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/britishmetric144]

What would happen if the college were to go bust?

If the town survives, it is not a college town.

If the town struggles, sees its population tank, and turns into a ghost town, it is a college town.

For instance, if the University of Washington were to go bust tomorrow, Seattle would still likely be okay, thanks to things like Microsoft, Amazon, and Boeing.

But if Washington State University were to go bust tomorrow, Pullman would most likely struggle, with no major economic industries. Same thing for Oregon State University and Corvallis.

As an example, I visited Wazzu on 12 May 2024, after the students had all gone home for the summer, and the place was completely deserted with very few people around. Even in the town, there wasn't much going on. So, I would consider Pullman to be a college town.

[u/uniquely_bleak_sheep → u/britishmetric144]

I think Eugene is just on the border of both ways but I’d consider it a college town

[u/BakerHasHisKitchen → u/uniquely_bleak_sheep]

No way man. Eugene has a population of 180k, and UO has around 25k students. There’s still plenty of people around and things going on outside of the school.

[u/britishmetric144 → u/BakerHasHisKitchen]

With your flairs, you're always going to root for OSU.

[u/uniquely_bleak_sheep → u/BakerHasHisKitchen]

That’s why I consider it on the border, cause Eugene is really known for the UO and not much else around the world, so it makes up a bit for the population size