Colleges in major cities

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Drexel and Penn are fine with a lot of visible security.

Penn? Please the Warzone people are getting stabbed and shot right near campus. Stop spreading lies.

The area to the west of Penn has been a yuppie neighborhood since I was a child in the 70s. Sure, it waxes and wanes, and crime has always been a problem--and I'm sure still is--but it is also, very urban (in every sense of the word), walkable to Penn and Drexel, served by trolley lines and buses that also go to Penn and Drexel. It's a pedestrian neighborhood. Feels a lot safer to me than DC and that's not just because I was roller skating around it at age seven after dark. (Ah, the 70s.)

I don't know...I wouldn't consider the area West of Penn a yuppie neighborhood. The area East of Penn (you cross the river and that is where downtown starts)...that is a yuppie neighborhood. You sure you have your directions correct?

Absolutely. You sure you've ever been west of 40th Street? Guess not.

Yeah, I have been West of 40th Street...but admittedly not further than what used to be the old Murphy's tavern (I think that was 44th?). Again, I would never call that a yuppie area.

You mean "The Tavern?"

Well, all our parents who were doctors, professors, lawyers, architects, Penn administrators, scientists, CPAs, and bankers (not many bankers) would disagree.

Ever been in one of those really big Victorians? They're amazing. It was a really special place to grow up.

[Anonymous]

And in fact. The rest of Philly referred to us as "that yuppie area that's not Center City or Society Hill".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Drexel and Penn are fine with a lot of visible security.

Penn? Please the Warzone people are getting stabbed and shot right near campus. Stop spreading lies.

The area to the west of Penn has been a yuppie neighborhood since I was a child in the 70s. Sure, it waxes and wanes, and crime has always been a problem--and I'm sure still is--but it is also, very urban (in every sense of the word), walkable to Penn and Drexel, served by trolley lines and buses that also go to Penn and Drexel. It's a pedestrian neighborhood. Feels a lot safer to me than DC and that's not just because I was roller skating around it at age seven after dark. (Ah, the 70s.)

I don't know...I wouldn't consider the area West of Penn a yuppie neighborhood. The area East of Penn (you cross the river and that is where downtown starts)...that is a yuppie neighborhood. You sure you have your directions correct?

Absolutely. You sure you've ever been west of 40th Street? Guess not.

Yeah, I have been West of 40th Street...but admittedly not further than what used to be the old Murphy's tavern (I think that was 44th?). Again, I would never call that a yuppie area.

You mean "The Tavern?"

Well, all our parents who were doctors, professors, lawyers, architects, Penn administrators, scientists, CPAs, and bankers (not many bankers) would disagree.

Ever been in one of those really big Victorians? They're amazing. It was a really special place to grow up.

I was there in the 90s…I never went into any of the Victorians I admit. I trust you but just not sure it retained the same demographic in the 90s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Drexel and Penn are fine with a lot of visible security.

Penn? Please the Warzone people are getting stabbed and shot right near campus. Stop spreading lies.

The area to the west of Penn has been a yuppie neighborhood since I was a child in the 70s. Sure, it waxes and wanes, and crime has always been a problem--and I'm sure still is--but it is also, very urban (in every sense of the word), walkable to Penn and Drexel, served by trolley lines and buses that also go to Penn and Drexel. It's a pedestrian neighborhood. Feels a lot safer to me than DC and that's not just because I was roller skating around it at age seven after dark. (Ah, the 70s.)

I don't know...I wouldn't consider the area West of Penn a yuppie neighborhood. The area East of Penn (you cross the river and that is where downtown starts)...that is a yuppie neighborhood. You sure you have your directions correct?

Absolutely. You sure you've ever been west of 40th Street? Guess not.

Yeah, I have been West of 40th Street...but admittedly not further than what used to be the old Murphy's tavern (I think that was 44th?). Again, I would never call that a yuppie area.

You mean "The Tavern?"

Well, all our parents who were doctors, professors, lawyers, architects, Penn administrators, scientists, CPAs, and bankers (not many bankers) would disagree.

Ever been in one of those really big Victorians? They're amazing. It was a really special place to grow up.

