Our family lived in Blacksburg, VA for a few years and enjoyed it. We loved the sports and entertainment opportunities as well as the interesting people - faculty, staff, and students. I admit that is was nice when classes ended, many of the students cleared out, and the streets and restaurants weren’t as crowded for a while.
That’s a great question! I’ve heard when looking for a place to retire that a college town can be great - so many cultural and educational opportunities, plus a fun mix of ages. I’m sure there are some downsides though! 
1 Like
The college town where I live only has 2,500 students. It is noticeable on a few key weekends and the number of students is right around 10% of the population. It is a nice, small influx that keeps downtown bright and vibrant during the school year. We have cultural events to attend and the college is great at inviting the community to lectures, concerts, and exhibits at their art museum.
The bigger issue here is we are a summer destination that draws over a million people in July/August that absolutely clogs downtown, restaurants and hotels. There is never any parking and restaurants have “summer menus” with more expensive prices. Crime increases with dwi stops and bar fights and late nights can resemble New Orleans because our bars are open until 4 AM. We know all of downtown is off limits until Labor Day weekend. Please, please bring on the students!!!
5 Likes
I live in a college town and we love it! We are steps from the university. We attend concerts, shows, and sporting events regularly. Lectures and classes are open to community members as well. We find it very life enriching and we walk everywhere.
Extra bonus of having blue lights on our street on our route to town, and campus police patrolling in addition to city police.
There is only one day of the year that I hate, a huge outdoor concert day, but it attracts way more than college students. I can live with the one day increase in people and noise for all the other benefits.
6 Likes
I grew up in a college town (about 10,000 students although some were locals) and really enjoyed the things the college brought to town. I went to the university ‘lab’ school so was actually on campus for 2 years.
The university brought art and music shows to town, had a planetarium, beautiful hiking trails, etc. It was a teacher’s college so our schools were full of student teachers. There were extra sports to watch
We lived very close to DU when my kids were growing up (still do) so while not a ‘college town’, we took advantage of all the things DU offered. My kids did gymnastics and hockey in a great facility, went to a lot of birthday parties there, used their facilities for science competitions. There are concerts and plays.
1 Like
twoinanddone - can I ask what school is DU?
University of Denver. My children went to a grade school about 1/2 mile away so a lot of their friends lived in the neighborhood and they held their birthday parties there, we went to summer camps and holiday camps for daycare, and all the sporting events.
Last week when DU won the National Championship in hockey, we all felt we had won.
1 Like
Thanks for sharing, twoinandone. Denver has so much to offer - including DU!
For those of you who enjoy it, I take it you don’t live near the students? I don’t live in a college town, but we have a tiny uni here. And when the house next door sold, it went to a guy who illegally crammed more students than allowed by code. It turned into the football club house. A constant stream of different cars visiting for 15-30 min from 10am until long after we went to bed. They often blocked our driveway. And the parties, ugh. All over our lawn. Cops were called almost every weekend. We were constantly in touch with the city and uni.
Next year it was rented to a group of frat brothers. Not sanctioned by the school. They were slightly better, but not much. And one of them was mean. Parking is hard here. We have parking in back, and so did they, but the people across the street have nothing but street parking. The neighbors across the street were elderly and one had a heart problem. They asked if they could not park in front of their house. One purposely did every time even if closer spots were available! They were so upset, I swear it caused his stroke.
The house next door sold and was being rented by a family for awhile, then vacant and now it’s under contract again. Hopefully it will be a family. But the elderly neighbors sold theirs, and it’s now being rented to college students. They still live in town and I know it kills them to see their beautiful place all run down. The kids have parties but being across the street, we don’t hear it. It doesn’t seem so bad.
But we originally wanted to live in Blacksburg. But life happened and we wound up here. But now when we go to college towns we are like no way do we want to live here anymore.
2 Likes
When I lived in the small college town, we lived pretty close to the university (I walked to school there, so maybe a mile) but no college kids lived near us. Most lived in dorms. The homes closer to the university were pretty nice but I’m sure a few were rented by college kids. The hospital was also close to the university and there was a large church and school sort of surrounded by the campus, so it was pretty dense for parking in that area.
The are some gorgeous homes near DU, homes college students could never afford to rent even if they put 12 students in them (which is illegal in Denver). Parking is a huge problem and you need a sticker to park on the street for more than an hour. I think they’ll only issue 3-4 stickers per house.
Even in towns like Boulder there is a mix of housing close to the campus. There are fraternities and sororities mixed in with the $2M homes ‘on the hill.’ The JonBenet Ramsey house was only 3-4 blocks from campus and it was a million dollar house 25 years ago.
1 Like
I maintain an apartment in Middletown CT (Wesleyan) which is very convenient for weekend getaways. It’s not a typical college town in that only a small part of the local economy revolves around the school. I’ve met very few people who work for it and until a recent over-acceptance spilled over into my building, I had very little contact with the undergraduates either.
But, prior to the pandemic it was a great place for light, inexpensive, weekend entertainment: Dance recitals, foreign movies - that sort of thing. Theater tickets tend to get sold out pretty quickly.
And the campus itself is eye-candy for a morning run (or, in my case, walk), up a hill at a slight incline, (so I get my cardio in) surrounded by clapboard houses and iconic architecture from every period of American history you can think of, including the present.
Middletown will never be a summer destination; its valley location is just a little too hot and humid to draw tourists. But a balcony or screen porch of your own is a just the thing on a Fourth of July evening. And, though the college looks a little forlorn after commencement and all the hoopla dies down, it does become more accessible to pausing and sitting in the shade of a tree or the sun at the top of the hill. Although, I haven’t experienced it yet, IIRC, the college sponsors a free, outdoor film series for all of us “locals”.
5 Likes
We would love to live in a college town. Our choice is actually Winston Salem. University of NC School of the Arts is there for every imaginable arts thing. There are also several other colleges in the town.
1 Like
96% of students at our college live on campus all 4 years. Average rent in town is pretty expensive (out of our budget since rents are more than the mortgage on our house) so I think that limits the number of students who can live elsewhere. Houses within walking distance to campus are equally split between the $1M-$2M range and $2M+ and the vast majority of condos are over $350K, closer to $500K. No one is renting that to a college kid…
3 Likes
We’ve lived in Ann Arbor (post grad) and Boston (Cambridge/Copley Square/Back Bay) and loved the vibe, offerings, and intellectual communities in both places, but there is no better college town than Ann Arbor. The only reason we didn’t stay is DH couldn’t handle any more winters (also the reason we left Boston for AZ). We do go back to visit both places frequently, though. I think opting for a vibrant college town in retirement is an excellent idea for all the positive reasons listed above. Go for it!
16 Likes
I wouldn’t call Winston-Salem a college town. It’s a good sized city with 500,000 people (metro area). To me, a college town is a place that is deserted when the students are gone. And when they are in session, it’s hard to go anywhere without tripping over a group of students.
Blacksburg, Charlottesville, harrionsburg , Chapel hill definitely are college towns, but I wouldn’t call Durham/Raleigh college towns.
3 Likes
Boston is surely the ultimate college town. And it’s never deserted. Same with Ann Arbor. Or Columbus Ohio which is another option for us.
When I think of a college town, I think of a town where there are LOTS of things to do related to the colleges in located there. I guess that’s just another way to look at it.
8 Likes
Definitely a different way of thinking. I lived in Columbus for 10 years and went to school in blacksburg. Definitely wouldn’t consider Columbus to be a college town. To me, a college town is a town, small in size, not a city. I wouldn’t call DC a college town either, but there are tons of schools there.
But to each their own.
I think if you live next door to the college, you experience the place where you live as “a college town”. For example, I have relatives who live and work near Duke who have no problem calling Durham a college town.
We lived in Blacksburg for the beginning part of our marriage and loved it. Being alum might have been part of it.
Then we left for FL followed by PA. Still love our trips back to Blacksburg - a lot has changed, but some hasn’t. Souvlaki’s is still our first stop. It may have changed owners, but the gyros there are still good. Haven’t felt the desire to move back though. Living in the mountains isn’t as appealing as elsewhere to us.
Here in PA we prefer being away from the nearby college towns (Gettysburg, Carlisle, etc) - we like our space and nature sounds more than people noise.
1 Like
Lived in Boulder for a while, fantastic college town (always seems to be ranked as the #1 college town), but I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone over 30. It gets really crowded during school, and there are marvelous places outside Boulder with a similar vibe to live without the crowding. Still one of my favorite towns (to visit) and I do so often.
3 Likes