<p>I don't really consider beauty to be a huge factor when ranking college towns. I mean its important, but you soon realize how little a town's beauty affects your life there. Take Princeton for example. I am a student at Princeton. The town is practically spotless. There's a nice movie theater with stadium seating, plenty of nice restaurants, more upscale than average, a nice grocery store for the people on the independent plan, and loads of shops and boutiques. However, if you are trying to entertain yourself for the evening, Princeton the town comes up empty most times. As many said, most of us go to New York or Philadelphia, which is really easy to do. </p>
<p>Now, as for the best towns for college students to LIVE in, this is entirely different. I would say the top two are probably Boston and Chicago, and Evanston within the Chicago area. </p>
<p>Chicago has:
1 - All the attractions of a world-class city, comedy clubs, restaurants, night clubs, discotheques, the Virgin Megastore (probably the best hangout spot in the city), the chic Old Town and Lincoln Park neighborhoods, and if you just want to get trashed, go to Wrigleyville and yuk it up with a billion happy Cubs fans in the "Drunken Mile" extending from Wrigley Field.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Reliable public transportation, which includes routes to both airports, both stadiums, and everywhere in-between. </p></li>
<li><p>Although University of Chicago kids have to keep a close eye out when walking in certain directions from their Hyde Park campuses, most of Chicago north of Chinatown is quite clean, well populated at night, and has plenty of cops on patrol. Evanston is impeccably safe. </p></li>
<li><p>Talking about Evanston, if you are a Northwestern University student, housing in town is really affordable, and in some instances I've been told by my friends there that they actually SAVE MONEY by living off campus renting apartments. There is plenty of available space too. Evanston is also decently served by the Chicago CTA elevated train line or the 'El'. </p></li>
<li><p>The lake. If you've never been to Chicago, the ocean-like Lake Michigan makes living there so much better. It is one handsome lake. </p></li>
<li><p>Flights to Chicago and from are really really cheap if you use SouthWest, JetBlue, or AirTran. </p></li>
<li><p>There are plenty of college students to hang out with, and there are lots of great jobs in Chicago for college students. I can't say the same for Princeton.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Much of this pertains to Boston too: transportation is good, the city has plenty of great attractions, and there are college students galore. Boston also has a lot of that historic charm that Chicago lacks, but makes up for with great architecture. Boston is also closer to the beach than Chicago if you head south into RI or East to Cape Cod. Boston is also easier to navigate than Chicago, at least in my opinion. </p>
<p>Finally, 2nd place is Philadelphia, and the only reason why I put it in second place is because the city is not as extensive, and the crime is slightly higher throughout the city (Chicago has a lot of crime too, but it happens in areas not near most college students). Everything else is great, especially the museums and shopping venues. There are plenty of places to live for college students around Philadelphia too, although the rough patches near UPenn can be dangerous.</p>