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Any recommendations for college towns for working adults?

Bigwombat

Bigwombat

Banned
Nov 30, 2018
3,416
Hey everybody! It's that time of year again up north where it's grey and cold all month and you just wanna get out of where you live. Wanted to see some opinions about mid sized college towns/cities people like and would recommend living in.
I've lived up north in Massachusetts and down south for several years in Charleston, New Orleans, and outside of Houston.
Just looking for ideas with towns that are walkable, good natural things to do (floating, hiking, fishing), and have stuff to do. It becomes a fricking ghost town in the winter on cape cod so this has been percolating for awhile.
Really like San Marcos, Texas and Portland, me. Heard good things about Ann arbor and Madison.
 
shnurgleton

shnurgleton

Member
Oct 27, 2017
15,864
Boston
Madison is nice but it's cold as shit
Austin is probably the best college town because it isn't primarily a college town
 
Pickman

Pickman

Member
Nov 20, 2017
2,266
Huntington, WV
May I recommend majestic Huntington, WV, home of Marshall University. Come for the heroin, stay because you spent all of your money on heroin.
 
Quikies83

Quikies83

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,455
Mississippi
Winter Park, FL is really nice - Rollins College is absolutely beautiful.
Very, very pricey tho.

My gf and I drive over from Melbourne pretty regularly.
 
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Bigwombat

Bigwombat

Banned
Nov 30, 2018
3,416
Pickman said:
May I recommend majestic Huntington, WV, home of Marshall University. Come for the heroin, stay because you spent all of your money on heroin.
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Oh man, I shouldn't laugh but I did. Luckily none of my friends got into heroin but the bar 1/2 mile from work had needles everywhere in the bushes. HBO had a special about heroin here so it really isn't a laughing matter but.
whatsinaname said:
is great. And no ghost town issues off-semester. Doesn't change your 'grey and cold all month' situation though.
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Yeah it definitely is cold but when there's shit to do it makes a big difference. I lived in Boston and it was cool cause you can always go to a museum or a barcade. I liked Portland Maine a lot for the same reason except it was smaller which is what I'm looking for.

Anyone been to Beaufort,sc? It shows up on these lists and is between savannah and Charleston, both of which I like.

Oh I forgot that Michigan has beaches too which blew me away when my friends from there told me. I don't know why I was surprised
 
miscellaneous houseplant

miscellaneous houseplant

self-requsted ban
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
306
Iowa City, IA. A super liberal bubble of a city with an amazing arts cinema and pretty good cultural amenities. Hiking, bike trails, and bodies of waters nearby. You have to live in Iowa though.
 
MrHedin

MrHedin

Member
Dec 7, 2018
6,813
Madison is a pretty cool college town. My personal bias showing but I love Bloomington, IN. Big lake and state park near by (with a national park not too long of a drive), beautiful campus area, pretty walkable depending on where you end up living. There may not be a ton of extracurricular indoor activities there might be elsewhere but also Indianapolis is only an hour drive if you really get the urge for something like that.
 
whatsinaname

whatsinaname

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,054
Bigwombat said:
Yeah it definitely is cold but when there's shit to do it makes a big difference. I lived in Boston and it was cool cause you can always go to a museum or a barcade. I liked Portland Maine a lot for the same reason except it was smaller which is what I'm looking for.
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You might like it then. Decent bus network because of the university. A lot of freely accessible outdoor spaces and city services. Detroit is 40 mins away and a lot of the Detroit suburbs have great stuff to do always if you ever find the smaller town limiting.

It is a little bit expensive though if you want to live inside the interstate border.
 
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Squirrel Killer

Squirrel Killer

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,126
It's my alma mater so take this with a grain of salt, but I would still recommend Iowa City if you can put up with four seasons. The university is pretty prominent, but there is a growing non-school economy (especially if you count the university hospital as "non-school.") Pretty decent culturally (given the school,) and an easy day drive to Des Moines, Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Omaha, Kansas City, St Louis, (hell, I commuted to Des Moines for an internship for a semester.) I've also had good impressions of Madison and Athens OH. I would not recommend Ames IA or Lincoln NE (and not just for rivalry reasons.)
 
