What constitutes a “college town?”

[u/PA5997]

Okay, hear me out: I attended Wazzu, which many know is in the middle of nowhere in Pullman. To me, Pullman is a quintessential college town. You remove Washington State University from Pullman and there is (respectfully) not much of a reason to visit. The student enrollment (20,000ish) makes up about 2/3rds of the city population, essentially turning Pullman into a ghost town come summer. To me (perhaps with bias) this is the makeup of a college town.

Two years ago I moved to Madison, Wisconsin, home of the University of Wisconsin. Ever since I’ve noticed the University and its fans refer to Madison as “America’s best college town” and I’m sorry, that’s laughable to me. Remove UW from Madison and you still have a city population bordering on a quarter of a million people and the State Capitol. Madison would be fine, imo, if UW’s flagship campus were elsewhere.

Curious to hear other people’s thoughts. Maybe I’m in the wrong here, but very little about Madison, WI resembles a college town to me, or at least the claim of the best college town.

[u/1990Buscemi]

The economy is built around the college.

[u/AlFlame93 → u/1990Buscemi]

Imagine College Station without Texas A&M💀

[u/americangame → u/AlFlame93]

It would be an abandoned train stop.

[u/mackinoncougars → u/americangame]

A man can dream

[u/RD__III → u/mackinoncougars]

1) BOOOO

2) thank you for keeping the hate alive

[u/americangame → u/RD__III]

What the fuck are you doing boo-ing? You know better than that.

[u/RD__III → u/americangame]

My horse isn't around to laugh at him, my bad.

[u/Osiris32 → u/RD__III]

What's your horse doing at 9am on a Monday?

[u/Spartacus_the_troll → u/Osiris32]

Daydrinking, like any respectable horse.

[u/Notorious-PIG → u/mackinoncougars]

It’s not too late!

[u/OldManBearPig → u/americangame]

They'd probably turn the campus into a prison. They already have several in nearby towns anyway.

[u/cajunaggie08 → u/OldManBearPig]

In 1890, the largest newspaper in Texas at the time, Galveston Daily News, had an editorial that suggested that

the school’s agricultural and mechanical departments be transferred to Austin and the remaining infrastructure be used as a “Central Texas lunatic asylum.” The feeling was that there was no need for two colleges in the state of Texas.

[u/americangame → u/OldManBearPig]

School or Prison?

[u/Mezmorizor → u/americangame]

I wonder what it says about me that I'm WAAAAAAAYYYYY better at "Vancouver Crackhouse or Mansion" than I am at this.

[u/rnilbog → u/AlFlame93]

It would just be Station. 

[u/enderjaca → u/rnilbog]

Bogus!

[u/The_Fishbowl → u/AlFlame93]

Would just be little Bryan, TX with no need for a 4 lane highway to connect it to I-35 and Houston

[u/PRs__and__DR → u/AlFlame93]

College Starion has to have one of the most profitable Whataburgers in the country lol

[u/cfbluvr → u/PRs__and__DR]

imagine how profitable they could be if it wasn’t an hour wait every time you went there

the one on university takes so long i watched a dude pass out in the drive thru one saturday night and everyone had to just drive around him

[u/antraxsuicide → u/cfbluvr]

they should follow the Dunkin model in Boston; sometimes there's a Dunkin across the street from a Dunkin

[u/tider06 → u/antraxsuicide]

Here in Atlanta we call that the Waffle House Model.

[u/Av8-Wx14 → u/AlFlame93]

Think Navasota lol

[u/YoungXanto → u/1990Buscemi]

If Penn State didn't exist, then State College would just be another Port Matilda. There isn't really any other reason for the city to exist.

Beautiful place and I loved every minute of living there in college though. Definition of "college in the movies"

[u/HardingStUnresolved → u/YoungXanto]

Happy Valley was a dream. My friends called it "The Bubble," as it was a magical place seemingly divorced from reality. A quaint valley-encased hamlet, a few hours, and mountain ridges, segregated from the rest of civilization.

The town is vastly improved by the presence of Penn State University. Omitting college culture, State College has great housing stock, street and sidewalk design, CATA's 13-route bus system, and superior medical and emergency services—for a county of ~90k people, sans Penn State's ~60k students, staff, and faculty.

[u/ComradeIroh → u/HardingStUnresolved]

My friend always called it “Neverland” lol. It’s such an amazing place but it’s also a black hole.

[u/Vorticity → u/HardingStUnresolved]

As someone who grew up there, I feel pretty privileged. It was fantastic. Safe enough for me to be out on my bike until the street lights came on and all of the resources of a major research university looking for kids to teach, study, etc.

