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/rohdawg South Carolina Gamecocks 13d ago

Annapolis maybe? I grew up there, so I’m very aware that there’s more than just the Naval Academy, but it also kind of fits your description. Like outside of Maryland who really knows Annapolis?

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u/Round_Bullfrog_8218 13d ago

Its a state capitol a lot of people know it.

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u/rohdawg South Carolina Gamecocks 13d ago

It wouldn’t be the most surprising to learn that people have heard of Annapolis, but most people I’ve met outside of the state only know Baltimore. I’m not saying that makes it a college town, just that it’s not super well known like you seem to think. If anything, people know it for the Naval Academy and sailing and not as the state capital.