Boston
Iowa City
San Luis Obispo

The fact that no one has mentioned Austin yet shows what a bunch of parochial rubes are on this forum.

Seriously though, Austin is an awesome place to spend four years or just a long weekend.

In the SEC:

Athens has always struck me as the quintessential college town, but the mayor's recent press conference gives me pause. He seems more concerned with coddling illegals than with the safety of female college students, which is especially concerning given recent tragic events on campus. Oxford and Auburn are nice picturesque Southern college towns, as well. Starkville, a little less picturesque.

Knoxville is probably too big to be considered a true college town, but it sure seems like the whole city revolves around UTK. You can't turn around without seeing somebody or something decked out in orange. It's a fun place. Lexington is kind of the same, except blue instead of orange.

Gainesville, Tuscaloosa, Baton Rouge, and Columbia (SC) are all dumps once you step off campus.

Nashville is a blast but not a college town at all. Once you get off campus, no one gives a rats rump about Vandy.

Oxford Mississippi

Anonymous wrote:Just adding onto thread for worst ones!

Boston for best hands down

what a college town means to one means something else to another.

This is probably the dumbest question on here every 6 months.

My daughter loves Buffalo. Big sports town!

Anonymous wrote:Charlottesville.

Isn’t this 10 blocks by 3 blocks? Down e main? Or is there another part?

Anonymous wrote:No particular order and purely as college town, meaning for student point-of-view:

Athens, GA
Madison, WI
Ann Arbor, MI
Chapel Hill, NC
Boulder, CO
Burlington, VT
Charlottesville, VA (at least in parts)
Isla Vista area, UCSB, CA
San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly

Not college towns but can be fun:
Westwood/LA for UCLA
Wilmington for UNCW
UCSD - parks, La Jolla, etc.
Any Boston college, especially those in city proper like BU

This is a good list. Other great college towns include:
Bloomington, IN
Iowa City, IA
Amherst, MA (yeah, Northampton is cooler, but it's not a proper college town in the same way)
Corvallis, OR
Lawrence, KS
Flagstaff, AZ

Charlottesville.

Anonymous wrote:Is Claremont really nice? We walked through the campuses last spring break, but there didn't seem to be much of a town. Maybe we missed it getting on and off the highway

It’s small, but super cute. Definitely charming

Anonymous wrote:Is Claremont really nice? We walked through the campuses last spring break, but there didn't seem to be much of a town. Maybe we missed it getting on and off the highway

There is definitely a town and you missed it completely if you got off the 210. The Village is closest to Pomona’s campus.

Chapel Hill

Boston

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Auburn, for the win!

Chapel Hill used to be a great town. Now it's overrun by RTP madness.

What's RTP?

Research triangle park