Best college town in Virginia?

[Anonymous]

The best college town, like best college, depends on what you want.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:My kids hated Blacksburg. I think Lexington wins. The publics in VA aren’t in great towns. Except for richmond, they all mostly feel like strip malls and suburbs.

How can college kids hate Blacksburg? Do they have something against fun?

I don’t know - I visited while I was a college student and wasn’t overly impressed

When was this? Decades ago? Blacksburg is indeed a fun little town.
DP

well, I was in college in the 90s, so, yeah....

I have been a couple times since then (our nephew graduated from a nearby high school, so we visited with him). It was ok as a town, but they still can't help that there isn't much else there.

FWIW, though, Metallica is bringing their shows there next year. The shows I saw at Soldier Field in Chicago.

How is there not much to do for a college kid in Blacksburg? There’s tons of bars, restaurants, shops, parties, immediately off campus. What else would a college kid want to do?

Sure, there is stuff right in Blacksburg by the college. I'm not denying that.

SW VA is not much to write home about, though. It took us 45 minutes to get to a decent mall in Roanoke.

I would prefer the college town not be in the middle of freaking nowhere.

Who the heck goes to the mall anymore? Tech has all the entertainment that most college kids could want.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Do Tech upperclassmen have to drive to class? That would ruin the vibe for me.

They can drive or take the VT shuttle, which most do. Most universities have something similar.

Not the ones with a cohesive campus.

Name a major college in Virginia where students don't take the bus (other than ODU because it's too dangerous to live more than a block off campus)

No, it’s not. I live a few blocks from ODU in a very nice neighborhood. Lots of students live in the surrounding neighborhoods. The only time I’ve been a crime victim in my life was as a student in Charlottesville. Bad stuff can happen anywhere.

(That said, Norfolk is far from a nice college town.)

Yeah well there's a reason the ODU shuttles don't really go off campus

We've spent time in Norfolk and its surroundings. There is plenty to do in and around ODU. Yes, you may not want to go too far afield on foot, but the area down near the water is nice. And Virginia Beach is fun.

I would have been perfectly happy had my kid decided to go there. Much more exciting than her other in state option, Radford. Cute campus there, but the surrounding area is only somewhat OK because they can go hang out in Blacksburg with the kids at Tech.

When I was at Tech, I went to some great parties at Radford.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Fairfax and GMU! The Smithsonian museums, Sequoias, Tony and Joes, Ski Liberty, Great Falls.

It seems autocentric and not very walkable. When you step off campus, do you feel like you're in a town?

Such ignorance here about GMU. DD lived in the dorms four years and gad the time if her life. Here's what she did: walked across the street to dine and shop. Shuttled to the wonderful retaurabts and bars at Grand Commons Square (Coastal Flats, Ozzi's, etc) Shuttled to Old Fairfax for art scene, walkabout the cobbled streets and eat at very cool Vietnamese retaurants and other ethoc restaurants. Breakfast scene at First Watch and the best authentic Chinese restaurant I've eaten out of China. Weekly events at tge Eagle Bank Center. On camous cinma. Great gyns. Good on-campus food at name chain restaurants. Great school spirit over basketball. Away games. Shuttled to DC and everyhing it has to offer. Shuttled to the high tech canpus at Manassas for internships. GMU Arlington has loads going on. Spent a term at Mason Korea. And met her husband there

I mean this does prove their point about autocentric-ness

What VA school is not autocentric outside of a campus?
You can easily get out to a civilization with a little bit of effort for GMU at least.

For such a large state, it's impressive that there isn't one decent college town. Maybe that's why my kids are focusing on OOS.

Blacksburg is an amazing college town.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Definition of College Town = Nothing much to do in the middle of nowhere

Unless your definition of nothing much to do includes, restaurants, bars, and lots of parties.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Fairfax and GMU! The Smithsonian museums, Sequoias, Tony and Joes, Ski Liberty, Great Falls.

It seems autocentric and not very walkable. When you step off campus, do you feel like you're in a town?

Such ignorance here about GMU. DD lived in the dorms four years and gad the time if her life. Here's what she did: walked across the street to dine and shop. Shuttled to the wonderful retaurabts and bars at Grand Commons Square (Coastal Flats, Ozzi's, etc) Shuttled to Old Fairfax for art scene, walkabout the cobbled streets and eat at very cool Vietnamese retaurants and other ethoc restaurants. Breakfast scene at First Watch and the best authentic Chinese restaurant I've eaten out of China. Weekly events at tge Eagle Bank Center. On camous cinma. Great gyns. Good on-campus food at name chain restaurants. Great school spirit over basketball. Away games. Shuttled to DC and everyhing it has to offer. Shuttled to the high tech canpus at Manassas for internships. GMU Arlington has loads going on. Spent a term at Mason Korea. And met her husband there

I mean this does prove their point about autocentric-ness

What VA school is not autocentric outside of a campus?
You can easily get out to a civilization with a little bit of effort for GMU at least.