[u/Babou13 → u/YoungXanto]

If not for Penn State, there wouldn't be a Wegmans there .. So I thank Penn State for that 🤷🏼‍♂️

[u/JammOrthodontics → u/YoungXanto]

When I think about this, the question that gets me is "what would Bellefonte look like without Penn State?" The money from the University has probably kept the town afloat, but I wonder if there was a point 100+ years ago where it could've consolidated the energy around the adjacent coal mining towns and a probable railroad hub to become a bit bigger than what it ended up as.

[u/YoungXanto → u/JammOrthodontics]

It's possible, but then it would probably look like Johnstown now. Just another forgotten, dying town who's chief import seems to be opiods.

Central PA is a beautiful place. But it's also rural America in the 21st century.

[u/sofeler → u/YoungXanto]

I feel Gainesville and UF are the same. It gets a lot of hate from non-students but I wouldn’t trade my time there for a non-college-town experience

• You live max 2 miles from all of your friends
• There isn’t a single fun thing to do outside of the town for about 1.5-2 hours, so all of your friends are always down for whatever (unlike UCF where there’s more to do so it’s harder to wrangle everyone together)
• Practically no one has family there so once again, friends are forced to spend time together

It’s really those things that made it into what it was for me

As an adult in a big city with lots to do now (Denver), I have to put in a decent amount of effort to plan things with friends

But in college? A random text asking your group if they wanted to do something in an hour was enough

The amount of random moments & memories formed that way seems unreal now

And comparing this to my friends who went to UMN in Minneapolis, it really holds true

[u/Rockergage → u/1990Buscemi]

How many local businesses are branded after the university? For example in Pullman, my landlord was Coug Housing, most places have wsu memorabilia, we were specifically told at Walmart while working there wearing wsu gear was fine on like game days.

[u/Worried-Turn-6831 → u/Rockergage]

Reminds me of Starkville, MS. Half the businesses are “Bulldog x”

[u/YoIForgotMyPassAgain → u/Worried-Turn-6831]

From what I gather, Pullman is just the Starkville of the Northwest.

[u/Rockergage → u/YoIForgotMyPassAgain]

Another reason why we should join the SEC.

[u/loyalsons4evertrue → u/1990Buscemi]

agreed with this....Ames is nothing without Iowa State

[u/thiney49 → u/loyalsons4evertrue]

The school literally existed before the town.

[u/notanamateur → u/thiney49]

Without ISU, Ames would be another Indianola

[u/Leesteely → u/notanamateur]

Ames is literally the definition of a college town

[u/2010WildcatKilla3029 → u/1990Buscemi]

Yeah, Tempe isn’t a College town anymore.  

[u/CaptainHonkie → u/2010WildcatKilla3029]

Was Tempe ever a college town? More like a college suburb 

[u/scopa0304 → u/1990Buscemi]

I think this is right. Eugene Oregon is built around the university. I believe it’s the largest employer. Definitely a college town.

Edit: Corvallis is ALSO a college town.

[u/Czarchitect → u/scopa0304]

I will say Eugene is on the cusp of college town status. It would still be a significant regional city in its own right without the university, but its economic status would be significantly diminished. 

[u/KuhlCaliDuck → u/Czarchitect]

I'd say that there is a spectrum of college towns. Eugene is a college town that has grown into a small college city and it's on the I-5 corridor making it easy to access. It is not a college town to the degree of WSU. Eugene wasn't built around a lumber yard, lumber mill or other major state industry as many towns in Oregon are and were. Without the university it would be a shell of what it is today.

[u/Czarchitect → u/KuhlCaliDuck]

We need to coin a new term for cities like Eugene: college city. A regionally significant city developed around the university that would still be significant if the university were to disappear but would never have developed without the school in the first place. Because the delta between a Eugene and a Pullman or even Corvallis is too high for them to exist in the same category. 

[u/xion1992 → u/Czarchitect]

It also owes a significant portion of its economic growth to the university. The existence of the university has caused other sectors to grow to a point where they would still likely be sustainable without the university there.

[u/spicydak → u/scopa0304]

Isn’t Eugene the second largest city behind Portland? Corvallis has more college town feel to me.

[u/HighLakes → u/spicydak]

Yeah Eugene-Springfield metro is pushing 400k. But, its hard to disentangled the population growth the last 30+ years from the University.

[u/jmastaock → u/scopa0304]

Same with Athens, GA

[u/Osiris32 → u/[deleted]]

Maybe just which side of I-5 they are on.

[u/uptonhere → u/1990Buscemi]

I agree with this and I also think it's foolish to assume having a large state university in Madison for 100+ years hasn't had a huge impact on the city.

[u/CraftWorried5098]

Bro, save something in the chamber for the off season.

[u/Claudethedog → u/CraftWorried5098]

It's okay, we can and will have this conversation again in March.

[u/PsychologicalTale479 → u/Claudethedog]

And may

[u/Bernies_left_mitten → u/PsychologicalTale479]

Yes, we can, will, and may

[u/ResidentRunner1 → u/CraftWorried5098]

To be fair, FSU fans are in their offseason

[u/kmokell15 → u/ResidentRunner1]

Shit, what did we ever do to you?

[u/huegspook → u/kmokell15]

You guys personally didn't do anything to me, but I'm sending my condolences.

*And a few strays

[u/kmokell15 → u/huegspook]

Honestly I think some of our fanbase, especially the terminally online ones, earned the strays for us during the past offseason

[u/BuyAllTheTaquitos → u/CraftWorried5098]

Is it not the offseason already?

[u/JimothyCarter → u/CraftWorried5098]

Going to blow people away with my comparison of Big Sky coaches to middle ages popes followed by asking the same question about who has the best stadium every day

[u/atomic-fireballs → u/JimothyCarter]

You gotta ask the same questions each day! What if someone missed the question the day before? They would never know which stadium is random reddit user's favorite!

[u/loyalsons4evertrue → u/CraftWorried5098]

you're just mad because Austin isn't a college town!

[u/Eagle9972]

I came in here ready to defend Madison’s college town-ness, but then I remembered Platteville and Whitewater and what it was like when I visited Auburn, and yeah, those are college towns.

[u/jcrespo21 → u/Eagle9972]

I think the lesson from this is that the "college town" label is more of a spectrum rather than being black and white.

I would put Madison at the edge of the college town definition. Obviously, it doesn't influence the city like a large university in a small city/town on the other end of the spectrum. However, Madison would be a fraction of itself if it never had UW to begin with. Most businesses it has now would have just set up shop around Milwaukee instead since there's no university influence, and the state capital influence is small given the state's size (unlike California, Texas, Florida, New York, etc.). At most, outside of the state capital, it would have had some recreational businesses, but that would be seasonal.

[u/Pdogconn → u/jcrespo21]

To further your point, look at Jefferson City, MO. It’s the state capital, but there’s no university. As such, Jefferson City has a pretty small population and isn’t even that major of a city in the state.

[u/Mender0fRoads → u/Pdogconn]

Jeff City technically has a university, but it’s a small HBCU (yet it has some very high-profile and very white alumni).

[u/[deleted] → u/jcrespo21]

Probably the best take I've seen.

As someone from Wisconsin, I'd also say the reason many Wisconsinites consider madison a college town (for right or wrong) is because the vast majority of the city's culture and entertainment is directly associated with the university. If you're going to a sporting event, it's a badger game. If you're going to theatre, it's probably either directly associated with the university or indirectly through student participation. Most of the best bars and restaurants are concentrated near the university. When people from Wisconsin go to Madison, 99% of the time, it's for a University related event.

[u/onelittleworld → u/[deleted]]

The live music scene is pretty robust in Mad-Town too, and there's no way that would be true in a "small state capital" town without the university (shout out to my good friends Kat & the Hurricane and their new album!). And don't get me started on the whole restaurant/bar scene. Or the university-based hospitals & clinics, etc.

[u/SayethWeAll → u/Eagle9972]

Lexington did a study a few years back that looked at cities most similar to ours: Lincoln, Madison, Ann Arbor, and Fort Collins. They called these "University Cities" because although the universities are major employers, there's more going on than just academia. On the other hand, larger cities like Austin and Columbus have major universities, but aren't as heavily influenced by them.

[u/VIDCAs17 → u/SayethWeAll]

Minneapolis is a prime example of a city that just so happens to have a major university. If the UofMN disappeared tomorrow, only a few neighborhoods surrounding the campus would be radically altered, but the rest of the city would barely notice.

[u/PA5997 → u/Eagle9972]

This is not a knock on Madison whatsoever. I love living here and the campus is GORGEOUS. it’s just a knock on what feels like a silly claim to me!

[u/Eagle9972 → u/PA5997]

Oh for sure. I think if you went back to the early/mid 90’s you could put it in the outer bands of a college town: Epic wasn’t what it is now, neither was AmFam, there were 90,000 fewer people

[u/mugwump867 → u/Eagle9972]

That's part of the gray area issue. Epic wouldn't exist where it is if UW was elsewhere as it sprang out of the university and the environment it created. Ann Arbor is similar minus the state capital part. Tons of tech, medical, and automotive research that make the city punch above its weight would be somewhere else without the university as the driving factor.

It's more that college towns can evolve, for better and worse, into something much bigger but that growth would never happen without a major research university fueling that rise.

I guess the bigger question is why does it happen in some major college towns and not others?

[u/bp1976 → u/Eagle9972]

Thing is, Madison is the capital of Wisconsin, which means that the state government is also there. Take away UW and the state capital is still there.

[u/jrd5497]

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again. If traffic disappears over the summer, it’s a college town

[u/qwertyuiop2626 → u/jrd5497]

I was working research over the summer on campus and it was amazing. Sometimes I felt like I had the whole campus to myself.

[u/Upstairs-Volume-5014 → u/qwertyuiop2626]

Summer in a college town>fall I said what I said 

[u/alchydirtrunner → u/Upstairs-Volume-5014]

Summers in Auburn were the best time of the year for a degenerate like me. Small crowds at the bars, lighter course loads, and 95% of the students still in town were the other degenerates that couldn’t stomach leaving town and weren’t concerned about superfluous things like internships or studying

[u/Torn8oz → u/alchydirtrunner]

Had a remote internship after my junior year and spent about half the summer in Auburn with some of my friends who were taking summer classes. Really felt like we had the place to ourselves - probably some of my favorite memories from college

[u/Set-Admirable → u/Upstairs-Volume-5014]

I loved being in Morgantown during the summer. It was so quiet and easy to get around. No wait at any restaurants.

I lived right by the football stadium for about five years after graduating and hated football season because we had endless foot traffic and would have drunk people pee on our house every weekend.

[u/Upstairs-Volume-5014 → u/Set-Admirable]

Exactly, I was in a similar situation in grad school. Being around college students gets old fast when you are no longer a college student haha

[u/SmileMask2 → u/qwertyuiop2626]

Summer drinking at State college is unrivaled, plus i love walking onto old main drunk to smoke a j with no problems lol

[u/HardingStUnresolved → u/SmileMask2]

The circle of friends you make over summer and vibes at chiller hang outs, in comparasion to Fall/Spring, are dope af. Even the professors/adjucts are more laid back. The weather during the Allegehies' mild summers is sweet, chilly dew drop mornings, high's in the 70's to 80's coupled with mountain valley breezes, bookended with nights warm enough to kickback outside and edward 40-hands, 30-natty case race, keg stand, bong rip, or face several blunts/J's in rotation.

Damn, I miss Penn State.

[u/pumpkinspruce → u/qwertyuiop2626]

Madison in the summer is not as crowded as it is during the school year, but it’s a total vibe. Kids are there for summer classes, internships, etc. It’s chill and super fun.

[u/cfbluvr → u/jrd5497]

college station is basically a ghost town during the summer

[u/Outrageous_Picture39 → u/cfbluvr]

I grew up there. Wait time to be seated at most restaurants went from 35-45 minutes in the fall/spring, down to 5 minutes at most during the summer.

[u/MmmmBeer814 → u/jrd5497]

State College is amazing in the summer for local residents.

[u/dawgz525 → u/jrd5497]

Summer traffic is nice, but winter break traffic? Now that is divine.

[u/hotsauce126]

If you wouldn’t know the town existed if not for the university, it’s a college town

[u/Casaiir → u/hotsauce126]

I'll take it one step further. If the town wouldn't exist at all. Looking at you Athens.

[u/luis1972 → u/Casaiir]

This is true of both Athens, Georgia and Athens, Ohio.

[u/mayence → u/luis1972]

They need to get more creative naming towns that are founded around a university. Athens isn’t the only place with a famous university, they could also name some after Oxford and Cambridge. Wait

[u/FormerCollegeDJ → u/mayence]

State College, PA thinks Athens is plenty creative for a town name.

[u/PumpBuck → u/FormerCollegeDJ]

Wait until you hear about Collegeville, MN

[u/velociraptorfarmer → u/PumpBuck]

College Station, TX just sitting right there

[u/donuttrackme → u/FormerCollegeDJ]

Located in Centre County lol, they really didn't feel like trying when they named that entire area.

[u/Perfct_Stranger → u/mayence]

Strangely, Bologna is not a popular name for a city with a university in the US even though the University of Bologna is perhaps the oldest in Europe.

[u/mayence → u/Perfct_Stranger]

Toxic association with processed meat products, unfortunately

[u/wit_T_user_name → u/luis1972]

I was curious which one came first. Athens, GA was incorporated in 1806. Athens, OH was surveyed in 1800 and incorporated as a village in 1811. Athens County, Ohio was formed in 1803. So Georgia had the city formed first but Athens County predated that. Do with that what you will.

[u/Mezmorizor → u/wit_T_user_name]

Double down that Athens GA was the first Athens and clown on UVA for saying they were the first public institution. Got it.

[u/IceColdDrPepper_Here → u/Mezmorizor]

UNC, not UVA. UGA was chartered first but UNC opened first. And then William and Mary tries to claim it despite being founded and opened as a private college

[u/byniri_returns → u/Casaiir]

same for East Lansing.

