. Im smaller cities they might not have the incentive. I would like for them to be able to play outside without having to worry about something happening to them. So I guess I would rather live outside a city and drive to visit it then the other way around.
Last edited by the_pines; 02-21-2007 at 06:17 PM..
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.