whatsinaname

whatsinaname

Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,054
lu3AtrP.png
 
lasthope106

lasthope106

Member
Oct 25, 2017
920
Iowa USA
Bigwombat said:
If there's cool shit to do I don't mind. I grew up in New England and I'm not ancient yet (38). I like snow just tired of the greyness that we have in NE.
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I lived in both Ames and Iowa City. Both are nice, but Iowa City has the edge. You are an 1.5 hour drive from Des Moines, 30 min from Cedar Rapids, and 1 hour from the Quad Cities. All which have things to do. Fishing in Iowa is awesome. You ever wanted to go looking for a monster catfish? This is one of the states to do just that. And the Iowa river passes through Iowa City which is nice for floating. Then you have a reservoir near by and plenty of ponds in the city itself. You also can always ask farmers for permission. That's the where true largemouth bass monsters lurk. If you are into hunting that is also good in Iowa City.

Iowa City also has a bigger population which avoids the situation in Ames during the summer, the town being barren. Also the University of Iowa has a higher percentage of women than men, and that relates to having a better night scene. Plenty of bars all concetrated downtown. Ames has nothing even remotely close to that. If you can't find work in Iowa City you can definaly find something in Cedar Rapids. Lot of people commute there.

Iowa gets luscious green during summer. Truly a sight to behold. There's RAGBRAI every year if you are into biking. People are nice overall, but the smaller the town, the more conservative it is. But if you stick to Iowa City you will never have to worry about that (If you aren't conservative that is).

Lot of the smaller towns have summer festivals, and you can spend years discovering them all. Housing is way cheaper than in most states, but Iowa City is a bubble and houses and renting tend to be more expensive there.
 
Dr. Feel Good

Dr. Feel Good

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,996
If you can deal with winter : Madison, Columbus, Ann Arbor, Iowa City

Great but costly : Boulder, Austin, Eugene, Raleigh/Durham

more obscure (unsure on job opportunities) : Lawrence Kansas, College Park Maryland, Baron Rouge, Gainsville, Ames Iowa

Bigger cities that have fun college neighborhoods : Minneapolis, UCLA area, Boston, Oklahoma City (kinda close to Normon)
 
Cyanity

Cyanity

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,345
Not gonna say Boston because you're already from here, but - Burlington, VT. It's a great little college town in the heart of mountain land, right next to beautiful Lake Champlain. The culture is quirky, the food is good, what more could you want?

edit - did I mention that cost of living is super low here, despite tech jobs being available not far from the city? I was living right in the main strip in Burlington for $600/month only a few years ago.
 
TAFAE

TAFAE

Member
Aug 27, 2018
439
Michigan
Bigwombat

Do note that unless you're living pretty close to downtown Ann Arbor, it's not very walkable. It's great if you can afford to live there though, otherwise things get very residential-suburb very quickly. Also, yeah, it's still super cold and gray during the winter. Otherwise, there's plenty of outdoor activities during warmer months.
 
dots

dots

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,889
Bigwombat said:
Hey everybody! It's that time of year again up north where it's grey and cold all month and you just wanna get out of where you live. Wanted to see some opinions about mid sized college towns/cities people like and would recommend living in.
I've lived up north in Massachusetts and down south for several years in Charleston, New Orleans, and outside of Houston.
Just looking for ideas with towns that are walkable, good natural things to do (floating, hiking, fishing), and have stuff to do. It becomes a fricking ghost town in the winter on cape cod so this has been percolating for awhile.
Really like San Marcos, Texas and Portland, me. Heard good things about Ann arbor and Madison.
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Just move out to Amherst/Northampton. Sounds like it has everything you want, and it isn't a huge move.

Edit: it is no where near as grey and drab out West as it is on the coast.
 
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Bigwombat

Bigwombat

Banned
Nov 30, 2018
3,416
StraySheep said:
Bigwombat ayy Charleston is my home town. What did you think of it?

But down praise it too loudly
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I loved Charleston. I lived on the old naval base in north Charleston for americorps and we used to go to mud dog games and drink at big John's. Hung out with Liv Tyler on night cause her and Scott speedman were filming the strangers by Columbus. There was a two screen theater that showed older movies on one of the islands. And folly Beach was awesome
 
catstronomer

catstronomer

Member
Dec 12, 2019
18
Nor Cal
I work in higher ed and visit a lot of college towns. I would suggest any city that has a college but the college isn't there only identity. Cities that revolve around the college 100% are strange if you are not a student and you will constantly feel old, while cities that have their own thing going on tend to keep the liberalness of the college but also have more things to do if you aren't in school.
 