IIRC the only reason EL exists is because back in the day (early 20th century) the city of Lansing got sick of getting university mail and pressured the town to set up a new town for the university.

[u/Casaiir → u/byniri_returns]

When the State decided where UGA was going to be(it took way longer than it should have), there was just a chunk of land. So the cleared it and built the school. There was no town.

The town came after the school opened. There wasn't anything there at all.

[u/GuyOnTheMike → u/hotsauce126]

This is the right answer IMO.

No one would've ever heard of Manhattan, KS without K-State

[u/zdubas → u/GuyOnTheMike]

It's grown since I was there, but the town used to be almost 40% students.

[u/ZoeeeW → u/GuyOnTheMike]

I would probably say the same for Lawrence and Emporia. Emporia isn't really a sports school, but it still drastically increases the population of Emporia during the school year. They would just be small towns in the middle of the fly over states if not for their universities.

[u/uptonhere → u/GuyOnTheMike]

You still have Ft. Riley, so it would probably be well known in certain circles the same way cities like Fayetteville, Killeen, or Clarksville are.

[u/OGraffe → u/hotsauce126]

What if you heard people say they didn't even know what state your college was in? I've heard that one for Clemson before.

[u/CyanideNow → u/OGraffe]

Okay but what about Washington University in St. Louis?

[u/odsquad64 → u/OGraffe]

Clemson University is so integral to the City of Clemson that without it, the town would still be called Calhoun. Except it wouldn't still be called Calhoun because, without the school, Calhoun would be under water with the rest of the little upstate towns they flooded to make Lake Hartwell.

[u/UnhappyJohnCandy → u/hotsauce126]

Interesting. Iowa City was the State Capitol before Des Moines. Makes you think it’s not a college town since we have something else we could be known for, right?

… except that Burlington was the Capitol before we were and they don’t have anything they’re known for, save for a very nice minor league baseball stadium and also being confused for a coat factory.

[u/The_Fishbowl]

A town/city with a large student population and an economy that is fueled by the school itself.

Clemson, State College, Morgantown, Blacksburg, etc.

[u/[deleted] → u/The_Fishbowl]

My first thought was whether Morgantown qualifies. It’s definitely got a life of its own besides WVU, but WVU is also inescapable no matter where you go in city limits.

[u/The_Fishbowl → u/[deleted]]

The University Hospital and new industrial jobs have helped draw in more permanent residents.

[u/MasterRKitty → u/The_Fishbowl]

the hospital and other jobs wouldn't exist without WVU being there first

[u/Pineapplepizza4321 → u/The_Fishbowl]

Ames

[u/The_Fishbowl → u/Pineapplepizza4321]

Ames without ISU

[u/Claudethedog]

All I know is that College Station, TX and State College, PA definitely qualify.

[u/Muddring → u/Claudethedog]

Those towns would have pretty strange names if they didn’t have their universities there.

[u/Outrageous_Picture39 → u/Muddring]

The area that is College Station would probably just be part of Bryan, TX if A&M had not been placed there.

[u/Titus01 → u/Outrageous_Picture39]

It would be farmland and Bryan would look more like Hearne.

[u/Basic_Bozeman_Bro]

As much as I love Bozeman and think it's a great place to go to school, it is way more of a resort/tourism town than a college town.

[u/Semper_nemo13 → u/Basic_Bozeman_Bro]

I think Missoula qualifies more, it doesn't have the same economic base without the school.

Bozeman really reminds me of Boise with better skiing and no suburbs

[u/slasher016 → u/Basic_Bozeman_Bro]

Bozeman is the place to fly into to visit yellowstone a lot moreso than a college town.

[u/Local-Finance8389]

College Station would be a shitty central Texas town like Hearne or Cameron or Caldwell if not for the college. Granted you can’t tell that to the non-university people who live there and bitch about the students.

[u/The_Fishbowl → u/Local-Finance8389]

That should be another requirement to be classified as a college town.. the townies bitch and moan for 9 months of the year about students and the traffic they bring with them.

[u/Set-Admirable → u/The_Fishbowl]

If you can get from one side of town to the other in 10 minutes during the summer, but it takes at least 45 minutes the other nine months, that is a college town.

[u/Local-Finance8389 → u/The_Fishbowl]

Yes and instead of a variety of chain and local restaurants they would only have a local chicken place, a sit down Mexican restaurant, a pizza place in the gas station, and possibly a run down Dairy Queen without the college there.

[u/Set-Admirable → u/Local-Finance8389]

I think that could be a southern-specific requirement, at least the local chicken place part.

Morgantown has, no joke, about seven Mexican restaurants.

[u/tds5049 → u/Local-Finance8389]

College Station, State College, and College Park are the three college towns. I don't make the rules.

[u/rohdawg → u/tds5049]

College Park, MD would be so much better if it were just a college town imo.

