Considering that there have been 40 responses to this thread, obviously someone does care.

OK, we know there are good college towns on the Coasts, but let's look at those in the Midwest. A yes to Madison, WI, Blooomington, IN, Iowa City, IA, Oxford, MI, and let me add Springfield, MO, where we live, home of Southwest Mo. St. Univ. (soon to be Missouri State, nat'l champs WNIT), Drury University, Evangel University.

No one has suggested the real advantages being of a college town: lectures, concerts, library, sports. SMSU just held a tremendous Public Affair Conference with great seminars. It isn't a matter of ivy covered
buildings.

Right, Fraggie, Fodors talk does have interesting topics beyond "what's the best hotel in Blank City."

Ozarks Bill

Regarding beautiful surroundings, JJ5 is right about the area around Carbondale, IL, for instance, with lakes, hills, forests, but that is really another topic. We're talking about college towns per se which makes me wonder about places like Chicago and Columbus. Although we did enjoy living in C'dale for a time, home of Southern Illinois Un., the town itself isn't much, so wouldn't rank it as a lovely college town. But then I did enjoy enrolling in classes, going to concerts, watching Salukis play ball (back in the days of Walt Frazier).

Ozarks Bill

Ozarks Bill

uhoh_busted, Ohio University is located in Athens, Ohio. And yes it is lovely, but it's out in the middle of *nowhere*.

My personal all time fave is UVA. It has everything, beauty, culture, history - total class. Simply the best!

IMO!

I've always thought Boston would be a great city to go to college with so many other students in the are and so much to do. However, I don't consider it a "college town." I would agree that the phrase "college town" represents a town where the college is the focal point of the town itself. That doesn't mean big cities are in any way inferior places to attend college, it is just a totally different experience than going to school in a college town.

I went to school in a small college town and my brother did not. My world at that time pretty was all in that little town. My brother, however, spent his free time at professional sporting events, going to concerts, and socializing with students from other schools because he was in a big city. I don't regret my decision to do the small town college thing - you can really only be in that bubble once in your life and the cities will always be there. That said, I still think it would be a blast to be a student in Boston!

As a graduate of Texas A&M, I am partial to College Station, Texas. But I have to say I've had fun in Tempe, Arizona and Stillwater, Oklahoma.

I'm with you, snowrooster. There's much to be said for going to school in Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, NY...But they're not, strictly speaking, college towns. They're big cities with colleges. While I know it's probably blasphemy, I'd even have to question Madison, WI. I know it's considered by many to be one of the best college towns in the country. But it is, afterall, the capital of the state. As, of course, are Boston and Atlanta. They're cities that have another large focus besides their schools. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. I'm not in any way trying to be critical of those places or their schools. I'm just saying that, in the strictest sense, they're not "college towns".

I love watching "Breaking Away" which was filmed on the IU campus at Bloomington in about 1977. Can anyone think of any other movies filmed in bona fide college towns?

I graduated from Ohio State and spent a semester in Oxford England but Bloomington is so much more a "college town" than either of those places. I got married to a Hoosier at the little chapel by the Union 18 years ago so my opinion is definitely biased.

Madison, WI

The lakes, strolling State St, sitting on the Union Terrace, The Capitol, the 5th quarter after a Badger game, farmer's market, etc, etc.

In California...Berkeley is awesome, laid back, fun to explore. Santa Cruz is fun too, with a smallish town feel to it--a main downtown area, a main beach area, lots of independent businesses, lots of people walking. And it smells like the ocean!

love
roxy

Hey amwosu, my parents were married at the same chapel nearly 40 years ago (although they divorced a long time ago). It's a truly magical place. Words really can't describe the beauty of the campus in spring and fall. I still drive down from Chicago occasionally just to visit the campus.

Wow- I am really hurt that Seattle doesn't get mention as a great college town. True it is a big city not centered on only one school, but if you have seen a Husky football game on tv you have seen the incredible beauty of the campus combined with the amenities of the city. That said I think Boston qualifies as well (love harbor cities) because it is rife with young people. My daughter attended Smith and Northampton is very charming but because of its size limited. UC santa Barbara may also get a huge vote becuse it truly sits on a resort worthy site. OK I'll stop...(3 kids many college visits)

Chico and Chico St used to be a good college/party town.

Pioneer Week, The O, The Bear, The Grad etc. Some of my best hangovers there.

Party college towns is another category. SIU won for about 15 to 20 years there, just on their Haloween alone. Now I just read about Indiana has edged them out. And that is in the entire USA.

My school is not, and I really no little about it. Mine is a small Catholic college with a FTE of about 4000 including graduate students. We are out in the rural "burbs" and not connected to any one town in the way college towns usually are. Our students high tail it to Chicago on a whim and really don't have to stay local.

Williamsburg, VA

UVA gets all the attention, but William and Mary is older and smaller (in a good way)! Sure, the hordes of tourists get bad in the summer, but spring and fall are fantastic.

I also have to say Seattle's U district is the best urban oasis campus I've ever seen!

kmchick,

Yes, Williamsburg is lovely! And the old campus of William and Mary, is surely one of the most beautiful places in the world. This was where one Northern New Yorker (way northern) discovered what spring was all about.

But the American college town that has beauty -- and the most of all the rest, especially the nicest folks in the world, is Bloomington, Indiana!

Like Fraggie says, I too appreciate
"college towns" but what exactly is meant? Thought comes to me: many towns and cities have colleges/universities that add a lot intellectually, culturally, sportswise. But some cities are just too big to be counted as "college towns" and some smaller communities are not very pretty even having some institution of higher learning.

Point is this...when speaking of appreciating college towns don't we usually think of them as being charming in some special way? Many cities have a college campus area that is lovely even though the surrounding urban area may not be (thinking of Drake in Des Moines and Yale in New Haven where I attended or Vassar in Poughkeepsie,NY where a son teaches).

Ozarks Missouri

A lot of people love Davis, CA where UC Davis is. A few years ago the Robert Mondavi theater was built there also. It is however IMO a rather sleepy town with lots of subdivisions and shopping centers now.

University of Florida, Gainesville. It is a great little college town.

Richmond, VA, has Univ.of Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth, U Rich campus is beautiful. The town of Richmond has special areas such as Carytown, The Fan, Shockhoe Bottom. What a great place to go to school and yet your are still close to Virginia Beach, and Washington, D.C. and an easy (well maybe not so easy, ha ha) but commute up or down the I-95 route.