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There are different kinds of "college towns" in the US. Boston is a big college town because it has several of the nation's most important/prestigious institut

There are different kinds of "college towns" in the US. Boston is a big college town because it has several of the nation's most important/prestigious institutions of higher education—but it's also a distinctive and vibrant city in its own right, with a unique history, culture, built environment. New York is similar. But many of the state universities and land grant universities, especially in the West, put the state's largest and most important school in a small and otherwise unremarkable town. Norman, Oklahoma, has a population of 110k and the University of Oklahoma, which has enrollment of 30k. Lawrence, Kansas, has a population of 87k and the University of Kansas, which has enrollment of 28k. West Lafayette, Indiana, has a population of 29k and Purdue University, which has enrollment of 40k. Bloomington, Indiana, has a population of 84k and the main campus of Indiana University, which has enrollment of 49k. These are all nice little towns, but they are all relatively small towns with small enconomies, and there's just a limited number of college graduates they can absorb. They usually have local political cultures strongly influenced by the college and very different than the small and rural communities that surround them. Plus, lots of American communities can seem very generic. Many Americans towns are less than a century old, with only a few generations of traditions and history, and surrounded by similar communities with a similar size, culture, environment, and history.

iamacynic 9y ago
one thing the University of California system got right is that they put their campuses in large metropolitan areas, oftentimes in some of the most expensive real estate around. there really is no concept of 'townie' vs 'student' from what i saw.
- panglott 9y ago
  In Oklahoma specifically, central Oklahoma was largely settled in the land rush of 1889, and within a year or two OKC, Norman, and the University of Oklahoma were all founded. Oklahoma didn't even become a state until 1907. Norman was one of the largest cities at the time; it would not have been clear at all which cities would eventually become large metro areas a century later.
kratak 9y ago
I wouldn't consider Boston a "college town", and I doubt it qualifies according to this article.* A "college town" usually means a town where the college dominates the local economy, and the students make up a large portion (or even a majority) of the total population during the school year. I used to go to Virginia Tech; at the time, there were roughly 34k people in the town during the year, 26k of those students. The "townies" were only about 8k (and of course, this included the staff and faculty that lived within town limits, which was a significant portion of the townies). So when it was summertime, the town was seemingly deserted (and it was a wonderful time too!). * As an example, Tempe, Arizona is home to ASU, one of the top 10 universities in the US by enrollment. Look at the map in the article: there's no dot for the Phoenix metro area. Hence, Tempe (and the rest of Phoenix) is not a "college town", because even with over 50k students, the school doesn't dominate the local economy.
- panglott 9y ago
  "Ian Faith: The Boston gig has been cancelled... David St. Hubbins: What? Ian Faith: Yeah. I wouldn't worry about it though, it's not a big college town." Boston and New York at least have large populations of college students, but certainly they're not iconic of what Americans consider a "college town".

iamacynic 9y ago

one thing the University of California system got right is that they put their campuses in large metropolitan areas, oftentimes in some of the most expensive real estate around. there really is no concept of 'townie' vs 'student' from what i saw.

panglott 9y ago
In Oklahoma specifically, central Oklahoma was largely settled in the land rush of 1889, and within a year or two OKC, Norman, and the University of Oklahoma were all founded. Oklahoma didn't even become a state until 1907. Norman was one of the largest cities at the time; it would not have been clear at all which cities would eventually become large metro areas a century later.

kratak 9y ago

I wouldn't consider Boston a "college town", and I doubt it qualifies according to this article.* A "college town" usually means a town where the college dominates the local economy, and the students make up a large portion (or even a majority) of the total population during the school year. I used to go to Virginia Tech; at the time, there were roughly 34k people in the town during the year, 26k of those students. The "townies" were only about 8k (and of course, this included the staff and faculty that lived within town limits, which was a significant portion of the townies). So when it was summertime, the town was seemingly deserted (and it was a wonderful time too!). * As an example, Tempe, Arizona is home to ASU, one of the top 10 universities in the US by enrollment. Look at the map in the article: there's no dot for the Phoenix metro area. Hence, Tempe (and the rest of Phoenix) is not a "college town", because even with over 50k students, the school doesn't dominate the local economy.

panglott 9y ago
"Ian Faith: The Boston gig has been cancelled... David St. Hubbins: What? Ian Faith: Yeah. I wouldn't worry about it though, it's not a big college town." Boston and New York at least have large populations of college students, but certainly they're not iconic of what Americans consider a "college town".