We knew it as Murph’s. It was popular because I believe Murph himself (at least we called the old guy Murph) was not a stickler for IDs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Drexel and Penn are fine with a lot of visible security.

Penn? Please the Warzone people are getting stabbed and shot right near campus. Stop spreading lies.

The area to the west of Penn has been a yuppie neighborhood since I was a child in the 70s. Sure, it waxes and wanes, and crime has always been a problem--and I'm sure still is--but it is also, very urban (in every sense of the word), walkable to Penn and Drexel, served by trolley lines and buses that also go to Penn and Drexel. It's a pedestrian neighborhood. Feels a lot safer to me than DC and that's not just because I was roller skating around it at age seven after dark. (Ah, the 70s.)

I don't know...I wouldn't consider the area West of Penn a yuppie neighborhood. The area East of Penn (you cross the river and that is where downtown starts)...that is a yuppie neighborhood. You sure you have your directions correct?

Absolutely. You sure you've ever been west of 40th Street? Guess not.

Yeah, I have been West of 40th Street...but admittedly not further than what used to be the old Murphy's tavern (I think that was 44th?). Again, I would never call that a yuppie area.

You mean "The Tavern?"

Well, all our parents who were doctors, professors, lawyers, architects, Penn administrators, scientists, CPAs, and bankers (not many bankers) would disagree.

Ever been in one of those really big Victorians? They're amazing. It was a really special place to grow up.

We knew it as Murph’s. It was popular because I believe Murph himself (at least we called the old guy Murph) was not a stickler for IDs.

I think you're right. Murphy's was on 43rd near the Acme and the seminary?

The Tavern was on 44th and Spruce. Maybe 45th?

Neither were sticklers for ids, but as high school students we usually bought rolling rock and drank it in the abandoned seminary.

You're not wrong about the 90s. My family moved out and I came back down from NYC a few times to walk around, see friends. So many houses for sale in the early 90s. It was a rough time for the neighborhood.

It rebounded, though. Penn started some homeowner mortgage program, they opened a new elementary school, Clark Park got fancy... at least that's what I've seen. I still follow the news there, I like it that much.

[Anonymous]

look, there's going to be some level of crime in every true city, unless you are living on the upper east side or equivalent - most students will not want to live in those areas because they are boring, in addition to being too expensive for most. So you have to balance size, diversity, opportunity and safety.

Agree with recs for NY, Boston, DC, UT-Austin, UW-Seattle, UCLA, UCB, UCHicago. MIT is in Cambridge but across the Charles and essentially the same urban feel and different from Harvard imo. Also like UBC, Toronto and McGill in Canada.

[Anonymous]

There’s a difference between an area that has low crime and an area that has low crime because there is a cop on every corner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BC, Tufts, Brown, Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech, Gtown, Rice, Wash U

GA Tech isn’t in a safe area. I took a wrong turn very close to campus—yikes.

Hey, if you are afraid of every city...please, just don't respond. GA Tech is walking distance to some of the hip areas of Atlanta. Walking the other direction gets sketchy...but there is little reason to walk the other direction.

I have several family members who attended GaT, including one there now. They all agree that it is in a bad neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SMU in Dallas - beautiful campus in an upscale and safe neighborhood.

It's a 3-hour flight to Dallas from DC, and there are lots of flights to/from Dallas Love Field and DFW airport. (Both American Airlines and Southwest Airlines have hubs there.)

Also, it's kind of a nice size, in that it's a bit larger than many private colleges. It has a total enrollment of 11,000 (of which 7,000 are undergraduate students).

SMU does have a fairly unique placement geographically — don’t really know of other schools that are in a neighborhood that nice that is just a few miles from the downtown of a major city. The Park Cities and the Campus have their own police forces and the area is also covered by Dallas police. A student told me that they knew someone who pulled the alarm on an emergency box on campus and police from all three jurisdictions showed up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BC, Tufts, Brown, Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech, Gtown, Rice, Wash U

GA Tech isn’t in a safe area. I took a wrong turn very close to campus—yikes.

Hey, if you are afraid of every city...please, just don't respond. GA Tech is walking distance to some of the hip areas of Atlanta. Walking the other direction gets sketchy...but there is little reason to walk the other direction.