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Bigwombat

Bigwombat

Banned
Nov 30, 2018
3,416
dots said:
Just move out to Amherst/Northampton. Sounds like it has everything you want, and it isn't a huge move.
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Yeah I went to UMass for undrrgrad. I stayed one summer and worked kept working as a janitor for the campus center. It's definitely on the list. That's what initially made me want a smaller college town. Antonio's and wings over whatever!
 
StraySheep

StraySheep

Member
Oct 26, 2017
8,276
Bigwombat said:
I loved Charleston. I lived on the old naval base in north Charleston for americorps and we used to go to mud dog games and drink at big John's. Hung out with Liv Tyler on night cause her and Scott speedman were filming the strangers by Columbus. There was a two screen theater that showed older movies on one of the islands. And folly Beach was awesome
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Are you talking about The Terrace? If so, still there! I go everytime I am back in town. The old Carmike also on James Island closed though, but I never went there as a Mount Pleasant kid.

elenarie said:
Uppsala in Sweden is pretty lovely. :p
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It is named Uppsala? That is awesome lol.
 
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Bigwombat

Bigwombat

Banned
Nov 30, 2018
3,416
catstronomer said:
I work in higher ed and visit a lot of college towns. I would suggest any city that has a college but the college isn't there only identity. Cities that revolve around the college 100% are strange if you are not a student and you will constantly feel old, while cities that have their own thing going on tend to keep the liberalness of the college but also have more things to do if you aren't in school.
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Definitely good advice. Boston is good for that cause it's a huge college town but there's a lot going on besides it.
 
Prinz Eugn

Prinz Eugn

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,393
I've also heard good things about Madison.

TrailerParkRanger said:
Boulder.

State College. Just kidding.
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As someone who has been living in State College for several years, I take great offense that you put two periods after a space.

State College is actually pretty okay during the summer, so for a grand total of like 25% of the year. Yay. Well, you do have to be okay with the blandest, whitest food imaginable.
 
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Bigwombat

Bigwombat

Banned
Nov 30, 2018
3,416
StraySheep said:
Are you talking about The Terrace? If so, still there! I go everytime I am back in town. The old Carmike also on James Island closed though, but I never went there as a Mount Pleasant kid.



It is named Uppsala? That is awesome lol.
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It might have been the carmike. I looked up the terrace and that seemed too nice. It was a smaller theater and the last time I went I saw pan's labyrinth there.
 
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Bigwombat

Bigwombat

Banned
Nov 30, 2018
3,416
Cyanity said:
Not gonna say Boston because you're already from here, but - Burlington, VT. It's a great little college town in the heart of mountain land, right next to beautiful Lake Champlain. The culture is quirky, the food is good, what more could you want?

edit - did I mention that cost of living is super low here, despite tech jobs being available not far from the city? I was living right in the main strip in Burlington for $600/month only a few years ago.
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My buddy is the head butcher at city market. Burlington is awesome. I think we might go up there for a long weekend in the next month or two
 
TrailerParkRanger

TrailerParkRanger

Banned
Dec 24, 2017
2,399
Prinz Eugn said:
As someone who has been living in State College for several years, I take great offense that you put two periods after a space.

State College is actually pretty okay during the summer, so for a grand total of like 25% of the year. Yay. Well, you do have to be okay with the blandest, whitest food imaginable.
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I was raised in State College, until high school. I have really mixed feelings about the place. I'm glad I didn't end up going to college there, I'm fairly sure it would have turned me into a hardcore townie. Also, one of my jr high school friends and his dad are both in jail for molesting children. Everything surrounding that really made me felt like a big parts of my childhood were kind of a lie.
 
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Bigwombat

Bigwombat

Banned
Nov 30, 2018
3,416
ErnieMcCracken said:
Tucson is nice. Good year-round weather and not stuck in the chaos of Phoenix. Plenty to do outdoors.
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Lived in a small cottage on north cherry my senior year. I was spending so much money drunk on munchies at the circle k by the university that I bit my debit card one night. I woke up the next day and the clerk asked what happened. I said a dog did it. Oh man.
Tucson is dope. Used to bike 13 miles and work for a hot air balloon company in the foothills. Fun times.
 
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