Dark Academia towns/cities (neighborhoods, university, shops)

[LavenderDays]

Are there any towns/cities/neighborhoods that give you a Dark Academia vibe?

I think Boston fits pretty well, especially Back Bay and Beacon Hill. Princeton as well.

[Boston Shudra]

New Haven has that classic gothic architecture at Yale that’s definitely very moody.

[FL_Expert]

Durham (Duke)

[P Larsen]

Definitely not Charlottesville. The Grounds of the University of Virginia are the ur Classical template for American academia.

[kyle19125]

University of Chicago

[dcb175]

Originally Posted by P Larsen

Definitely not Charlottesville. The Grounds of the University of Virginia are the ur Classical template for American academia.

What a fantastic campus that is - definitely a benchmark for what a US university campus should be.

That said, I'm not sure what 'dark academia' actually means. I keep wanting to say Hogwarts. But that's not a real place.

[Citykid3785]

Forgive my ignorance, and I did try to look it up but ended up more confused. What is "dark academia"?

[Turnerbro]

I mean it has to be Cambridge right???

[LavenderDays]

"Dark academia" describes an aesthetic that includes things like Gothic architecture, autumn vibes, vintage bookshops, intellectualism, cobblestone streets, etc.

[achtung baby]

Originally Posted by LavenderDays

"Dark academia" describes an aesthetic that includes things like Gothic architecture, autumn vibes, vintage bookshops, intellectualism, cobblestone streets, etc.

On top of my head only:

Wesleyan. Mount Holyoke (niece went there). Bennington (semi-gothic, semi-Americana. IMHO) Yale (nephew went there) Harvard (cousin went there). Princeton. Brown.

Columbia in NYC isn’t Gothic enough, a lot of its architectures are Beaux-arts and Neoclassical which give the court house/museum appearance than somber, gloomy and haunting looks of “Dark Academia”.