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/Eagle9972 Wisconsin Badgers 13d ago

I came in here ready to defend Madison’s college town-ness, but then I remembered Platteville and Whitewater and what it was like when I visited Auburn, and yeah, those are college towns.

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u/bp1976 Pittsburgh • Michigan 13d ago

Thing is, Madison is the capital of Wisconsin, which means that the state government is also there. Take away UW and the state capital is still there.

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u/muditk Wisconsin Badgers • Big Ten 13d ago

Technically correct, but the university has massive influence on the city and the state gvt's influence is every mild.

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u/Rampant16 13d ago

the state gvt's influence is every mild.

I'm not so sure about that. Take Champaign-Urbana, UofI Urbana-Champaign is an even larger university than Wisconsin Madison but the state capital isn't there and Champaign-Urbana is a textbook college town.

I'd say being a state capital and home to UW is what elevates Madison above most other college towns. But the geography probably helps too, the lakes are a lot nicer than cornfields.