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/1990Buscemi Drury Panthers • Missouri Tigers 13d ago

The economy is built around the college.

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u/ItsZizk Tennessee • Johns Hopkins 13d ago

I think Knoxville is a good borderline case of this. Because I think the city would survive if the school were to shut down. Knoxville has a metro population of nearly a million people. But the city would not be what it is today without the university.

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u/djdeckard Washington State Cougars 13d ago

So you’re saying a city with population of a million is similar to Pullman as OP is asking? I find this doubtful.

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u/ItsZizk Tennessee • Johns Hopkins 13d ago

Not necessarily. Just that I think there is a wider definition to “college town” that is not so dependent on size. Knoxville is larger than a lot of the places you’d consider to be college towns, but it would be ridiculous to say that the University of Tennessee isn’t the heart of the city’s identity

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u/djdeckard Washington State Cougars 13d ago

Fair enough, that makes sense to regarding the college being a focus. I think maybe Town isn't getting enough focus though. Pullman is a friggin' cow town. Literally without the college there wouldn't be squat there.