<p>Beantown! (Boston)</p>
<p>Cambridge and Boston are really the same city thing though lol :P</p>
<p>The list stinks. Sorry. Some pretty big name schools and their locales are missing. Who is the judge of what a "college town" is anyway and what are their criteria? If I use the classic definition of "college town" its a town where the college makes up most of the buildings and population and activities....except for some shops and bars outside the campus gates....then that eliminates a lot of schools in large cities.</p>
<p>Some college towns are sleepers...I mean, so boring as to put cows to sleep.</p>
<p>Some are so rowdy and dirty they are disgraceful. Some are so freaky they would scare away Timothy Leary.</p>
<p>One man's paradise is another man's misery. To each his own.</p>
<p>Caveat emptor!</p>
<p>A college town is one where the main focus of activity and interest is around the school. It does not mean there is no other economic activity but it would exclude all major cities over a couple hundred thousand population. Sorry if you don't like the definition but there are other rankings for major cities which take much more into account than just the schools there.</p>
<p>I thought providence was a good one...</p>
<p>Evanston, IL <a href="http://www.ugadm.northwestern.edu/freshman/campuslife/evanston.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.ugadm.northwestern.edu/freshman/campuslife/evanston.htm</a></p>
<p>nyc is NOT a college town, its a city that have colleges in it
other large cities like boston are subjective, probably depending if the colleges or the town was there first, but most likely not college town</p>
<p>i agree with barrons that a college towns revolve around the colleges(or happen to have a huge influence as to what goes on) and thats not the case in major cities</p>
<p>some call where I live (richmond, va) a college town as it has U of R, VCU, and VUU. If you think that, then you're stupid. The town was there decades before any of the colleges were there and college has a minimal influence in town, except maybe the vcu medical center because they do a lot of research and have a really good hospital</p>
<p>Lincoln, Nebraska, home to the University of Nebraska. A city of 239,000, it's big enough to find things to do, but small enough (unlike NYC and Boston) where you don't have to deal with traffic, pollution etc. The city takes great pride in the school's sports and academic program. It's a growing city, just recently there was approval for two new hi-rises (20+ stories) however, while the city is growing it's still doing a good job of keeping the city looking historical. Too bad it's so damn windy there, but that's another issue.</p>
<p>Austin, DC, New Orleans, Boulder, Bowling Green OH (small, but still fun) are cities that I've actually been to and think are great cities to attend college in.</p>
<p>I really like Boston, but since it's not small, I don't know if it qualifies as a genuinely good "college town."</p>
<p>Someone earlier mentioned Williamsburg, and as much as I would love to go to W&M (campus is beautiful; it's a "public Ivy"...) Williamsburg is not a college town at all. There's not a lot to do in Williamsburg besides visiting historic Williamsburg and going to the old taverns (which are cool, but not standard college fare.) The lack of nightlife outside of frat parties/tavern visiting didn't really have a negative impact on my mom, but I don't think my dad would have been happy being in Williamsburg.</p>
<p>Boston definitely qualifies, because so much of what goes on in Boston revolves around colleges/college students. Not everything, sure. But if the schools weren't there at all, there would probably be a lot less to do in Boston because of less demand. The resident population drops markedly in the summer.</p>
<p>However, I think on the comprehensive list, a lot of greater Boston schools were left out, which definitely count for Boston being a college town; as I said, they center around Boston... lots of college students going to bars and clubs! Don't leave out the schools that aren't in Boston proper! (Especially those that are literally in a bordering town. Not even "suburb" by the "wider-streets-and-cul-de-sacs-and-soccer-moms" standard.)</p>
<p>Amherst is certainly a college town, but most of what there is to do there involves house parties and getting far more drunk on much more of a regular basis than is at all advisable. Both of my parents and both of my older brothers went to UMass; I am the first one in the family going somewhere else. So it is a stereotypical smallish college town, but not a great college town for people who don't party.</p>
<p>If you think about a college town taking on the personna of the college, Northampton is a great college town. It's all Smith all the time. And it caters to all aspects of the school from the Lily Pulitzer Preppy to the tattooed and pierced; from straight to lesbian and everywhere in between. It has cheap pizza and burgers to white tablecloth places to eat.</p>
<p>Boston is the Greatest.</p>
<p>It's a college town before there was a college anywhere else.</p>
<p>Chico, CA, CSU CHICO town completly revolves around the campus. Great area, downtown, parks, everything...</p>
<p>very true about Chico. Party central!! </p>
<p>I'd also like to add San Luis Obispo, CA. Small town, the whole population is basically college students and it's right by the beach! Gotta love Cal Poly :)</p>
<p>list is bogus without austin atleast in the top 5</p>
<p>In my opinion, a good "college town" is a city that isn't so ridiculously big so as to remove any significant connection between the college and the city (Chicago, Boston, NYC, Los Angeles, etc.) and isn't so ridiculously small that the college is the town (most liberal arts colleges). It is the cities that strike the right balance (Austin, Palo Alto, Berkley, etc) that, in my opinion, are the best college towns. They don't swallow you up, nor do they feel like an isolated work camp.</p>
<p>Is this thread about "college towns"? Or great towns/cities to be in for college students? </p>
<p>Boston is a nice place to spend your college years in. But it's not a college town. Cambridge is, however. There's usually very little coverage about colleges on The Boston Globe. Its sports section is pretty much all about profesional sports, not college sports. </p>
<p>Berkeley- UCB great walking town, lots to see, lots to eat, all an easy walk- a bit of crime though
Westwood- UCLA, lots to see, very upscale, fun people watching, easy walking
Bellingham, WA- WWU- small town, fun little downtown, best for 21+, lots of activity around</p>
<p>Berkeley's pretty amazing. I've been here nearly 2 years straight and I haven't even begun to explore all the action around town.</p>
<p>Antioch University, in Yellow Springs, Ohio, undoubtedly. As long as you don't mind a VERY liberal populace. It is amazing.</p>