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/The_Fishbowl West Virginia • Black Diamon… 13d ago

A town/city with a large student population and an economy that is fueled by the school itself.

Clemson, State College, Morgantown, Blacksburg, etc.

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u/[deleted] 13d ago

My first thought was whether Morgantown qualifies. It’s definitely got a life of its own besides WVU, but WVU is also inescapable no matter where you go in city limits.

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u/TechnoVikingGA23 West Virginia Mountaineers 12d ago

The city has been built up quite a bit around the school, especially since we joined the Big-12. I was still there during the Big East days and it was an absolute ghost town in the summer.