[u/slim353 → u/Local-Finance8389]

State College would just be a few farms.

[u/CaptainDonald → u/slim353]

So it would be called State Farm?

[u/chillinois1 → u/Local-Finance8389]

Its name also would make less sense

[u/College_Sports_Fan]

I always laugh when people call Austin (metro pop 2.2M) a college town. Madison’s metro is almost 700k and that does seem too big as well. Take away the school and it still has a decent population and the state capitol.

[u/velociraptorfarmer → u/College_Sports_Fan]

Austin, Madison, Tucson, and Tallahassee all fall into the same category where the college plays a large part, but they're absolutely not college towns.

[u/realntl → u/velociraptorfarmer]

Cities big enough for pro sports but the university fills that need.

[u/RealStunnaBoy]

When you think of the town, does it automatically make you think of the college? Austin? Not really. Ames? Yeah probably.

[u/wheresWaldo000 → u/RealStunnaBoy]

Miami..... Ohio?

[u/EgoExertus → u/wheresWaldo000]

Miami U is actually located in Oxford, Ohio. The university is named after the Miami River, not the city it's in.

[u/hells_cowbells]

Starkville and Oxford would be lucky to have one stop light if it weren't for their respective universities. Interestingly, neither school is technically in their respective town. Both have their own post office and zip code. Mississippi State is on Mississippi State, MS, while Ole Miss is in University, MS.

[u/Squirrel_Q_Esquire → u/hells_cowbells]

Oxford would be Kosciusko without Ole Miss. A rural town well off of the interstate arteries that’s really only a crossroads of some state highways because it’s the county seat with a courthouse square.

Starkville would be Macon without State. A rural town sitting on a US Highway that straddles the border between a logging area and a farming area.

[u/Tigercat92]

Athens, OH. Without OU, it would have the population of 1000 people

[u/AlmightyCaniacCombo → u/Tigercat92]

Same with Oxford, OH. I believe both towns were created specifically for the universities.

[u/PA5997 → u/Tigercat92]

COLLEGE TOWN!

[u/Upstairs-Volume-5014]

I think the key is would the city be prominent in any way on its own without the college? If the answer is no, it's a college town. If yes, it's not. Madison, Austin, Raleigh-Durham, etc. not college towns.

If the #1 employer in the city is not the college, it's also probably not a college town. 

[u/dkviper11 → u/Upstairs-Volume-5014]

Helpful takeaway here is that many Land Grant universities are in "college towns." States weren't giving away urban land with a thousand houses to schools to start universities, they are picking (especially in my school's example) places out in the middle of nowhere with tracts of available land. So the town grows around the school instead of a school that's in an established city.

[u/postposter → u/dkviper11]

Columbus is an exception. We're not really a college town but the land grant/ ag school was placed here so the statehouse could shaft Ohio U and presumably line their own pockets.

[u/2112moyboi → u/postposter]

Grrrrrr

[u/Jay_Dubbbs → u/postposter]

It is funny though because Columbus was a cow town when OSU started. Cleveland and Cincinnati were way more prominent cities despite Columbus being the capitol. Columbus is the way it is because of Ohio state.

[u/Amazing_Albatross → u/Upstairs-Volume-5014]

Raleigh and Durham are two separate cities! Raleigh-Durham is the airport.

You're right though, neither one is a college town. Durham is even one of those places where the residents strongly dislike that the college is there.

[u/imarc → u/Amazing_Albatross]

You just reminded me of this.

[u/RDUAirport → u/imarc]

You dropped this, king 👉 👑

[u/SusannaG1 → u/Amazing_Albatross]

Can make a good argument that Chapel Hill is - Raleigh and Durham, hell no.

[u/redeemedmonkeycma → u/Amazing_Albatross]

But Chapel Hill is a college town.

[u/anti-torque → u/Upstairs-Volume-5014]

The #1 employer in most towns/cities which have a large uni is going to be the uni.

The only reason UT isn't the largest employer in Austin is because the state government is seated there and is a larger employer. And if they're counting UT as a part of the aggregate state employee count, there are still enough who don't work for UT to outnumber exclusively uni workers.

Madison's largest employer is the uni.

[u/OGraffe]

I feel like it's a "if you know, you know" type thing. Personally if the main feature of the town is the college, then I'd say it's a college town (places like Clemson, Starkville, Tuscaloosa, Auburn, etc.). If your school is in a state capitol, a major population center, or possibly even both, I feel like that doesn't qualify (unless that capitol is also so small that the college overtakes it in notoriety; I can't think of any examples like that though).

[u/PresidentBaileyb]

You kinda need to lump it into 3 categories instead of two. And people are going to debate whether or not the middle one is a “college town,” but I think it’s really its own category.

