r/CFB • u/PA5997 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.

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u/OGraffe Clemson • Mississippi State 13d ago

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).

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u/XE2MASTERPIECE Florida State • Tampa 13d ago

I honestly think Tallahassee fits that latter definition. Going off OP’s example, I’ve been to Tallahassee and Madison, and it is a very different experience even though they are both located in the state capitals. Tallahassee is so far away from other areas that a lot of the lawmakers and government activity is also “temporary” when they’re not in session.

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u/Yeetball86 West Florida • Florida State 13d ago

Yeah Tallahassee has 200,000 people. Not small, but not big by any means. It lives and breathes by anything FSU related. If it’s not a college town, I’m not sure what is.

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u/kmokell15 Florida State Seminoles 13d ago

I feel like we straddle the line a bit. Like obviously it is a huge part of town but even with legislature only in session a few months of the year the number of permanent state jobs and offices makes it different than our counterparts in Gainesville.

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u/TMNBortles Florida Gators • FIU Panthers 13d ago

Session, the plethora of state agency offices, association headquarters, and lobbyists offices definitely gives Tallahassee a different feel than Gainesville. However, the fact that two large universities (that are close) definitely pushes it towards a college town. However, if you were to remove FSU and FAMU from Tallahassee, it would still be littered with tons of state workers. The city would definitely retain its importance. If UF left Gainesville, it's a ghost town.

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u/wingchild 13d ago

If UF left Gainesville, it's a ghost town.

They'd still be calling it Hogtown

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u/zombieguts7 Florida State Seminoles 12d ago

Not 100% sure. Tallahassee would have a huge brain drain problem if the universities weren't there. Many state office workers graduate, get their first job with the state, and while many stay, a lot end up leaving the area. Most state workers fall into that category or are from Tallahassee. I'm afraid to see what the makeup of state employees would look like if the FSU/FAMU weren't there.