4roses

August 17th, 2014 at 9:40 AM ^

Nice to see Ann Arbor that high - deservingly so IMO. Am I blind or was Austin, Tx missing from the list? Everyone alwasy seems to rave about Austin. Also, I think Ames, IA at #5 was about 40 spots too high.

 

Cali Wolverine

August 17th, 2014 at 1:36 PM ^

However, UCLA is in Westwood. Westwood is now terribly lame...in the '80's and '90's Westwood was a top 10 college town for sure...but after undesirables starting hanging out there...and other areas like Venice, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Silver Lake improved...nobody goes there to hang out or see movies anymore.

EDIT: A down vote? Reveal yourself Mgoblogger who doesn't appreciate a town filled with toned, tanned, twenty-something-year old women.

Wendyk5

August 17th, 2014 at 2:37 PM ^

I live in Evanston and it is not a great college town. Northwestern stays to itself, the downtown is not thriving like Ann Arbor is, and the Evanston infrastructure outside of Northwestern struggles. It is very diverse, so it's been a great experience for my kids.

I Like Burgers

August 17th, 2014 at 9:53 AM ^

Whoa, whoa, whoa...they have Hartford, CT as the #17 best college town?  As someone who lives near Hartford I strongly object.  And they have it as the home of UConn....which, lol.  Hartford is the home of UConn like Detroit is the home of the University of Michigan.  UConn is in Storrs, CT which is a good 30-40min from Hartford (and in the middle of goddamn nowhere).

Don

August 17th, 2014 at 1:43 PM ^

My daughter went to Wisconsin so I got to spend bits of time in Madison over her time there. It's a fun town and campus, but IMHO it's very different from A2. It's a much bigger city, and is the state capitol to boot.

Madison has 240,000 people and encompasses over 76 sq. miles of land, 94 including water.

Ann Arbor has 113,000 people and is just over 27 sq. miles in land.

It's always seemed to me that all you have to do is drive 10 minutes to the north, south, or west out of AA (assuming no road construction tie-ups) and you're in the country. Not so with Madtown.

CarrIsMyHomeboy

August 17th, 2014 at 10:04 AM ^

As I was scrolling down, I was thinking about the tip top ones in my opinion: Ann Arbor, Ithaca, Cambridge, and Madison. That those litter the top of the rank give me reason to think the ordering is rational...but then I see Hartford ranked unreasonably high and I see Lafayette--easily the worst college town in the Big Ten and one of the worst in America--ranked better than Bloomington. Yeeesh, those are tough to explain away.

Mr. Flood

August 17th, 2014 at 10:06 AM ^

SLO has been rated the happiest city in the country. The climate doesn't get much better and there is a great little downtown with lots of restaurants and bars backing up to a wooded creek. No big time sports, but a truly lovely place.

Alton

August 17th, 2014 at 10:51 AM ^

(1) This is not a poll, and there was no vote involved; it is a ranking done by one website (to draw clicks, possibly).

(2) Pfizer?!?

SFBlue

August 17th, 2014 at 11:07 PM ^

The top 3 on this list could be in any order.  I would put Madison at 1, followed by Ann Arbor, and then Boulder, but the one area that Boulder excels (skiing/outdoors) is not my thing. 

Ames (5) versus Iowa City (9) is fairly amazing to me, but I admit I have never been to Ames.  Iowa City is a blast. 

Where this list breaks down entirely is the California analysis.  Neither Santa Cruz nor Santa Barbara makes this list, but Claremont does.  I have spent a bit of time in all three of these towns, particularly Claremont, and it is not even close.  For a three block stretch, Claremont resembles a college town.  But that is all you can say.  It is the jewel of the Inland Empire, and the colleges are pretty, but it has a serious town/gown divide, and lacks both vitality and liveliness.  But what is really just unconscionable is that Palo Alto does not crack the list.  It is sterile, compared to places like Berkeley and Ann Arbor, but are there really 50 better college towns?