Cambridge, MA is a “small college town”? Populatiion 119,000 n the middle of the Boston metro area? And yet Boston is not listed at all.
Hey! Overall Ann Arbor is #5, but #1 for small cities. Thanks for the post!
Interesting.
I acknowledge the lightheartedness of the thread, but have to roll my eyes when people that write these articles try to make something objective that is in no way objective. ?
^I know what you mean. But it’s helpful to me when someone rolls their eyes up here and asks me, “Why would anyone go to TEXAS for school?”
Yes! One taste of Torchy’s, and they will be sold on Austin! ?
Surprised Chapel Hill isn’t in the top 10, what a great college town!
I’ve never thought of most of the cities listed as “college towns”.
Exactly. Austin has a population of almost 1 million!
Ann Arbor is the quintessential college town, but how the heck did Scottsdale get in there with an “academic and economic opportunity ranking: 2”? ASU is in Tempe; there is no college vibe/presence in Scottsdale at all/u. Ridiculous list, but Austin is a fine town.
Another worthless ranking system. It must be if it considers Tampa the #4 college town. Guess it depends on how you define college town (I think of it as Chapel Hill or Charlottesville).
Tampa is home to USF, a large public (40k students) and UTampa (mid size private). For many yrs, USF was considered a commuter school. It still has very liottle housing relative to the student body (although does have new dorms). We’ve lived 10 minutes from campus for 26 yrs, and I would in no way consider it a college town as in the town caters to the school, exists because of the school, has the spirit of the school, etc. Just doesn’t exist. Tampa is a nice bedroom community that happens to have USF within the city limitss. That’s about it. UT is downtown. More happening there because of location but that wouldn’t differentiate it from any other urban school. Again, not a lot of hype re UTampa.
My experience working there for 2 years matches what many co-workers in Houston and Dallas often tell me - Austin may be in Texas but it’s not “Texas”.
I initially laughed at Pittsburgh being in the top 10, having attended undergrad/grad and living here 25+ years, but it’s tough to have any type of “college” feel among 2M+ population.
But having grown up in Columbus, I’d be very hard pressed to explain how Pittsburgh is a better “college town”. It seems to be more just a rating of the cities - great city, just not college-focused.
Given that Orlando is larger than Pittsburgh, Austin, and Las Vegas, and Cincinnati is larger than Austin, some of the classifications are odd.
@RichInPitt Sadly, I have to agree with you. I attended UT and worked in Austin from the late 70’s to the late 80’s. Austin, unfortunately, is not “Texas” to me any more - and that’s a shame.
On the other hand, I like what Austin is and that it is different than much of Texas. More power to that uniqueness!
A college town ranking without Athens, GA has no credibility.
By the way, I agree these rankings are ridiculous and inconsistent. Sometimes Austin is not on the list at all. I just post them when they’re favorable, ha.