For such a large state, it's impressive that there isn't one decent college town. Maybe that's why my kids are focusing on OOS.

Blacksburg is an amazing college town.

You have to bus around everywhere? Doesn't sound appealing.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fairfax and GMU! The Smithsonian museums, Sequoias, Tony and Joes, Ski Liberty, Great Falls.

It seems autocentric and not very walkable. When you step off campus, do you feel like you're in a town?

Such ignorance here about GMU. DD lived in the dorms four years and gad the time if her life. Here's what she did: walked across the street to dine and shop. Shuttled to the wonderful retaurabts and bars at Grand Commons Square (Coastal Flats, Ozzi's, etc) Shuttled to Old Fairfax for art scene, walkabout the cobbled streets and eat at very cool Vietnamese retaurants and other ethoc restaurants. Breakfast scene at First Watch and the best authentic Chinese restaurant I've eaten out of China. Weekly events at tge Eagle Bank Center. On camous cinma. Great gyns. Good on-campus food at name chain restaurants. Great school spirit over basketball. Away games. Shuttled to DC and everyhing it has to offer. Shuttled to the high tech canpus at Manassas for internships. GMU Arlington has loads going on. Spent a term at Mason Korea. And met her husband there

I mean this does prove their point about autocentric-ness

What VA school is not autocentric outside of a campus?
You can easily get out to a civilization with a little bit of effort for GMU at least.

For such a large state, it's impressive that there isn't one decent college town. Maybe that's why my kids are focusing on OOS.

Blacksburg is an amazing college town.

You have to bus around everywhere? Doesn't sound appealing.

Who says you have to bus around everywhere? There’s tons of stuff right off campus and lots of neighborhoods too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fairfax and GMU! The Smithsonian museums, Sequoias, Tony and Joes, Ski Liberty, Great Falls.

It seems autocentric and not very walkable. When you step off campus, do you feel like you're in a town?

Such ignorance here about GMU. DD lived in the dorms four years and gad the time if her life. Here's what she did: walked across the street to dine and shop. Shuttled to the wonderful retaurabts and bars at Grand Commons Square (Coastal Flats, Ozzi's, etc) Shuttled to Old Fairfax for art scene, walkabout the cobbled streets and eat at very cool Vietnamese retaurants and other ethoc restaurants. Breakfast scene at First Watch and the best authentic Chinese restaurant I've eaten out of China. Weekly events at tge Eagle Bank Center. On camous cinma. Great gyns. Good on-campus food at name chain restaurants. Great school spirit over basketball. Away games. Shuttled to DC and everyhing it has to offer. Shuttled to the high tech canpus at Manassas for internships. GMU Arlington has loads going on. Spent a term at Mason Korea. And met her husband there

I mean this does prove their point about autocentric-ness

What VA school is not autocentric outside of a campus?
You can easily get out to a civilization with a little bit of effort for GMU at least.

For such a large state, it's impressive that there isn't one decent college town. Maybe that's why my kids are focusing on OOS.

Blacksburg is an amazing college town.

You have to bus around everywhere? Doesn't sound appealing.

Not sure why the parents of dcum are so frightened by the idea of taking the bus

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do Tech upperclassmen have to drive to class? That would ruin the vibe for me.

They can drive or take the VT shuttle, which most do. Most universities have something similar.

Not the ones with a cohesive campus.

Name a major college in Virginia where students don't take the bus (other than ODU because it's too dangerous to live more than a block off campus)

No, it’s not. I live a few blocks from ODU in a very nice neighborhood. Lots of students live in the surrounding neighborhoods. The only time I’ve been a crime victim in my life was as a student in Charlottesville. Bad stuff can happen anywhere.

(That said, Norfolk is far from a nice college town.)

Yeah well there's a reason the ODU shuttles don't really go off campus

We've spent time in Norfolk and its surroundings. There is plenty to do in and around ODU. Yes, you may not want to go too far afield on foot, but the area down near the water is nice. And Virginia Beach is fun.

I would have been perfectly happy had my kid decided to go there. Much more exciting than her other in state option, Radford. Cute campus there, but the surrounding area is only somewhat OK because they can go hang out in Blacksburg with the kids at Tech.

When I was at Tech, I went to some great parties at Radford.

Ok, fair enough. It’s nice that the two campuses do have some interaction. I know Radford’s new-ish president has been working to increase those opportunities.

Radford the town and the surrounding area, though? I mean, come on. ODU’s area has more entertainment options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fairfax and GMU! The Smithsonian museums, Sequoias, Tony and Joes, Ski Liberty, Great Falls.

It seems autocentric and not very walkable. When you step off campus, do you feel like you're in a town?

Such ignorance here about GMU. DD lived in the dorms four years and gad the time if her life. Here's what she did: walked across the street to dine and shop. Shuttled to the wonderful retaurabts and bars at Grand Commons Square (Coastal Flats, Ozzi's, etc) Shuttled to Old Fairfax for art scene, walkabout the cobbled streets and eat at very cool Vietnamese retaurants and other ethoc restaurants. Breakfast scene at First Watch and the best authentic Chinese restaurant I've eaten out of China. Weekly events at tge Eagle Bank Center. On camous cinma. Great gyns. Good on-campus food at name chain restaurants. Great school spirit over basketball. Away games. Shuttled to DC and everyhing it has to offer. Shuttled to the high tech canpus at Manassas for internships. GMU Arlington has loads going on. Spent a term at Mason Korea. And met her husband there

I mean this does prove their point about autocentric-ness

What VA school is not autocentric outside of a campus?
You can easily get out to a civilization with a little bit of effort for GMU at least.

For such a large state, it's impressive that there isn't one decent college town. Maybe that's why my kids are focusing on OOS.

Blacksburg is an amazing college town.

You have to bus around everywhere? Doesn't sound appealing.

Not sure why the parents of dcum are so frightened by the idea of taking the bus

Oh I think we know why.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The best college town, like best college, depends on what you want.

Agree. You want skiing you are going to go for JMU or UVA. You want rock climbing you are going to go to VT. And apparently, if you love water parks it’s CWM all the way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The best college town, like best college, depends on what you want.

Agree. You want skiing you are going to go for JMU or UVA. You want rock climbing you are going to go to VT. And apparently, if you love water parks it’s CWM all the way.

You go to W&M for the beach... Three beaches within a 15 minute drive, and Virginia Beach only an hour away.

But yes people at W&M do go to Busch Gardens and Water Country and I'm not sure why that bothers you so much

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fairfax and GMU! The Smithsonian museums, Sequoias, Tony and Joes, Ski Liberty, Great Falls.

It seems autocentric and not very walkable. When you step off campus, do you feel like you're in a town?

Such ignorance here about GMU. DD lived in the dorms four years and gad the time if her life. Here's what she did: walked across the street to dine and shop. Shuttled to the wonderful retaurabts and bars at Grand Commons Square (Coastal Flats, Ozzi's, etc) Shuttled to Old Fairfax for art scene, walkabout the cobbled streets and eat at very cool Vietnamese retaurants and other ethoc restaurants. Breakfast scene at First Watch and the best authentic Chinese restaurant I've eaten out of China. Weekly events at tge Eagle Bank Center. On camous cinma. Great gyns. Good on-campus food at name chain restaurants. Great school spirit over basketball. Away games. Shuttled to DC and everyhing it has to offer. Shuttled to the high tech canpus at Manassas for internships. GMU Arlington has loads going on. Spent a term at Mason Korea. And met her husband there

I mean this does prove their point about autocentric-ness

What VA school is not autocentric outside of a campus?
You can easily get out to a civilization with a little bit of effort for GMU at least.

For such a large state, it's impressive that there isn't one decent college town. Maybe that's why my kids are focusing on OOS.

Blacksburg is an amazing college town.

You have to bus around everywhere? Doesn't sound appealing.

Not sure why the parents of dcum are so frightened by the idea of taking the bus

No one is frightened.

I went to school in a walkable college town. My kids live in a walkable neighborhood. It sounds like a total PITA to have to commute to campus via car or bus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fairfax and GMU! The Smithsonian museums, Sequoias, Tony and Joes, Ski Liberty, Great Falls.

It seems autocentric and not very walkable. When you step off campus, do you feel like you're in a town?

Such ignorance here about GMU. DD lived in the dorms four years and gad the time if her life. Here's what she did: walked across the street to dine and shop. Shuttled to the wonderful retaurabts and bars at Grand Commons Square (Coastal Flats, Ozzi's, etc) Shuttled to Old Fairfax for art scene, walkabout the cobbled streets and eat at very cool Vietnamese retaurants and other ethoc restaurants. Breakfast scene at First Watch and the best authentic Chinese restaurant I've eaten out of China. Weekly events at tge Eagle Bank Center. On camous cinma. Great gyns. Good on-campus food at name chain restaurants. Great school spirit over basketball. Away games. Shuttled to DC and everyhing it has to offer. Shuttled to the high tech canpus at Manassas for internships. GMU Arlington has loads going on. Spent a term at Mason Korea. And met her husband there

I mean this does prove their point about autocentric-ness

What VA school is not autocentric outside of a campus?
You can easily get out to a civilization with a little bit of effort for GMU at least.

For such a large state, it's impressive that there isn't one decent college town. Maybe that's why my kids are focusing on OOS.

Blacksburg is an amazing college town.

You have to bus around everywhere? Doesn't sound appealing.

Who says you have to bus around everywhere? There’s tons of stuff right off campus and lots of neighborhoods too.

This poster said you do:
http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/30/1232103.page#28501609

[Anonymous]

I would rather be at a school where I live on campus and can walk everywhere I need to go. That is my ideal.

Shuttles or Busses don't seem too bad. Having to park on some campuses is a nightmare, though.

FWIW, I have used commuter busses here in NoVA. And we just bought our daughter bus tickets back and forth from Boston for Thanksgiving.