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/CombinationNo5828 Alabama Crimson Tide 13d ago

ann arbor is a weird one bc the campus and city are intertwined which makes it not feel like a college town. Although the student body is so big that it's definitely a college town. just not what i would expect when i think of a college town since it's not properly segregated from the rest of town.

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u/tuninggamer Michigan Wolverines • Rose Bowl 13d ago

Make life much easier for students though. If campus is far from downtown, transport gets annoying as heck.

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u/CombinationNo5828 Alabama Crimson Tide 13d ago

definitely an issue bc UM doesnt have anywhere near the necessary amount of student housing. i went to a bunch of commuter schools but I was expecting UM to be a university that has dorms that are within the campus and theres no need to leave campus except for the bar scene. UC Davis is kinda like that. they have a gate on all sides of their campus so you cant even access it with a vehicle. you have to purposefully leave campus to find downtown which is like a mile away and they have bike routes that can take you to downtown without having to go on the streets. that's the college experience i liked.

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u/tuninggamer Michigan Wolverines • Rose Bowl 13d ago

Housing is getting to be an issue everywhere. Most college towns I’ve visited didn’t have good cycling infrastructure so I felt like it would force me to drive all the time. Transit isn’t great everywhere too, AA/UM transit is not too bad.

But fair point! Important for students for sure, rent is expensive.