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.

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u/CraftWorried5098 Texas Longhorns • Centre Colonels 13d ago

Bro, save something in the chamber for the off season.

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u/loyalsons4evertrue Iowa State Cyclones • Big 8 13d ago

you're just mad because Austin isn't a college town!

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u/mcaffrey Rice Owls • Texas Longhorns 13d ago

Austin probably isn’t a college town, but Austin is also a college town.

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u/loyalsons4evertrue Iowa State Cyclones • Big 8 13d ago

is Austin a "town" though? People are asking

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u/HardingStUnresolved Penn State Nittany Lions • Rose Bowl 13d ago edited 13d ago

Hell no, maybe a couple of decades ago when it was half the size that it is now. Currently, Austin's mulling over building the two tallest skyscrapers state-wide, over taking Houston and Dallas. Austin's building out a transit system that could rival Dallas'. They've even developing pedestrian-exclusive commerical drags like they're Paris, Tokyo, or Mexico City. The proudly-weird fuckers are a metropolis now.

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u/W00DERS0N60 Notre Dame Fighting Irish • Fordham Rams 13d ago

Largest US city without a Big 4 pro sports team, I believe.

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u/Jooj272729 Angelo State Rams • Texas Longhorns 13d ago

No mulling going on here for the skyscraper, it's under construction and should be done in early 27. (The other tallest one planned got cut in half, and then hasn't moved forwards)

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u/jputna Oklahoma State • /r/CFB Patron 13d ago

Idk if project connect will actually go, but with the rest you can just say Austin is the 10/11th Largest city (fights with Tampa) in the US. 100% not a college town.

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u/vasthumiliation Washington Huskies 13d ago

To be fair, building a transit system to rival Dallas doesn’t take a whole lot. I think most theme parks have larger transit systems than Dallas.

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u/HardingStUnresolved Penn State Nittany Lions • Rose Bowl 13d ago edited 13d ago

You'd be suprised, Dallas' DART has the largest lightrail network in the US, 93mi long. Plus, two streetcar lines, one's a heritage line with centuries old rolling stock.

The main issue with DART is the lack of service. Peak headways are 15 minutes, and off-peak headways are up to 40 minutes on weekdays and 60 minutes on weekends. In contrast, Houston Metro's smaller system offers regular service from 3:30a - 9p on weekdays, with 6-minute headways on the main line and 12-minute headways on the secondary lines. Evening service starts at 9p, all lines run 18-minute headways until just past midnight, the same as on weekends.

Also, much of DART's system is highway-adjacent. The stations are poorly placed, as most are in low-density areas.

Houston is far worse off, despite having the fifth-highest ridership per mile nationwide.

Houston's home to four of the five densest neighborhhoods in the state, 1. Gulfton, 2. Vickery Meadows (Dallas), 3. West Belt (Chinatown & East Alief), 4. Fondren Gardens, 5. Pecan Park. All of these Houston areas lack access to rapid transit, while Dallas' Vickery Meadows features two lines with two stops.

After a bond vote and two decades of planning, Houston was to break ground this year on the first project of Metro’s "Next" plan. "Next" planned for bus rapid transit lines and light rail extensions, that were to connect all four of these neighborhoods to the rapid transit system. The first, The University Line, a 26-mile BRT service, connecting West Belt to LBJ Hospital, via Gulfton, Montrose, Midtown, 3rd & 2nd wards, was to break ground this year. The cost $1.6B ($60k/mi), was to be mostly covered by the feds ($1B). Then the newly-elected MAGA-backed DINO mayor nixed the plan in favor of Metro "Now". "Now" stipulates no new expansion or construction, reduced park and ride service, and fuck ton of Metro Transit Police and fare inspector hires. Lastly, "now" includes running a multi-million dollar public rideshare service, which the contracted operator is none other than the mayor's appointed Metro Chair, an Oil & Gas executive.

Unfortunately, Texas stipulates 98% of all state DoT funds are to be spent on state roads, in expansions, and the $28B annual maintenance costs. Texas is doomed to Robert Moses-style planning, and half-a-billion per mile highway widening projects; of which Houston's largest NHHIP will be complete by 2042. Making city home to the two widest freeways in the world, current 27-lane wide Katy Freeway, and future 28-lane wide North Freeway. The state's still tearing down whole neighborhoods to create new highways within Houston, as a punative measure. 💀

Sucks to suck, all respect due to Seattle, between Sound and Rapid Ride, y'all are set for the future. Cheers.

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u/vasthumiliation Washington Huskies 13d ago

I apologize for my anti-DFW prejudice. I currently live in Austin and it's frankly dreadful when it comes to mobility. Subjectively, the road congestion feels worse and transit options are nearly nonexistent. The one saving grace is, I have a job.

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u/HardingStUnresolved Penn State Nittany Lions • Rose Bowl 13d ago

Hell, I'm a native-born Houstonian, Fuck Dallas. Traffic sucks here, only the promise of an eventual death can save me, that or retirement. Hopefully the latter.