College Towns more widely known than larger cities within the same state (better, largest)

[Southern Soul Bro]

What are some college towns that are more commonly known household names (because of the college) nationally than other larger towns within the same state??? List the the college towns and the less popular larger cities.

Georgia:
Athens is more commonly known then Columbus, Macon and Augusta.

Alabama:
Tuscaloosa is more known than Huntsville IMO.

[Iconographer]

Charlottesville, VA>Roanoke, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth
Chapel Hill, NC>Greensboro, Durham, Winston-Salem
Ann Arbor, MI>Ypsilanti, Flint, Grand Rapids
Berkeley, CA>Fresno, Bakersfield

[tmac9wr]

Though this may sound odd...I think you could make an argument for Madison>Milwaukee.

I feel like Madison gets a huge amount of publicity...but at the same time, maybe I'm just listening to ESPN Radio too much.

[Toxic Toast]

In Indiana, Bloomington, South Bend, and maybe West Lafayette are more well known than Evansville.

Champaign is more well known than Decatur.

Columbia, MO is more well known than Springfield, MO.

Oxford, MS is more well known than Meridian and Tupelo.

State College/Happy Valley is more well known than Erie.

[Sharks With Lasers]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

Charlottesville, VA>Roanoke, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth
Chapel Hill, NC>Greensboro, Durham, Winston-Salem
Ann Arbor, MI>Ypsilanti, Flint, Grand Rapids
Berkeley, CA>Fresno, Bakersfield

Ann Arbor is much larger than Ypsilanti, about the same size as Flint, and probably about equally well-known as Grand Rapids for what it's worth.

[adavi215]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

Charlottesville, VA>Roanoke, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth
Chapel Hill, NC>Greensboro, Durham, Winston-Salem
Ann Arbor, MI>Ypsilanti, Flint, Grand Rapids
Berkeley, CA>Fresno, Bakersfield

I agree with Berkeley and Ann Arbor. But no way is Chapel Hill more known than Greensboro, Durham and Winston-Salem. I'll give it Asheville, Wilmington, Fayetteville, and High Point, and definitely Gastonia.

[bhj867]

Champaign is a good example. Almost as equally well known as Peoria and Springfield. and according to the census 3 years ago overtook Bloomington in population.

[OrlFlaUsa]

Gainesville (Florida Gators) is better known than Jacksonville which is much much larger. Any thoughts??

[Southern Soul Bro]

There's 'lots of interesting views in here.

Charlottesville - Newport News, Norfolk .....is it really more popular?

I dont think Madison is more widely known than Milwaukee, because of the pro teams, beer, and the sitcoms Happy Day's and Laverne and Shirley

I dont know about Chapell Hill compared to Greensboro, Durham and Winston-Salem.

adavi215, I'm a little shocked you say with certainty Chapell Hill isnt more well known than those cities, but you'll give it Asheville and Wilmington?? Arent they equally or more well known than Durham and Winston-Salem themselves?

Also Gainesville to JAX....I'm not sure. I thought about that. I still think Jacksonville is more well known.

I think Gainesville is more well known than Cape Coral, Clearwater and St. Pete (maybe) though. Tallahassee over St. Pete as well.

To be a much smaller city and metro, I'll say Tallahassee is atleast equally as known as JAX or more.

[jsimms3]

Personally I don't see how a college town can be more widely known than a city 5-6 times its size that is growing more rapidly via immigration than most metros in the country.

Unless your life revolves around college football, there is no way that Athens is more well known than Macon or Augusta (the Masters is in Augusta and Macon might be equal to Athens). There is also no way Tuscaloosa is more well known than Huntsville, a city that is larger, growing fairly rapidly, and is home to a major research park and a NASA space center. There is absolutely no way Charlottesville is more well known than Norfolk, the lead city of a 1.7 million person metro and the nation's largest military base and a huge port that serves global commerce (and VA Beach right there).

I also agree that Chapel Hill the city is not more widely known than Durham, Winston Salem (RJ Reynolds, Winston cigarettes, BB&T), or Asheville (anyone who summers or vacations in the mountains, which is a lot of people, knows Asheville...and Grove Park Inn and Biltmore House and Vineyards). Chapel Hill to people outside of NC = a school, not a city.

I'm also not so sure Ann Arbor is more well known than Grand Rapids, a decently major city. Ann Arbor is a beautiful college town (probably my favorite) but most people think of Ann Arbor almost as a school rather than a city.

Madison is also definitely not more widely known or talked about than Milwaukee. PBR, Miller, sausage, etc etc etc and Milwaukee is about 1.6 million people and an old city with tons of history. Milwaukee also has 3 professional sports teams, including the Brewers and the Bucks! It is absurd to think more people talk about and refer to Madison than Milwaukee.

I agree with Toxic Toast's analysis the most, but I would argue that Tupelo is more widely known than Oxford and Springfield is more widely known than Columbia.

Also, perhaps the most absurd is Gainesville being more widely known than Jacksonville and Tallahassee being more widely known than Jax. Jax was just ranked the 24th most heavily sought after retirement city in America with 76 percent of seniors coming from out of state (usually Tri-State) and Jax is growing at about 20% a decade and is already 1.4 million people. It has a prof sports team, the TPC, a major port, Mayo Clinic, and beaches, as well as St. Augustine/Ponte Vedra.