s/o Worst college towns?

[Anonymous]

I think the worst college towns are the slightly/very depressed 50,000 - 100,000ish places.

Towns like Allentown (Muhlenberg), Easton (Lafayette), Troy (RPI), Binghamton, etc.

They are too large on their own for the university to kind of dominate the town, but the towns themselves are fairly boring, not super-safe, etc.

At least, State College is dominated by PSU and has cool stuff, or colleges in large cities get the benefits of the large cities.

Or at least a Williams or those types of schools, you know exactly what you are getting from the college experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Iowa City

What’s not to like?

Iowa city is fun but the winters are a drag. Same with Champaign.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Troy, NY

Definately! We visited (STEM kid) and as we pulled off the highway kid was like "we really don't need to stay for the tour, no way in hell am I spending even a semester in this place." I tended to agree, but we did tour and quickly removed RPI from our list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New York City
Philadelphia
Baltimore
Los Ángeles
San Francisco
Chicago
Detroit
Houston
Memphis
Dallas

LOL, so every major metro in the USA. Ithaca it is!

I really disliked Ithaca when we visited. The region is decent, but the town? Blech

Middle of nowhere, very challenging to get to/from unless you are driving (flying is a nightmare), grey and dreary winters and we just didn't like Cornell or Ithaca campuses.
But largely it's that its in the middle of frickin nowhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the worst college towns are the slightly/very depressed 50,000 - 100,000ish places.

Towns like Allentown (Muhlenberg), Easton (Lafayette), Troy (RPI), Binghamton, etc.

They are too large on their own for the university to kind of dominate the town, but the towns themselves are fairly boring, not super-safe, etc.

At least, State College is dominated by PSU and has cool stuff, or colleges in large cities get the benefits of the large cities.

Or at least a Williams or those types of schools, you know exactly what you are getting from the college experience.

Perfect analysis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Iowa City

What’s not to like?

Yeah, Iowa City is great. Doesn’t belong on this list.

+1. Iowa City is a great college town. Sure it's in Iowa, but this is one of the Blue bastions of Iowa and it's a fun place to spend 4 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Iowa City

What’s not to like?

Iowa city is fun but the winters are a drag. Same with Champaign.

We first visited Iowa City with our kid in late November and it was freezing. They really liked it anyway so we knew it could be a good fit.

[Anonymous]

DC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Williamstown - god awful

It’s a small town but “god-awful” is hyperbolic at best. Tons of hiking trails, many walkable from campus. Multiple internationally-known art museums in the area, one that’s directly adjacent to campus. A Broadway-feeder theater festival.
Tons of alums buy second homes or return to raise their families there.

Not everyone wants a small town, but “worst”? C’mon

[Anonymous]

I keep seeing Poughkeepsie mentioned—what’s so terrible about it? Planning to visit Vassar and possibly Marist over spring break.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the worst college towns are the slightly/very depressed 50,000 - 100,000ish places.

Towns like Allentown (Muhlenberg), Easton (Lafayette), Troy (RPI), Binghamton, etc.

They are too large on their own for the university to kind of dominate the town, but the towns themselves are fairly boring, not super-safe, etc.

At least, State College is dominated by PSU and has cool stuff, or colleges in large cities get the benefits of the large cities.

Or at least a Williams or those types of schools, you know exactly what you are getting from the college experience.

+1. Agree. Binghamton is a great school but the area is depressed. Give me a vibrant city or a small college town instead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the worst college towns are the slightly/very depressed 50,000 - 100,000ish places.

Towns like Allentown (Muhlenberg), Easton (Lafayette), Troy (RPI), Binghamton, etc.

They are too large on their own for the university to kind of dominate the town, but the towns themselves are fairly boring, not super-safe, etc.

At least, State College is dominated by PSU and has cool stuff, or colleges in large cities get the benefits of the large cities.

Or at least a Williams or those types of schools, you know exactly what you are getting from the college experience.

Valid. This thread is silly because most of the cities mentioned aren't college towns at all. Binghamton is a perfect example. It's not a college town. It's a small, depressed city that just happens to have a good college. Ithaca is the perfect counterpoint. It's so small that Cornell + Ithaca really do define the town. It's also depressed, but much less so thanks to the colleges and the natural beauty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the worst college towns are the slightly/very depressed 50,000 - 100,000ish places.

Towns like Allentown (Muhlenberg), Easton (Lafayette), Troy (RPI), Binghamton, etc.

They are too large on their own for the university to kind of dominate the town, but the towns themselves are fairly boring, not super-safe, etc.

At least, State College is dominated by PSU and has cool stuff, or colleges in large cities get the benefits of the large cities.

Or at least a Williams or those types of schools, you know exactly what you are getting from the college experience.

+1. Agree. Binghamton is a great school but the area is depressed. Give me a vibrant city or a small college town instead.

Add Worcester, MA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have seen many lists of the best but what are some that sit on the opposite end of the spectrum—places that feel particularly unsafe, charmless, or just have nothing to do? Any towns that are so bad you would avoid an otherwise strong school?

Hanover, NH - nothing there at all and the weather is dismal

[Anonymous]

Wherever Frostburg is. Super depressing area.