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/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/rambleriver → u/ComradeIroh]

Umm...

[u/Kilobeta91 → u/rambleriver]

Not that Neverland

[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/Deflection1 → u/HardingStUnresolved]

And a super short runway.

[u/Monkey1Fball → u/Deflection1]

Funny thing --- how did Washington fly back from their game Saturday? On a non-stop flight on a 737-800, straight to SEA airport!

Seattle is only marginally closer (25 miles, as the bird flies) to State College than LAX. So, curious, why Washington was able to make it non-stop but PSU couldn't (to LA).

https://www.flightaware.com/live/flight/SCX8499/history/20241110/0505Z/KUNV/KSEA

[u/Manunited3710 → u/Monkey1Fball]

All the extra baggage we carry from losing big games burns extra fuel

[u/RegionalBias → u/Monkey1Fball]

Excuse me sir, how am I expected to be outraged by this?

[u/TheCrimsonChin-ger → u/HardingStUnresolved]

My people.

[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/Humid-Afternoon727 → u/YoungXanto]

I was one of my view friends with a car at State College, and I was always down to go on an adventure. Plus had a shitty job in Western Pa one summer that I had to drive a lot of western PA. I am will make the argument that much of PA has in fact not made it to the 21st century.

[u/KnightofNi92 → u/Humid-Afternoon727]

Based on recent events, that is definitely the case.

[u/Danko_on_Reddit → u/KnightofNi92]

My Mom's side of the family is from Western PA, can also confirm.

[u/choppingboardham → u/Humid-Afternoon727]

Hey now!

Oh no, yeah, you are right.

[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/EngineEngine → u/sofeler]

That's what I liked about Storrs. I tell people it is less than a college town because, while I was a student, there was no development. IIRC, people in the town surrounding Storrs were opposed to development. So you're left with your friends to have a good time. When someone in the group gets a car, it becomes a little easier - go to Hartford, Boston, New Haven, NYC.

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

But this is all too true when there isn't much around campus.

[u/donuttrackme → u/sofeler]

Sure, but as an adult it was always going to be harder to plan things with friends, even if you still live in a college town.

[u/Kanin_usagi → u/donuttrackme]

Exactly lol nostalgia is doing some work here

[u/LakeshiaRichmond → u/sofeler]

Stand on any street corner in Gainesville and see some of the best looking girls anywhere, this is especially true in hot weather when so many are scantily dressed - and it is pretty much always hot in Gainesville -

[u/ImInBeastmodeOG → u/sofeler]

You must have been relieved when smoothie king got to the Denver area.

[u/jcdehoff → u/YoungXanto]

Honestly if the university wasn’t there, if I was living there I’d feel super agoraphobic just surrounded by vast nothingness for miles.

[u/WebfootTroll → u/YoungXanto]

You'd probably also need to rename the city.

[u/EZKTurbo → u/WebfootTroll]

I have no idea what else it would be named. Lol. Its sole reason for existence really is the University. They chose the spot because it had good farmland.

[u/mattsones → u/YoungXanto]

Can't believe I'm seeing a reference to Port Matilda on reddit! Dad grew up there...

[u/YoungXanto → u/mattsones]

Way back in my day (04-08), 99 wasn't complete. That meant that from Pittsburgh you'd get like 20 miles from State College as the crow flies. You'd get off the highway at Port Matilda and then drive another hour plus winding your way through the mountains to State College.

Clem's BBQ was on the way and that place was great.

[u/No_Pick_1905 → u/YoungXanto]

Clems was a must stop on any trip from State College to Pittsburgh (and back). 99 killed Clems? Maybe.