I have several family members who attended GaT, including one there now. They all agree that it is in a bad neighborhood.

How bad can it be if Coca Cola world HQ is literally across the street. I mean, you don’t find any company HQs in the truly bad parts of any city. Also, the business school at the edge of campus is right next to numerous other sky scrapers with various companies (and I think a RR HQ?).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BC, Tufts, Brown, Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech, Gtown, Rice, Wash U

GA Tech isn’t in a safe area. I took a wrong turn very close to campus—yikes.

Hey, if you are afraid of every city...please, just don't respond. GA Tech is walking distance to some of the hip areas of Atlanta. Walking the other direction gets sketchy...but there is little reason to walk the other direction.

I have several family members who attended GaT, including one there now. They all agree that it is in a bad neighborhood.

How bad can it be if Coca Cola world HQ is literally across the street. I mean, you don’t find any company HQs in the truly bad parts of any city. Also, the business school at the edge of campus is right next to numerous other sky scrapers with various companies (and I think a RR HQ?).

Go there & look for yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:depends on how you describe major cities.
New York, DC, Atlanta, Houston, Chicago, LA, SF, Philly, Dallas, Seattle are the top 10 cities by gpd. Only 8 of these cities have top 25 (elite) schools.
New York- Columbia
DC- Georgetown
Atlanta- Emory
Houston- Rice
Chicago- UChicago
LA- UCLA
SF- UCB
Philly- Upenn

There's also CMU, WashU, Vandy, JMU, Harvard, MIT etc. But these might be considered tier 2 cities by some.

UCB is in Berkeley, not SF.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of great suggestions in this thread.

Boston is among the top desirable cities for college students, if not the very top destination, for those looking for some level of urban atmosphere, and has many schools to choose from.

The problem is the weather is not for everyone. Just like the South isn't for everyone, so while I think Emory or Tulane are great options for kids who like cities, a lot of people will rule them out because they don't like the culture or the humidity, or both.

TBH this is one reason why DC remains such a big draw for college students. DC splits the difference culturally between North and South, so people from both places feel comfortable here. Weather-wise the summers are more similar to the Northeast (very hot and humid but not quite as bad as the Deep South) but the winters are much more mild. All of this also makes it a more approachable city for midwestern and western kids coming to the East coast --the mix of people here makes it less insular. It's a city you can live in without a car but also one where if you want a car-dependent lifestyle (and lots of people do) you can do that fairly easily too. DC also offers a more diverse range of post-grad opportunities than other East Coast cities because of the mix of government and industry here.

I think DC has Boston beat as a desirable college town.

How’s it feel to be alone on an island?

DC & NYC are not college towns. They are places where rich & powerful adult a-holes throw their weight around & college students are an annoying afterthought.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BC, Tufts, Brown, Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech, Gtown, Rice, Wash U

GA Tech isn’t in a safe area. I took a wrong turn very close to campus—yikes.

Hey, if you are afraid of every city...please, just don't respond. GA Tech is walking distance to some of the hip areas of Atlanta. Walking the other direction gets sketchy...but there is little reason to walk the other direction.

I have several family members who attended GaT, including one there now. They all agree that it is in a bad neighborhood.

How bad can it be if Coca Cola world HQ is literally across the street. I mean, you don’t find any company HQs in the truly bad parts of any city. Also, the business school at the edge of campus is right next to numerous other sky scrapers with various companies (and I think a RR HQ?).

Go there & look for yourself.

I have…maybe you should take your own advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SMU in Dallas - beautiful campus in an upscale and safe neighborhood.

It's a 3-hour flight to Dallas from DC, and there are lots of flights to/from Dallas Love Field and DFW airport. (Both American Airlines and Southwest Airlines have hubs there.)

Also, it's kind of a nice size, in that it's a bit larger than many private colleges. It has a total enrollment of 11,000 (of which 7,000 are undergraduate students).

SMU does have a fairly unique placement geographically — don’t really know of other schools that are in a neighborhood that nice that is just a few miles from the downtown of a major city. The Park Cities and the Campus have their own police forces and the area is also covered by Dallas police. A student told me that they knew someone who pulled the alarm on an emergency box on campus and police from all three jurisdictions showed up.

Tulane is another such school.