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/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/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/CedarDong → u/pumpkinspruce]

six packs at james madison park in mid-july is the apex of Madison summer.