College town
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A college town is a community (often literally a town, but possibly a small city or region, most commonly in the United States) which is dominated by its university population. The university may be large, or there may be several smaller institutions such as liberal arts colleges, or the residential population may be small, but college towns in all cases are so dubbed because the educational institution(s) presence pervades economic and social life. Many local residents may be employed by the university, many businesses cater primarily to the university, and indeed the students population may outnumber the local population outright.
Other characteristics of a stereotypical college town include a high number of people living non-traditional lifestyles and subcultures ("college town hippies") and high tolerance for such persons, an unusually active musical or cultural scene, and unusually left-wing politics.
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Town-Gown relations
As in the case of a company town, the large and transient population attracted to the university may come into conflict with longstanding natives. Students may come from outside the area, and thus represent a different—sometimes radically different—culture. Furthermore, students are concentrated in a small, young age group, whose living habits may not be agreeable in general to older members of society. Studentification, in which a growing student population move in large numbers to traditionally non-student neighborhoods, may be perceived as a form of invasion or gentrification, since converting family homes to student rental houses can net absentee landlords investment returns as high as 30 percent, driving the price of property beyond the single-family range.
Economically, the high spending power of the university and of its students may inflate the cost of living above that of surrounding areas. In the US, educational institutions are often exempted from paying local taxes, so in the absence of a system for Payments In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT), the university population will disproportionately burden the local public infrastructure such as roads or law enforcement. When a University expands its facilities, the potential loss of tax revenue is thus a concern in addition to local desire to preserve open space or historic neighborhoods.
As a result, members of the local population may resent the university, especially its students. The students, in turn, may refer to regular inhabitants as townies, a term with somewhat derogatory connotations of unsophisticated quaintness. This "town and gown" dichotomy notwithstanding, students and the outside community typically find a peaceful (even friendly) coexistence, with the town receiving a significant economic and cultural benefits from the university, and the students often adapting themselves to the culture of the town.
Settlement in college towns
While noise, traffic, and other quality of life issues have not been resolved, some advocates of New Urbanism have led the development of neighborhoods in college towns specifically capitalizing on their proximity to university life. For instance, some universities have developed properties to allow faculty and staff members to walk to work, reducing demand for limited on-campus parking; Duke University's Trinity Heights development is a key example. In many cases, developers have built communities where access to the university (even if not directly adjacent) is promoted as an advantage.
One notable development is the surge in popularity of retiring to college towns, since the 1990s. Besides nostalgia for one's younger days, retirees are attracted by presence of cultural and educational opportunities, athletic events, good medical facilities, and often pedestrian- or transit-friendly development pattern. Several development companies now specialize in constructing retirement communities in college towns, and in some cases the communities have developed formal relationships with the local institution.
College towns
United States
- Ames, Iowa (Iowa State University)
- Amherst, Massachusetts (Amherst College, Hampshire College, and University of Massachusetts Amherst)
- Ann Arbor, Michigan (University of Michigan)
- Athens, Georgia (University of Georgia)
- Athens, Ohio (Ohio University)
- Auburn, Alabama (Auburn University)
- Berkeley, California (University of California, Berkeley)
- Blacksburg, Virginia (Virginia Tech)
- Bloomington, Indiana (Indiana University Bloomington)
- Boise, Idaho (Boise State University)
- Boone, North Carolina (Appalachian State University)
- Boulder, Colorado (University of Colorado at Boulder)
- Bowling Green, Kentucky (Western Kentucky University)
