I've been to a fair number of college towns, and as a rule they're generally pleasant places.
Have you been to any that sucked?
Athens ohio
Yellow Springs Ohio
All of them. I hate college kids. Hell, I hated college kids when I was a college kid.
Tempe
I would say Fort Collins, Colorado (home of the vile Colorado State)...but they make darn good beer there.
Berkley. Because they manage to be especially self-righteous and obnoxious.
Berkeley itself isn't horrible but if you walk a mile in any direction from the campus you find yourself in Mordor.
Quote from: PDH on December 10, 2014, 09:11:49 PM
I would say Fort Collins, Colorado (home of the vile Colorado State)...but they make darn good beer there.
Really?
I lived in Ft. Collins for a year, and I thought it was one of the nicest places I've ever lived...and I've lived a lot of places.
Great size, just big enough for a major university, regional hospital, decent sized mall, but not really a metro area. And Denver is close enough to get to easily but far enough away that Ft. Collins isn't really part of it in any way.
And of course the Front Range is just plain gorgeous.
I freaking LOVED Ft. Collins...
Princess Anne, Maryland. Home of the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore.
3,922 minority students at a historical black land grant university nestled in a historical Klan town with population of 3,300. And with absolutely nothing to do at all.
Lubbock, College Station, and Norman are all horrible in their own special ways.
Quote from: Valmy on December 10, 2014, 09:53:10 PM
Lubbock, College Station, and Norman are all horrible in their own special ways.
In 1983, my Dad interviewed for chief of police of Lubbock. To this day, I still thank the stars at night that shine so bright for dodging that fucking bullet.
New Haven is pretty terrible too.
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on December 10, 2014, 10:02:15 PM
New Haven is pretty terrible too.
Oh god yes.
In the exact opposite sort of sucking - Palo Alto is terrible as a college town. While I guess 5 persian rug stores are great for the well-to-do there isn't much that jives with a college budget. Next door Mountain View was lovely as a cheap regular suburb, but unfortunately not easily accessible for a night on the town.
Charleston, IL (Eastern Illinois) was pretty lame. As was Greenville, NC (East Carolina).
My old hometown of Huntington, WV isn't looking so hot these days, but it was decent enough for night spots and whatnot when I was there.
St. Joseph Missouri was pretty dreary when I was up there.
I spent two days in Tallahassee and it was enough to decline FSU. I also spent a few days in Bloomington during the mid-2000s and it was one of the most boring places on Earth.
But being an Euro, maybe the whole college town concept was too alien for me.
Pullman, Wa
Moscow, Id
Laramie,Wy
Provo, Ut
I've never been, but I hear State College, Penna. is a contender, at least if you are anyone but the target demographic.
EDIT: Also: Storrs, Conn.
Quote from: Capetan Mihali on December 11, 2014, 08:11:32 AM
I've never been, but I hear State College, Penna. is a contender, at least if you are anyone but the target demographic.
It is pretty country up there, though. Thing is, PSU is large enough to be a self-sustaining city in itself.
Frostburg State, out in western Maryland--the panhandle part--is nothing but an endorsement of alcoholism.
Quote from: katmai on December 11, 2014, 03:56:20 AM
Laramie,Wy
I hear garbon had an enjoyable time there.
:lol:
softball
GAINESVILLE !!!!
Quote from: celedhring on December 11, 2014, 03:50:52 AM
I spent two days in Tallahassee and it was enough to decline FSU. I also spent a few days in Bloomington during the mid-2000s and it was one of the most boring places on Earth.
But being an Euro, maybe the whole college town concept was too alien for me.
pearls before swine
Can a state capital really be a "college town"?
I judge Florida university campuses by their serial killers.
Tight call, but Advantage: Seminoles.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on December 11, 2014, 09:58:11 AM
Frostburg State, out in western Maryland--the panhandle part--is nothing but an endorsement of alcoholism.
That used to be my pit stop on my trips between WV and DE. Dunno if it's still there, but Fat Boy's always had good sammiches.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on December 11, 2014, 01:58:57 PM
I judge Florida university campuses by their serial killers.
Tight call, but Advantage: Seminoles.
not a tight call at all...bundy had much more pinnache by any measure than rolling
Quote from: celedhring on December 11, 2014, 03:50:52 AM
But being an Euro, maybe the whole college town concept was too alien for me.
We have towns in Germany that are mainly defined by their universities and don't have much else, so the concept exists in Europe as well. Tübingen, Göttingen, Marburg etc.
Quote from: Valmy on December 10, 2014, 09:53:10 PMCollege Station
I was just up there about a month ago for the first time in a while. The place is still awful. It's a whole town made of nothing but strip malls and the Soviet type buildings of A&M.
Quote from: Rasputin on December 12, 2014, 09:55:36 AM
Quote from: CountDeMoney on December 11, 2014, 01:58:57 PM
I judge Florida university campuses by their serial killers.
Tight call, but Advantage: Seminoles.
not a tight call at all...bundy had much more pinnache by any measure than rolling
Rolling had a higher batting average in a much tighter window. He worked hard, closed fast.
Quote from: Valmy on December 10, 2014, 09:53:10 PM
Lubbock, College Station, and Norman are all horrible in their own special ways.
Out of those three, I have only been to Norman, and that was only just last weekend. Didn't seem terrible, though I don't think I would like an extended stay there.
Quote from: Zanza on December 12, 2014, 11:10:35 AM
Quote from: celedhring on December 11, 2014, 03:50:52 AM
But being an Euro, maybe the whole college town concept was too alien for me.
We have towns in Germany that are mainly defined by their universities and don't have much else, so the concept exists in Europe as well. Tübingen, Göttingen, Marburg etc.
We don't have those in Spain - we have huge campuses in the suburbs of our major towns, but that's really it. You can take public transport and be in a real city in 30 minutes.
Tallahassee looked dreary to me. I think the problem is probably that I was 30 - living in a place designed to cater to the needs of 18 y/o frat students is stuff of nightmares.
Quote from: celedhring on December 12, 2014, 12:08:28 PM
Quote from: Zanza on December 12, 2014, 11:10:35 AM
Quote from: celedhring on December 11, 2014, 03:50:52 AM
But being an Euro, maybe the whole college town concept was too alien for me.
We have towns in Germany that are mainly defined by their universities and don't have much else, so the concept exists in Europe as well. Tübingen, Göttingen, Marburg etc.
We don't have those in Spain - we have huge campuses in the suburbs of our major towns, but that's really it. You can take public transport and be in a real city in 30 minutes.
Tallahassee looked dreary to me. I think the problem is probably that I was 30 - living in a place designed to cater to the needs of 18 y/o frat students is stuff of nightmares.
We do have cities like Salamanca, Santiago or Granada, though, with old historical universities in places that were huge back in the day and fell behind. Not the same thing than an American college town but a somehow similar feel to what Zanza describes.
Quote from: celedhring on December 12, 2014, 12:08:28 PM
I think the problem is probably that I was 30 - living in a place designed to cater to the needs of 18 y/o frat students is stuff of nightmares.
I don't know; I lived in a college town from age 29-34, and for the most part, I enjoyed it. True, I was single at the time, and except for having to go to work, I pretty much still had the lifestyle of a college student, but looking back at it, I don't recall anything about it that I would have any major problem with now. The traffic congestion could be bad at times, but that's true of a lot of places that aren't college towns, too.
I've lived in a college town for the past eight years, and I actually like the town a lot. Take it out of Illinois, and plop it down somewhere like Oregon and I'd love it.
By the way, I second derspeiss with Charleston, IL. :yucky: