I grew up in a true college town - East Lansing. The town and campus populations were about the same size when I was growing up. We had a fraternity on the corner, could walk or bike to campus, and always knew when something exciting was happening in the football stadium by the cheers. Both of my parents were affiliated with the university. All of our student teachers (and my violin private instructors) were from the university. We attended numerous world class cultural events on campus. Loved growing up there; it was a beautiful campus because of its agricultural college roots. There might have been an upscale suburb of Lansing without MSU, but I doubt it.
It was fun growing up there and visiting later- at first the students all looked like adults, then contemporaries, then children.
I think the town has changed a lot in personality. It was dry until 1968, which is why there were bars around the town borders. I haven’t been back in a couple of decades, but my brother has, and it sounds quite different.
My father’s retirement job took him to working at the Marshall Foundation with is at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, VA. Washington and Lee University is also there. It is very much a college town, with several bookstores, a lovely art gallery, casual eateries, and sometimes a little too much evidence of frat parties. For my parents being able to connect with college professors was a big plus. My Dad belonged to a club where the members presented papers on subjects that interested them every other week for example. They went to college theater productions and we often saw shows at college galleries.
OTOH I live in a town that had three colleges (down to two now and one is for profit) and my biggest complaint about it, is that it is not a college town. We’ve never had a decent bookstore. One of the colleges does have a nice art gallery. There are some bars and food places near the colleges. But I rarely see the student more than a few blocks from their campus.
The area we lived in during high school, Poughkeepsie NY, is a college town - Vassar and Marist. We were a few miles away from Vassar, and my high school senior photo and graduation were at the chapel. Once a friend took me to Vassar dorms to visit a college pals. But I actually never thought of it as a college town, small influence… until Covid, when my Dad and his wife did worry about the extra risks.
Cities with colleges in them (like Boston, DC, Raleigh, Durham, Winston-Salem) are NOT college TOWNS. They are cities with colleges. HUGE difference.
In a true college TOWN the college influences everything about the town. In Chapel Hill at least every other person you meet has some connection to the university — goes to school there, are alumni, teaches there, works there as staff, etc. The University is by far the major employer in town. Town-gown relations are a big thing. Town planning works with the university and vice/versa.
I love it here and have lived here for many decades. I think a college town keeps the fun and cool stuff happening.
Marilyn, H and I stopped on the MSU campus a few weekends ago - he got his undergrad and masters there - about 40ish years ago! We didn’t do the whole campus but we were surprised that the end of campus where he lived last- it was technically married housing (but he wasn’t) was still there (Spartan Village off Trowbridge) physically though looked like it was closed. But while there were some new buildings of course, some of the same strip malls - and lol, the ATM we always stopped at - was still like we remembered! Our best friends just recently moved back to the area so we hope to visit and explore more. Many great, great memories of East Lansing!
I think this goes both ways. I live in a town that has a mid-sized university but I would not call it a college town. 30 minutes down the road is another mid-sized university - in a smaller town, that very much revolves around the university.
But I think “college town” can exist at different levels. Chapel Hill is likely top tier! But even small privates in smaller towns (Ohio has so many!) ARE largely what makes up the people and the culture of the town. To me, that’s a college town. People of course choose what level makes them happy to emerge themselves in!
I’ve lived in many college towns. The pluses are additional events, music, art etc. There are also usually better restaurants than there would normally be due to more activity. The downside, can be less parking, things are often more expensive, can be busy times of the year where they block off streets or they have large athletic games.
Overall, I think the benefits outweigh the downside.
I’ve lived in Davidson, NC, and Bloomington, IN, so one small college and one large university. I’ve enjoyed the benefits - we have gone to sporting events, art exhibits, drama and musical offerings, and heard guest speakers.
As noted, you pay attention to the calendar, and avoid situations/roads where you know there will be massive crowds.
Made it a point to eat out during spring break,since we knew it wouldn’t be as crowded.
This year graduation is the same weekend as Mother’s Day, so I will probably not try to eat out then.
I work remotely from home, but H has worked either on or adjacent to campus, so has a closer view, including trash from the aftermath of parties, and loud music during them.
Even with the few negatives, we definitely view it as a benefit.
I don’t live in a college town but my good golfing buddy does. One of her gripes about small town college town is that it’s pretty cliquey. Hard to break into.
She also complains about all of the weed shops. But that’s a problem in all Michigan towns now!
I live in a college small city. Most of my friends moved here from other places due to the grad schools, and have stayed. I appreciate the very well educated population and myriads of interests to be explored, as well as the arts offering. Top notch performances without the crowding or long drives to reach the venues. I loved that I could see Hamilton a 20 minute bike ride from my house. Football Saturdays are a PITA, as I don’t care for such things but obviously many do. Living far enough from the stadium to not be bothered on those days is nice.