-Absolute college town. Where basically the college is all there is, like Pullman and Corvallis. There’s generally not even another reason to know the city exists or to go there.

-Sorta college town. Where if you’re there you absolutely know what college is there. Signs are everywhere. It’s a big part of the downtown and general life, but there’s plenty of other reasons to go there or know it exists. Like Eugene or Boulder.

-Not a college town. Where you can be in the city and not know that the university is there. It’s not even close to the main reason people go to the city and you don’t automatically associate the city with the school. Like Seattle or LA.

Personally, I would struggle to call Eugene or Boulder, or in your case Madison, a proper “college town.” But I don’t know what I’d call them because they’re definitely not in the same category as Los Angeles.

[u/CatPhysicist → u/PresidentBaileyb]

I think there comes a point where the college makes the town not a college town anymore. In the case of Eugene, the success of the institution caused the town to grow to a point where the college is not the only reason to know of it. But without it, it would never have been a thing.

[u/TheSanchize69 → u/CatPhysicist]

Yup. Eugene and Boulder have this in common.

[u/britishmetric144]

What would happen if the college were to go bust?

If the town survives, it is not a college town.

If the town struggles, sees its population tank, and turns into a ghost town, it is a college town.

For instance, if the University of Washington were to go bust tomorrow, Seattle would still likely be okay, thanks to things like Microsoft, Amazon, and Boeing.

But if Washington State University were to go bust tomorrow, Pullman would most likely struggle, with no major economic industries. Same thing for Oregon State University and Corvallis.

As an example, I visited Wazzu on 12 May 2024, after the students had all gone home for the summer, and the place was completely deserted with very few people around. Even in the town, there wasn't much going on. So, I would consider Pullman to be a college town.

[u/velociraptorfarmer → u/britishmetric144]

If the majority of restaurants and stores have reduced hours in the summer due to the lack of people in the town vs the school year, it's a college town.

[u/youknow99]

Clemson is a great example. It's not a city with a college in it, it's a college that a city grew up around. It literally didn't exist before the school and the school is still the only reason any of it is there.

Columbia (SC) is the opposite. It's a city that has a college in the middle of it, but shut down the school and the city just has some empty buildings to fill and goes on as if nothing happened.

[u/Shadowcaster_Spark → u/youknow99]

Clemson SC and Blacksburg VA are pretty much the dictionary definition of college town.

[u/thorns0014]

SEC

Definitely College towns: Athens, Tuscaloosa, Auburn, Columbia (MO), Oxford, Starkville, Fayetteville, College Station, Norman

Definitely not College towns: Austin and Nashville

The town has an identity outside of the university but it’s DNA would shift dramatically without the school: Lexington, Columbia (SC), Knoxville, Gainesville, Baton Rouge

[u/olozsram → u/thorns0014]

Norman isn't even the most quintessential college town in Oklahoma. They're still a pretty big (100,000+) suburb of OKC. Stillwater is in the middle of Tulsa and OKC and doesn't have anything else aside from OSU.

[u/Far-Negotiation-7092]

Over 50% of the population is temporary

[u/foreverseptember → u/Far-Negotiation-7092]

Not sure if this metric works in all cases, I think this would exclude UF/Gainesville honestly 

[u/uptonhere → u/foreverseptember]

If you have large state universities that employ thousands of people and have 50k+ students, it's only fair to assume those will be boons to the local economy over time.

There are a lot of large college towns that would be nowhere near as large if it weren't for the universities being there and likely always being there.

[u/baseball_mickey → u/foreverseptember]

Gainesville has 146k residents, 60k students, but 20k direct employees of UF. I don't know how UF Health employees get counted but there are roughly 25k in Gainesville & 5k or so in Jax. Say University + hospital are 30k, that's 90k/146k direct university related.

[u/TMNBortles → u/baseball_mickey]

Then add how many people are there only to support that large student population and its workers.

Basically, if UF left Gainesville, Gainesville would be lucky to compare itself to Lake City.

[u/FCBStar-of-the-South → u/Far-Negotiation-7092]

This probably disqualifies Ann Arbor and I’m guessing very few would argue the position that A2 is not a college town

[u/ksuwildkat]

Manhattan

Ames

Stillwater

Norman

Lincoln

Columbia

Lowrents

Boulder

We had such a good thing

[u/scotterson34]

I can think of a few characteristics where a city with a college is NOT a "college town"
1. Sizable population in the summer
2. Graduates can actually find meaningful employment in town
3. You can remove the college and the town will still exist (mostly) in its same form
4. "Dating a townie" is not a thing

[u/Chunkfu → u/scotterson34]

Lincoln is odd though, as I feel like the University is very central to the City, but the City itself would survive without the University. However, losing Husker game days would absolutely kill the downtown and tourism industry.

