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Big XII, if we're still counting that as a Power 5 Conference:
Austin
Norman
Morgantown
Lawrence
Stillwater
Manhattan
Fort Worth (Only ranked this low because it's a large city just west of a major city, Dallas. There is nothing of that "quaint" feeling in Fort Worth on TCU's campus. Austin gets a pass for being so weird and eclectic.)
Ames
Lubbock
Waco
I'll do the ACC since I grew up in NC and went to UNC (bias revealed). My rankings are based on where I think a student would have the most enjoyable college experience. I tended to rank higher places where students have their own section of town, lots of college bars, good energy, etc. I also gave points to the overall niceness of the town/city where the college is located.
ACC:
College Town/Small City:
1/2- Chapel Hill, Charlottesville
3/4- Blacksburg, Clemson
5 - Winston Salem
6 - Durham
7- Tallahassee
8- Syracuse
Laramie (as much as I hate Wyoming it's most definitely better than...)
Fresno
I think I'd move Fort Collins down to fourth with San Diego and Honolulu taking 1st and 2nd. Then I'd move San Jose up to 3rd, it's a very popular place to go right now with the biggest downside being COL. I'd easily put Vegas over Albuquerque and Reno as well (even though the UNLV campus specificially isn't as nice as the others). You are spot on with Laramie and then Fresno in dead last.
1. College Park aka DC
2. Evanston aka Chicago
3. Minneapolis
4. Ann Arbor
5. Madison
6. New Brunswick
7. Columbus
8. Lincoln
9. State College
10. Champaign
11. Iowa City
12/13/14. Lansing/Bloomington/West Lafayette
This list is cringe worthy. First of all Maryland and Rutgers are the bastard children of the big ten and belong to our conference in name only.
New Brunswick is an incredibly grimy, unsafe city that is brimming with illegal immigrants. I say that as a New Jersey native who grew up 20 minutes away.
My personal preference from the ones I've been to and spent significant time in...
Madison/Ann Arbor
Columbus
State College
Evanston
East Lansing
College Park
New Brunswick
West Lafayette
If you are solely looking at features of college towns vs features of cities with major colleges in them, then there will be a huge drop off. As a WSU Alumni, Pullman is an great college town for young students and those who love the campus environment. But if you compare it as a city to other places in the conference it turns from the best college town to the worst city.
This list is cringe worthy. First of all Maryland and Rutgers are the bastard children of the big ten and belong to our conference in name only.
New Brunswick is an incredibly grimy, unsafe city that is brimming with illegal immigrants. I say that as a New Jersey native who grew up 20 minutes away.
My personal preference from the ones I've been to and spent significant time in...
Madison/Ann Arbor
Columbus
State College
Evanston
East Lansing
College Park
New Brunswick
West Lafayette
Whats cringe worthy is that you care that much. DC is one of my favorite cities, I dont care if UM is a "bastard child." Big 10 is Big 10. I picked new Brunswick because of proximity to NYC and Philly. I like big cities and being near them, oh well.
Nothing wowes me about Columbus, sorry. Ill put it over New Bruniswick because of its size, but I dont have much interest in Ohio. I already see enough Ohio tags.
I would also probably have College Park - U of Maryland as my favorite in the big 10 due to weather, proximity to good hiking, water, DC, and the beach. It has an underrated campus that is similar to UVA's campus and CP has a good college town vibe despite being in a suburban area.
I like Michigan State's and Iowa's campuses and college town areas the best out of the traditional big 10.
Big XII, if we're still counting that as a Power 5 Conference:
Fort Worth (Only ranked this low because it's a large city just west of a major city, Dallas. There is nothing of that "quaint" feeling in Fort Worth on TCU's campus. Austin gets a pass for being so weird and eclectic.)
o
You may as well just say "SWFW" since that section of town is already as large and populated as all but Austin.
Fort Worth is in nooooooooo way a "college town", so I'd expect it not to be on anyone's list at all. And I'll say the same thing about our weird state capital...
I'll do the ones with New Mexico's two major universities.
Mountain West:
San Diego
Honolulu
Las Vegas
San Jose
Albuquerque
Boise
Fresno
Reno
Colorado Springs
Fort Collins
Logan
Laramie
I agreed with this list up until Fresno to be honest. There's no way it's anywhere but in last place for me, and especiallu not above Fort Collins. I'd also put San Jose over Vegas mainly because of the weather, although I can see why many would be put off by the COL in SJ. I'm totally stuck between Boise and Albuquerque to be honest it's like 50/50. Hmmm...
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