Due to the medical school, it is a great place for medical care in retirement or for anyone with an issue, and my neighborhood is walk and bike friendly. Rarely buying gas right now as I can walk to a store is worth a great deal. There is the ability to take free classes as a local retiree that I hope to take advantage of in time. A friend, an impressively driven individual learned German to a high level of fluency on line during the pandemic.
I had a rat in my compost. An across the fence neighbor, hearing my scream, said, “Oh, I study small mammals and have many live traps.” So he hopped the fence, placed his trap and disposed of it for me while discussing their preferred habitats.
I attended college in a small college town, waaaaaaay upstate NY. Potsdam had my school (Clarkson) and a state school (SUNY Potsdam, where I was also accepted). Nearby town had St Lawrence and SUNY Canton. In the area I suspect there were almost as many students/staff as other residents. The main stat I remember, but can’t vouch for as true data, is that the county had more cows than people.
Fun memory tidbit - The “Welcome to Potsdam” sign would get altered (by Frat panksters?) before back-to-school to say “Wecome to Hot Damn”.
Potsdam/Canton were among my stomping grounds growing up. I rode horses and competed at St Lawrence in their regular shows and was the voice on the intercom making announcements of all sorts for a few of their intercollegiate horse shows.
My parents both went to SUNY Potsdam. My dad told me they often called it Madstop (Potsdam spelled backwards).
I believe the county did have more cows than people, or at least, yes, it was commonly said that way. There were a lot of dairy farms, both conventional and Amish. I had them on both sides of my dad’s house. There were nights we were woken up to chase cows that had gotten loose.
This begs the question whether places like Williamstown, MA, Swarthmore, PA, and Middlebury (VT) are college towns or just colleges with traffic junctions nearby?
This^^^. Absolutely agree. I don’t think I dislike another nice place (meaning clean, amenities, etc.) as much as I do Palo Alto. Stanford is stunning. I just hate where it’s located.
Yes. Someone head into Hamilton, NY and tell me if that’s a college town. It’s two blocks of nothing, a street light, a fairly charming Inn, and the rest is Colgate and houses. I can’t call that a college town, and am much more apt use that descriptor for Boston than I am Hamilton, Williamstown, and places like that. Amherst, OTOH, feels like a college town to me. Northampton does not.
@college_query, I have friends who loved living in Bloomington! They ended up there for jobs at IU and love how vibrant it is, all that’s available, and the low cost of living compared to the previous university towns where they had been.
This sounds like a bit of a lifestyle gem!
For folks who like the idea of living in a rural New England, a relative gives Hanover high marks for “having everything in the middle of nowhere”!
Frankly, the idea of living in a somewhat out of the way university town intrigues me. It sounds like a way to get your cake and eat it too!
Sadly, I don’t think we can call Poughkeepsie a college town, despite its colleges. They don’t really have that much of an impact beyond their campuses.
I grew up in Columbia Missouri, where the town’s population was 30,000, the football stadium held 60,000, and games were always sold out.
I have a Washington and Lee student, and I adore Lexington. To me, it’s the perfect small college town.
I have lived quite near one or another of the famous LACs in my town pretty much my entire life, so I’m pretty jaded at this point. If you’re close to a campus the opportunities to share in the fun side of campus life can be far outnumbered by the crappy inconveniences dumped in your lap by terrible undergrads. The attitude of the administration makes all the difference.
At one we used to be contacted by the school at the start of the year and asked to call their security number if we felt a party house of their kids was out of line. (That was years ago, but not that many years ago.) Neighbors used to be able to get a pool or gym pass at another. I used to live on the same block as one school’s neighborhood ombudsman which provided a good place to reach out when there were concerns about getting renters to behave better. So some good approaches.
But that ombudsman position seems to be gone from that school since he retired and the school is growing again. Their recent response to trash in the neighborhood was to have the student council walk around the blocks near campus for a couple Sundays with bags to pick up rather than encourage better behavior. I’ve literally had drunks try to enter my home, and one peed on my house until my wife knocked on the window and shooed him away. We never get that from the other schools because we can call and there’s a response. (Plus the drinking culture and the pot cultures are pretty different. I’m not a pot guy, but they make far better neighbors.)
Anyway, TLDR: there are awful kids renting near all schools, but if the administration takes their role in the community seriously it can be far less painful for neighbors. If you’re not sure you want to deal with it, being too near campus is something you might want to avoid.
Boston can’t be a college town because it’s a city. Is NYC a college town? Is LA a college town? They have colleges. Amherst? Yes, college town. I have no opinion on Hamilton or Williamstown. Never been to either place.
I can walk to UNC’s campus and have never had an issue with students disrupting our neighborhood. We have a house across the street that students rent. I think they had one party that I noticed. Students have been in that house since our elderly neighbors left for greener pastures about 10 years ago. I can hear all the students downtown hootin’ and hollerin’ when the Heels beat Dook. Been living here 40ish years and have never had a big problem with UNC students.