I agree with another person that Gainesville, FL, must be included on this list. The tree-lined streets and beautiful neighborhoods of the city are quite nice.

ejcrowe: Thanks for the tip on Lemuria Books in Jackson, MS. I've heard of that store, but I must admit that I have not taken time to visit it. Does the store have a presence on the internet?

This thread interests me, primarily because I'm starting to look at colleges for my son. I'm partial to UCLA, because I went there, but I was pretty blown away by the Cal. State campus at Monterey Bay. It's been around just 10 years now, on the old Fort Ord site, but it's gorgeous. I keep remembering the line from Private Benjamin when Goldie Hawn said to her classmate who was assigned to Fort Ord, "you got the yachts!".

We're looking at west coast campuses mainly, so I was wondering what people thought about the campuses in Oregon, Washington, and (okay, this isn't the USA), but British Columbia University in Vancouver?

Love all the chatter.
hey kadurk-- love the richmond mention.
I grew up in richmond and never really considered it a college town but I kind of see it. University of Richmond is beautiful, but I don't like that it doesn't neighbor a designated main street. I attended camps there growing up and it's sort of tucked away in its own little private oasis. The campus is beautiful.

VCU similarly doesn't feel like it is the focal point of downtown Richmond. University buildings dot the entire city. It is close to several great neighborhoods, namely Carytown.

I remember how impressed I was with the William & Mary campus on my college visit. It has a great outdoor track too (funny I know to mention but I know there are some runners out there). Williamsburg is a little too quiet for my tastes but it does have some amazing delis.

I made it up to visit Vancouver and stopped off at the university to take a look around. I was not too impressed with the campus honestly. That said, I would have greatly enjoyed going to college there. Vancouver is a great city for young people, offering a little bit of everything. I would like to live there at some point. The unviersity is not centrally located but there are plenty of buses.

Is there a reason why nobody has mentioned Austin, TX? Great music scene, great restaurants, shopping, Lake Travis nearby... (oh, and the University of Texas)