<p>Again, many thanks to all who have contributed to our research so far. Now we're looking for schools located in NON-major metropolitan areas, where their towns or local communities offer students an engaging and lively complement to the college experience.</p>
<p>By "NON-major metropolitan areas," we're talking about cities or towns with populations under, say, 100,000, although that's just a general guideline. If your rationale can justify a different number, then so much the better.</p>
<p>As always with these subjective evaluations, no parsing, please. We're just looking for names and supporting rationale.</p>
<p>We need:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>College name.</p></li>
<li><p>The city/town where it's located (a population figure earns you extra credit!).</p></li>
<li><p>IMPORTANT: Your knowledge source (how you know this to be true). Please don't go on reputation alone. First-hand experience regarding "engaging and lively" is key here.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>This genre of school may be more difficult to identify than those in our previous requests. However, since we're constantly amazed at the depth of knowledge of our CC forum members, we're confident that you'll come up with a superb list for us.</p>
<p>Burlington, Vermont, home of the University of Vermont. </p>
<p>Beautiful setting overlooking Lake Champlain and mountains. Great restaurants and arts scene. Lots of college kids. Downtown is safe and accessible to campus.</p>
<p>University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, pop est. 100,000.
AA is a lovely town, vibrant, fun, walkable. The university IS the heart of the town. It is close to both urban areas (eg. Detroit) and pastoral beauty (the rest of Michigan.) Son attends there and we love to visit because just walking around the streets is a fun thing to do.</p>
<p>…Bloomington, Indiana, population of around 71,000.</p>
<p>Visited the school with D2 last spring. The town is safe, with lots of small shops and businesses that cater to the IU community. Also there is a regular bus shuttle that goes between Bloomington and the Indianapolis Airport.</p>
<ol>
<li>UNC</li>
<li>Chapel Hill, NC (pop. 54,492)</li>
<li>I go to Duke. I have many friends who go to UNC, so I’ve made the 20-minute trip over there quite a few times. I wish Duke were in Chapel Hill. Chapel Hill’s safe and welcoming to students. Good restaurant and club scene. Most importantly, though, there’s absolutely no tension between the students and the townspeople. While it might sound trivial, Duke and Durham do have significant town-gown tensions, and it really shows in the relationships between Duke’s non-faculty staff (who come from Durham) and its students.</li>
</ol>
<p>Been to both. They ARE the school. Charlottesville has orange Vs painted in the roads for UVA. Athens has a great bar and live music scene as well.</p>
<p>Bloomington, Indiana (2nd the above) Indiana University I am an IU grad and visited with both of my kids- perfect college town with trees, rolling hills and an hour from Indianapolis. The university is big enough to provide great cultural opportunities, especially since the music school is so great.</p>
<p>Athens, GA- UGA many similar attributes to Bloomingon with the addition of SEC sports.</p>
<p>Home of University of MO (Mizzou). Population officially something like 80,000. Operates as the ‘metropolis’ of all of central MO, however, so it has more hospitals, hotels, restaurants, etc. than most towns of its size.</p>
<p>Since the university is contiguous with the downtown, there is walking access to many coffee shops, restaurants (locally owned and quite varied), retail shops of all sorts, and music venues. The town hosts a lively weeks-long jazz festival and a popular indie documentary series, and there are numerous arts/crafts and other open ‘festivals’ throughout the year.</p>
<p>Nearby state parks and conservation areas provide for a lot of hiking opportunities and the state-wide Rails to Trails network (biking and walking) runs through town and is supplemented by both city and county owned trails that link up to the cross-state trail.</p>
<p>In the interest of full disclosure: It is certainly safer than most large city campuses, but crime against late night down-town revelers is not unknown, and has gotten worse over the last few years. The big negative is the absence of a decent local airport. There is one, currently, but all flights go to Memphis–that’s it, just Memphis. Two hours or so on I-70, east to St. Louis or west to Kansas City, is the norm for air travel in or out. There are good shuttles to and from both of those airports.</p>
<p>I’ve lived in several college towns, and visited a lot more; I think Columbia is pretty under-rated as college towns go. It can appeal to a lot of different types of people.</p>
<p>How I know: I have lived there during two different periods of my adult life, for quite a few years total.</p>
<p>Evanston, IL (~75,000) - Northwestern; a mildly upscale and lakefront town with a large cinema complex and lots of restaurants and shops in the downtown area. </p>
<p>It’s just outside of the city limit of Chicago though and part of the Chicago metro area. Some of its restaurants are among the best in the entire metro area.</p>
<p>A shout out to a wonderful NC college town often overoolooked in the UNC vs Duke throwdown – Asheville NC, home of UNC Asheville and near to Warren Wilson College. </p>
<p>The small downtown is full of interesting shops, restaurants, clubs, etc, many with a tilt towards the college aged, whom I see in hordes on weekends on the occassions I have to be in that part of the world. In oft-conservative Appalachia this is the freethinking redoubt, where a college kid could feel very comfortable. Pluus you’ve got the Great Smokies, so you can get all the outdoor activity you want – hiking, camping, canoeing, etc. </p>
<p>And Asheville has about 75,000 folks. Give me that extra credit!</p>
<p>Lots of diversity, lots of delicious, locally-owned, restaurants, lots of shops, lots of concerts, lots of free events on-campus and in town, lots to do in general
Residents are very hip, liberal, and educated </p>
<p>my cousin currently attends and I visit regularly</p>
<p>College of William and Mary (Population 8,000)
Williamsburg Virginia (City proper: 15,000 / City and Immediate Suburbs: 130,000)
Student and resident</p>
<p>Williamsburg is a town of two things - the College and historical tourism. With the school and Colonial Williamsburg taking up much of the “independent” city of Williamsburg, many amenities are out of the city proper, but the free-for-students and cheap-for-everyone-else bus system can get you there quickly. Many square blocks around the College are devoted to shopping and restaurants, with the greatest concentration being in “Merchant’s Square”. The “outlets” (a huge complex of outlet stores) is located just up the street, and one of the popular student destinations for entertainment is “New Town” located on the far side of the College’s property. Nightlife is centered around the “delis” (essentially bars) located adjacent to campus (everyone has their favorite - the Green Leafe Tavern, the College Dely, or Paul’s Deli, which is Jon Stewart’s favorite), with a dance centered nightclub opening up in the coming months. Students get in free to all of the tourist attractions in Colonial Williamsburg, and many students use the nearby golf courses, wooded paths, and Duke of Gloucester Street to jog or bike on. The other two towns of the “historic triangle” (the location of the first permanent English Settlement in the new world - Jamestown, and the place where America’s independence was secured - Yorktown) are just a couple miles away, by car, bus, or bike on the scenic Colonial Parkway.</p>
<p>CU-Boulder
Boulder, Colorado (population roughly 100,000)
Beautiful campus, beautiful small city, easy access to outdoor activities (especially skiing and biking), good public transportation (including to nearby Denver and the Denver airport), very green, always lots of things to do, including volunteer activities. Shopping and great restaurants are within easy walking distance or on bus lines.
My son is a 2009 grad.</p>