- Bowling Green, Ohio (Bowling Green State University)
- Bozeman, Montana (Montana State University)
- Bronxville, New York (Sarah Lawrence College and Concordia College, Bronxville)
- Brookings, South Dakota (South Dakota State University)
- Burlington, Vermont (University of Vermont)
- California, Pennsylvania (California University of Pennsylvania)
- Cambridge, Massachusetts (Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
- Carbondale, Illinois (Southern Illinois University Carbondale)
- Champaign-Urbana, Illinois (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
- Chapel Hill, North Carolina (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
- Charlottesville, Virginia (University of Virginia)
- Chico, California (California State University, Chico)
- Clarion, Pennsylvania (Clarion University of Pennsylvania)
- Clemson, South Carolina (Clemson University)
- College Park, Maryland (University of Maryland, College Park)
- College Station, Texas (Texas A&M University)
- Commerce, Texas (Texas A&M University-Commerce)
- Corvallis, Oregon (Oregon State University)
- Davis, California (University of California, Davis)
- Durango, Colorado (Fort Lewis College)
- East Lansing, Michigan (Michigan State University)
- Edinboro, Pennsylvania (Edinboro University of Pennsylvania)
- Eugene, Oregon (Oregon State University)
- Gainesville, Florida (University of Florida)
- Geneseo, New York (SUNY Geneseo)
- Goodwell, Oklahoma (Oklahoma Panhandle State University)
- Greenville, North Carolina (East Carolina University)
- Hanover, New Hampshire (Dartmouth College)
- Harrisonburg, Virginia (James Madison University)
- Houghton, Michigan (Michigan Technological University)
- Indiana, Pennsylvania (Indiana University of Pennsylvania)
- Iowa City, Iowa (University of Iowa)
- Ithaca, New York (Cornell University and Ithaca College)
- Johnson, Vermont (Johnson State College)
- Kent, Ohio (Kent State University)
- Langston, Oklahoma (Langston University)
- Laramie, Wyoming (University of Wyoming)
- Lawrence, Kansas (University of Kansas)
- Macomb, Illinois (Western Illinois University)
- Madison, Wisconsin (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
- Mansfield, Pennsylvania (Mansfield University of Pennsylvania)
- Manhattan, Kansas (Kansas State University)
- Medford, Massachusetts (Tufts University)
- Menomonie, Wisconsin (University of Wisconsin-Stout)
- Monmouth, Oregon (Western Oregon University)
- Montevallo, Alabama (University of Montevallo)
- Morgantown, West Virginia (West Virginia University)
- Moscow, Idaho (University of Idaho)
- Mt. Pleasant, Michigan (Central Michigan University)
- Murray, Kentucky (Murray State University)
- Norman, Oklahoma (University of Oklahoma)
- Oneonta, New York (SUNY Oneonta and Hartwick College)
- Oxford, Mississippi (University of Mississippi)
- Oxford, Ohio (Miami University)
- Pembroke, North Carolina (Pembroke State University)
- Peru, Nebraska (Peru State College)
- Platteville, Wisconsin (University of Wisconsin-Platteville)
- Potsdam, New York (Clarkson University and SUNY Potsdam)
- Provo, Utah (Brigham Young University)
- Pullman, Washington (Washington State University)
- Richmond, Kentucky (Eastern Kentucky University)
- Rolla, Missouri (University of Missouri - Rolla)
- Shepherdstown, West Virginia (Shepherd University)
- Shippensburg, Pennsylvania (Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania)
- Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania (Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania)
- Spartanburg, South Carolina (Converse College, Sherman College, Spartanburg Methodist College, Spartanburg Technical College, University of South Carolina Upstate, Wofford College)
- State College, Pennsylvania (Penn State)
- Stillwater, Oklahoma (Oklahoma State University)
- Storrs, Connecticut (University of Connecticut)
- Tahlequah, Oklahoma (Northeastern State University)
- Tuscaloosa, Alabama (University of Alabama)
- Vermillion, South Dakota (University of South Dakota)
- West Lafayette, Indiana (Purdue University)
- West Long Branch, New Jersey (Monmouth University)
- Whitewater, Wisconsin (University of Wisconsin-Whitewater)
- Williamsburg, Virginia (The College of William and Mary)
Africa
Europe
- Bologna, Italy (University of Bologna)
- Cambridge, England (Cambridge University)
- Leiden, Netherlands (University of Leiden)
- Leuven, Belgium (Catholic University of Leuven)
- Oxford, England (Oxford University)
- Tübingen, Germany (Eberhard Karls University)
External links
- College Town Life (http://www.collegetownlife.com/), a portal featuring news, links, and related information about living in college towns
- ePodunk College Towns Index (http://www.epodunk.com/top10/colleges/), rates university-oriented communities in several size classifications