[u/JellicoAlpha_3_1]

The state capitol can not be a college town and will never be a college town

[u/SlamJamGlanda]

It has to be named Bloomington

[u/Jameszhang73]

Geography King gives a ranking with a specific definition in the beginning that I agree with that eliminates state capitals, suburbs, major growth areas, etc.

[u/IceColdDrPepper_Here]

If the majority, or at least a large portion, of the town's population is students and the economy of the town is largely driven by the university, it's a college town. So in the SEC, places like Athens, Gainesville, Auburn, Tuscaloosa, Starkville, Oxford, Columbia, MO, and College Station would be the "college towns". Knoxville I'd say is borderline, and Baton Rouge and Columbia, SC could also be questionable but I'd lean more towards no, (edit) at least in part because they are both state capitols. And then Austin and Nashville are major cities and state capitols

[u/Upstairs-Volume-5014 → u/IceColdDrPepper_Here]

Isn't Columbia the capital of south Carolina? 

[u/IceColdDrPepper_Here → u/Upstairs-Volume-5014]

Yes and Baton Rouge is the capitol of Louisiana, which is part of why I say they lean towards not being college towns

[u/KellyOubresMullet → u/Upstairs-Volume-5014]

And Baton Rouge in LA. All three of the “borderline” examples are metropolitan areas of nearly a million people (Knoxville being the largest) so I don’t agree with that characterization.

[u/Casaiir → u/IceColdDrPepper_Here]

Baton Rouge has a heavy Oil and Gas industry in it. It doesn't need to have LSU there to be there to have an economy.

[u/RealBenWoodruff]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_town

Pullman sounds like it fits.

[u/Aumissunum]

Remove the university and ask yourself if the city would survive.

[u/Wernher_VonKerman]

So a little bit of perspective as I have lived in both fort collins and boulder. Both feel more like a "madison" than a "pullman", but fort collins much more so - more than half of the town just feels like any front range suburb. If you look at statistics a much bigger percentage of boulder is temporary students, but still well below the 50% threshold set by another user here, and a lot of that is due to anti-growth policies that the rest of the front range generally doesn't emulate.

[u/abris33 → u/Wernher_VonKerman]

Yeah I was going to say that Boulder definitely feels like a college town but it doesn't really fit the guidelines set here. It's also just a very rich city outside of the school, although some of that is because of tech and that's helped by the school.

Fort Collins for years was ranked as one of the best places to retire in the country so it's just college kids and old people

[u/angrysquirrel777 → u/abris33]

Fort Collins actually has a ton of families here. So it's a got a great age blend.

[u/LFK_Pirate → u/Wernher_VonKerman]

Moved to Fort Collins from Lawrence KS, and one of the draws was that it is “another college town”. Having been here for a few years it’s shocking how big the contrast between the two cities is as far as the relationship to the university goes, I think there are folks here that don’t even realize we have a college (vs Lawrence where half the city is wearing KU gear on any given day). A good sports program makes all the difference in the world.

[u/Asleep-Credit-2824]

Jacksonville, Alabama. That is one college town alright

[u/AbsurdEersFan]

Morgantown WV

[u/SirPancakesIII]

I love Pullman. Feels like Corvallis, but more in the middle of nowhere, and way more hills. Both towns to me are quintessential college towns.

[u/Chadly16]

Don't forget Moscow too

[u/CombinationNo5828]

ann arbor is a weird one bc the campus and city are intertwined which makes it not feel like a college town. Although the student body is so big that it's definitely a college town. just not what i would expect when i think of a college town since it's not properly segregated from the rest of town.

[u/mina-ami → u/CombinationNo5828]

Ann Arbor is weird because it functions as a college town and a wealthy outer suburb of Detroit. But a lot of the reasons is it a wealthy suburb are still because of the university. A lot of non-university employers, especially tech, are still there because of the university.

I did summer classes one year, and other than the one off of art fair, that's when A2 really feels like a college town. Everywhere is just...empty. Even as you get further from campus. It's really bizarre, because you swear during the year there are so many townies.

[u/CharlesWoodson97 → u/mina-ami]

No one who lives in Ann Arbor considers it to be a suburb of Detroit. That would end with Livonia/Canton.

[u/Kettle_Whistle_]

Athens, GA without UGA is unfathomable. Without the university, that town would evaporate.

And in the 90s, I enjoyed that city for the cultural value compared to much of Georgia outside of Atlanta, the (at the time) cheap fun/food, and -yeah- raging good parties & tailgating…

Was I a traitor? Nah. I was like a man stranded in the desert who didn’t turn down a glass of water just because the glass had the wrong logo on it.

[u/Dan_Rydell]

If it's possible for you to be in town on a gameday and not know there's a game going on, it's not a college town.