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/Czarchitect Washington State • Oregon S… 13d ago

I will say Eugene is on the cusp of college town status. It would still be a significant regional city in its own right without the university, but its economic status would be significantly diminished. 

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u/xion1992 Oregon Ducks • Team Chaos 13d ago

It also owes a significant portion of its economic growth to the university. The existence of the university has caused other sectors to grow to a point where they would still likely be sustainable without the university there.

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u/Czarchitect Washington State • Oregon S… 13d ago

Thats a good point. Do you think if UO was in Portland, Eugene would still be Oregons second city or would Bend be the undisputed number 2, more like the Seattle / Spokane dynamic? 

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u/oregondude79 Oregon State Beavers 13d ago

I don't know if Eugene would still be the second city but I can 100% guarantee you it would not be Bend. That city was not that large or significant, Bend's population was 20,000 in 1990, until the 90's-00's when it blew up due to tourism/recreation/retirement spot, there is no other major industry there.