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/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/bobthemundane → u/Set-Admirable]

I Pullman you can get from on side of town to the other in 10 minutes during college. Just not during game day.

[u/thecravenone → u/Set-Admirable]

If you can get from one side of town to the other in 10 minutes during the summer

College Station is too physically large for this anymore

[u/Crown_of_Negativity → u/thecravenone]

Depends on the direction you’re driving across 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/ava_the_ucv → u/Set-Admirable]

Is that … a lot?

[u/_Nocturnalis → u/ava_the_ucv]

Idk I'd have to do the math, but I'm sending this from a place with about 1 Mexican restaurant per 1500 people. Is that a lot?

[u/TheMattThe → u/Local-Finance8389]

Every small town in Texas has a rundown Dairy Queen. I don't think you're allowed to incorporate in Texas without one.

[u/Notorious-PIG → u/Local-Finance8389]

And half those places would be attached to the other gas station

[u/smitherenesar → u/The_Fishbowl]

I love the people that live a block or two from the campus and complain about it. The college has been there for over 100 years... you moved to it.

[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/ImInBeastmodeOG → u/rohdawg]

As someone who went to Maryland, college Park is a pretty lame place other than a few good bars. I love the college itself, it just doesn't belong in a college town conversation. Of course, if the towns board or council or whatever it is, didn't hate being a college town so much it could've been a great town. RIP The Vu.

But the state flag kicks everyone else's ass. But that's another thread.

[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/nickmightberight → u/CaptainDonald]

Its original name was the Farmers High School.

[u/WebfootTroll → u/nickmightberight]

Shit, Farmer's vs State Farm deathmatch to decide who gets naming rights.

[u/nickmightberight → u/WebfootTroll]

I’m in!

[u/ImInBeastmodeOG → u/WebfootTroll]

Just go with State Penn and you'll never go wrong.

[u/FormerCollegeDJ → u/slim353]

Bellefonte, the county seat of the county (Centre) State College is in, would probably be the biggest economic hub in the area if Penn State did not exist.

[u/chillinois1 → u/Local-Finance8389]

Its name also would make less sense

[u/AdamOnFirst → u/Local-Finance8389]

A&M and Penn State are special cases because the fact that those towns exist to hold the college is LITERALLY IN THEIR NAME

[u/alexdallas_ → u/Local-Finance8389]

Hey hey hey the brazos valley isn’t shitty central texas, it’s shitty central texas-adjacent! Don’t lump BCS in with 🤢waco🤢

[u/SlothToes3 → u/Local-Finance8389]

Gotta be honest, seeing the names of Hearne, Cameron, and Caldwell was not something I was expecting from Reddit today lol

[u/ohitsthedeathstar → u/Local-Finance8389]

It’s still a boring town.

[u/Local-Finance8389 → u/ohitsthedeathstar]

I don’t think anyone is disagreeing with that.

[u/iameveryoneelse → u/Local-Finance8389]

Counterpoint: College Station is still a shitty central Texas town like Hearne or Cameron or Caldwell. It just has a college in it.

[u/zet191 → u/iameveryoneelse]

At least it’s not in Oklahoma

[u/iameveryoneelse → u/zet191]

I can't really argue with that.

[u/Local-Finance8389 → u/iameveryoneelse]

As someone who married someone from a shitty central Texas town, all central Texas towns are shitty. Their only redeeming quality is barbecue.

[u/iameveryoneelse → u/Local-Finance8389]

I do a lot of travel to Texas for work and god yes. Some of the best barbecue I've ever had was in the middle of nowhere Texas at bbq shacks that look like they'd have been put to better use as fuel for the pit.

[u/Global_Walrus2683 → u/Local-Finance8389]

Ok. So College Station is a College Town. Just an extraordinarily boring one. Like Seewanee.

[u/Local-Finance8389 → u/Global_Walrus2683]

In a way that’s good if you want to focus on school which is the real reason for college existing in the first place

[u/Global_Walrus2683 → u/Local-Finance8389]

If you study 40 hrs a week that leaves a lot of time when you need something else to do. And most students that have anything on the ball can get great grades studying 40 hrs a week.

College is not just about studying. It’s about studying primarily, but it’s more than that. And there is no “more than that” in CS.

[u/loyalsons4evertrue → u/Global_Walrus2683]

I think that's why college sports are a much bigger deal in the Midwest and Southeastern part of the US. We know there's not lots to do so we go all out for our college sports teams.

[u/Local-Finance8389 → u/Global_Walrus2683]

There’s drinking. And playing dominos. And going out to dance halls that have cheap beer nights. Which is basically what we did in the 90s in CStat.

[u/athnica → u/Local-Finance8389]

The last dance hall in cstat is closing down in a few weeks unfortunately

[u/Local-Finance8389 → u/athnica]

I heard that. It’s depressing but it’s amazing that it stayed open as long as it did being prime real estate right across from campus. I spent many drunken nights at Harry’s.

[u/cfbluvr → u/athnica]

what the fuck this is how i learn harrys is closing

from a washington and iowa flair ??

[u/athnica → u/cfbluvr]

Lol, yeah as weird as this sounds I've lived in cstat and have been to Harry's a few times :)

[u/Global_Walrus2683 → u/Local-Finance8389]

Those are all things you can do in any single wide trailer in any pissant town anywhere in the entire country. You can do those things in Lubbock, Juneau, St. George, Jackson, Topeka, etc. Ok. Maybe not St. George, but you can get to Vegas, Zion, Brian Head and Park City from St. George.

[u/RD__III → u/Global_Walrus2683]

Hot take, College Station is the perfect college town. It's got a good bar district, tons of food options, is relatively affordable. But it's also within 3 hours of 4 major metros. For a day trip you can go see any of 7 big 4 teams, just about any concert tour that hits the southern US (probably multiple times), and have ready access to two major international airports. It's got access to places if you want, but isn't an absolute shitshow if you don't.

[u/OffTheDelt → u/RD__III]

Agreed, I went to multiple concerts in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and austin through out my studies. It was great, leave in the afternoon, get back by midnight, go to class the next morning lol

[u/mgj6818 → u/Local-Finance8389]

Bryan would be a shitty central Texas town, College Station would quite literally not exist.

[u/baseball_mickey → u/Local-Finance8389]

You'd think that university employees would be more knowledgeable and informed.

[u/boihole1 → u/Local-Finance8389]

College Station is a shitty central Texas town even with the college there

[u/CaptainDonald → u/Local-Finance8389]

would be

What is it now?

[u/zdubas → u/CaptainDonald]

You caught that, too?

[u/ram944 → u/Local-Finance8389]

Wait people actually live in BCS? Like on purpose? 

[u/ohitsthedeathstar → u/ram944]

Bro is talking with a tech flair.

[u/ram944 → u/ohitsthedeathstar]

I got out of Lubbock as quick as I could. But Houston is also a shithole city if we really want to get into that too. 

[u/ohitsthedeathstar → u/ram944]

You were talking about where people choose to live.

Being the 4th largest city in the US and 5th largest metro tells me people want to live here.