how do you compare college towns? (Santa Barbara, Vista: homes, neighborhoods, buy)

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by BeauCharles

There are really only three "college towns" that fit the classic mold in California. Davis, Chico and SLO. There are others that have universities/colleges, but they either haven't been there that terribly long as to have a great impact on the city's growth and character or they're close to or part of a large metro area (like Stanford).

Oh, there is most certainly a fourth...(Happy Halloween! Don't fall off the cliff!)

[Glenview94602]

I'm a Davis grad, but what about Humboldt State and Arcata in the far north?

[BeauCharles]

Originally Posted by bigdumbgod

Oh, there is most certainly a fourth...(Happy Halloween! Don't fall off the cliff!)

Isla Vista is the location of UCSB. That pit is NOT a college town in the vein most people think of (and yeah, I had a good friend who went there and I visited it many times - Chico or Davis its not). Its just part of greater Santa Barbara (and that's not a college town either).

[the city]

Originally Posted by BeauCharles

Isla Vista is the location of UCSB. That pit is NOT a college town in the vein most people think of (and yeah, I had a good friend who went there and I visited it many times - Chico or Davis its not). Its just part of greater Santa Barbara (and that's not a college town either).

So my question, what makes one campus better than another? Just the academics?

Seems to me, what people are saying, Davis SLO and Santa Cruz are the only true college towns left that didn't eventually become another metro.

Because Berkeley and Santa Barbara now have 90,000 population+

[Deezus]

Originally Posted by BeauCharles

Isla Vista is the location of UCSB. That pit is NOT a college town in the vein most people think of (and yeah, I had a good friend who went there and I visited it many times - Chico or Davis its not). Its just part of greater Santa Barbara (and that's not a college town either).

Originally Posted by the city

So my question, what makes one campus better than another? Just the academics?

Seems to me, what people are saying, Davis SLO and Santa Cruz are the only true college towns left that didn't eventually become another metro.

Because Berkeley and Santa Barbara now have 90,000 population+

So if a town is part of a greater metropolitan area it can't be a college town? So that means Cambridge, Massachusetts isn't a college town because it's adjacent to Boston...

Berkeley has much more overall going on for a college student in terms of activities geared towards that demographic than little Chico does. Isla Vista is a small town(albeit unincorporated) that revolves entirely around the college--the small downtown strip is entirely businesses catering to college students--how is that not a college town? It doesn't meet some unspoken charm factor?

As well Arcata is a college town... That's all it's known for--you go in the summer and it's dead compared to when schools is in term. Santa Cruz is a college town with a more mixed identity as a tourist town(and bedroom community to the Valley these days), but it's a college town as well.

I didn't realize the criteria around defining what is a college town had become so strict...

[Radical347]

Originally Posted by CA4Now

Most people don't chose a college by its town. Chico State could never compare to UC Davis. The city it's in is secondary.

You can't be serious about health food markets.

Maybe shouldn't be the #1 reason, but it should be pretty close.

You're in class a couple of hours per day, but you're in the college's town 24/7.

[Deezus]

Originally Posted by CA4Now

You can't be serious about health food markets.

When I was in college about a decade ago, hardly anyone actually in college shopped at the health food store or fancy market--we were all too broke. Those places are pricey. We shopped at the place where you saved cash by bagging your own groceries that had the cheapest beer prices in town. The people that shop at health food stores were rich hippies and upwardly mobile transplants.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by Radical347

You're in class a couple of hours per day...

...and in the library studying a couple more, in the apartment complex a lot more, fixing meals, doing laundry, visiting friends a few more, etc.

[MIKEETC]

Originally Posted by the city

I am just wondering what set of factors make a college town more desirable than others?

Seems to me than 2 main requirements are:

-a large university (roughly 15,000 students and up)
-presence of lots of coffee shops and health food markets

This seems to only stand in CA for the health food markets. Seems Southern and more conservative college towns don't have them.

Another common factor seems to be how nice the downtown is.

But then, other than academics, how do you say one college is nicer than the other? Quality of dorms, school gym, amount of clubs? Honestly I don't see much difference between Davis and Chico. One has a bigger college and both have similar weather.

Hot, single women.

[all other factors are secondary]

[Radical347]

Originally Posted by CA4Now

...and in the library studying a couple more, in the apartment complex a lot more, fixing meals, doing laundry, visiting friends a few more, etc.

Point taken. But, if you want to study somewhere other than the library once in awhile (or every day), you might go to a coffee shop in town. You need to get the raw ingredients for many of the meals from a store or farmer's market in town. And a lot of you and your friends' social lives may be determined by the happenings in town.