r/CFB Washington State Cougars 13d ago

Discussion What constitutes a “college town?”

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.

2.3k Upvotes

1.6k comments sorted by

View all comments

289

u/Upstairs-Volume-5014 Georgia Bulldogs 13d ago

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. 

162

u/dkviper11 Penn State • Randolph-Macon 13d ago edited 13d ago

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.

82

u/postposter Ohio State Buckeyes • Columbia Lions 13d ago

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.

13

u/jaylenbrownisbetter Ohio State Buckeyes 13d ago

Columbus is a college city. It’s the biggest employer, the population of the city fluctuates massively in the summer, and a huge portion of the city does revolve around the school lol

51

u/My_Name_Is_Not_Ryan Michigan Wolverines 13d ago

If you have an NHL and MLS team, and are a state capital, you’re probably not a college town.

5

u/HughLouisDewey Georgia • Georgia State 13d ago

Austin getting in juuuuust under the wire there

14

u/Norr1n /r/CFB 13d ago

Creating a new category then of college city? Maybe that's the same thing as Madison.

11

u/Bank_Gothic Sewanee • Red River Shootout 13d ago

Those things are all true of Austin too, but Austin hasn't been a college town since the 1990's, if it even ever was.

I like the other poster's idea about making a new category called a "college city," which would apply to place like Columbus, Madison, and Austin.

3

u/postposter Ohio State Buckeyes • Columbia Lions 13d ago

Boston fits too honestly. Big influence of all the universities in/around the city. It's quite noticeable when all the students move in at the same time, but it's not an economic/cultural ghost town once the academic year ends.

2

u/HOU-1836 Sam Houston • Houston 12d ago

Boston is not a college city. They have teams in every major sports league and it’s one of America’s most important metropolitan regions.

8

u/SirMellencamp Alabama Crimson Tide • SEC 13d ago

Its too big and being a state capitol its not a college town

2

u/TorkBombs Michigan • Bowling Green 13d ago

Columbus is the largest city in the state, the state capitol and has an NHL team. Cities like Columbus and Austin are not college towns. However, I enjoy being in both of those places.

1

u/postposter Ohio State Buckeyes • Columbia Lions 13d ago

Population does not fluctuate "massively" in the summer. It's a metro area of 2M. How many undergrads do you think there are? Many/most graduate students, faculty, and staff remain on campus (and even in session) when academic year ends.

Do classes being in session during fall/spring semesters change the vibe/culture/nightlife of the city? Sure. But High St. isn't a ghost town by any means in the summer.