Austin is a great place and compared to most of the other places mentioned the weather should definitely be considered. Also it is a short drive to San Antonio and many neat smaller towns like FREDERICKSBURG, TEXAS
Well we all know that people from Pitt don’t know shit. I mean, if you can’t go to college, go to Pitt.
Saratoga Springs, NY. Upstate NY seems to be acceptable based on the Ithaca suggestion, so check out Saratoga. Not really a “college town,” because it has its own identity, but there is indeed a college there. And in the summer, you have all the people who are there for the racetrack. Result? Lots of interesting culture, mineral springs, and more delicious eateries than you can imagine. And you have all the benefits of the northeast (relative proximity to cities, 4 beautiful and distinct seasons, close to mountains) without the ridiculously harsh winters of much of the more northern areas.
I live in Athens, GA, home of the University of Georgia. I think it’s a wonderful place to live. I’ve lived here since 1987. It’s a nice small town but it always has a lot going on, whatever you like to do. The live music scene is legendary, and the restaurants are amazing. There are places to hike, museums, lectures, whatever floats your boat, you can do it here. Also, the climate is better than some of the more northern places that have been mentioned.
The cost of living is relatively low, I live in a 2,600 sq. ft. 4 bedroom 3 1/2 bathroom house on an acre wooded lot in a nice part of town and paid $120,000 for it 2 years ago. The housing has always been very affordable, especially compared to Atlanta, where you can't get a parking space for $120K.
Athens is an hour drive from Atlanta if you want to go to the big city, 90 minutes from the mountains and 5 hours or so from the beach. Geez, I sound like I work for the Chamber of Commerce, but Athens really is great town.Another vote for Amherst/Northampton. Gorgeous, liberal, tons of real culture (top music/theater/dance). Job market kind of blows. And It snows.
I second the vote for Charlottesville, Virginia. As plnnr said, it is beautiful and full of culture, and it is also inexpensive. There is a strong sense of community, too. the city doesn’t revolve only around the university, but it certainly has a very strong presence.
Well, I went to college at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. It’s not a really large town, but nice. I always liked it there. A couple of good movie theaters, a couple of good comic shops Legomancer, fairly liberal atmosphere but not too pretentious. Iowa City is pretentious. Some good small art galleries and UNI is a good school. The main downside is that it’s next to Waterloo which is kind of a dump.
After that I lived in Ames for about a year. I didn’t really care for Ames, although the fact that I hated my jobs certainly biased me. You can see good concerts there and it’s only a half hour north of Des Moines (I don’t think it’s lame, although it could be better).
paperbackwriter, you went to school in my neck of the woods??
I was surprised, also, that no one mentioned the Pioneer Valley. It’s a gorgeous place with incredible diversity. Because of the 5 Colleges, there are always art and theatre shows, musical and cultural events, lectures, etc. The last two shows at UMass were, I believe, La Boheme and Stomp.
And, IIRC, Amherst is one of the only small towns that voted to legalize marijuana within town limits. And the Northampton mayor held a contest a few months ago to increase voting rates- in which everyone voting in town elections also got to vote which color she dyed her hair (!). Purple won. And she did it.
First, let me say this: My cousins live in Hicksville, dammit! Seriously, there’s a Hicksville, Long Island, NY - everytime “hicksville” was mentioned, I couldn’t help but chuckle.
On to the topic at hand. I nominate New Paltz, NY as the college town to move to. It’s home to a branch of the State University of New York (SUNY) and is, from what I’ve seen of it, a great little place to live.
It’s within spitting distance of the Shawangunk Mountains and Lake Minnewaska, which is simply gorgeous. Mohonk Mountain House (lovely hotel) is up there as well - one can see the tower if standing in the right spot. It’s about an hour and a half’s drive from Manhattan and maybe forty minutes from the Culinary Institute of America and the Poughkipsee Galleria, a large mall.
The college adds to the life of the town insofar as it holds many cultural/musical/art events, especially during the holidays/summer. Concerts, art exhibitions, etc. are at the college on a regular basis.
During the summer season craft fairs are held at the fairgrounds on Memorial and Labor Day weekends - very popular. Usually people come up, shop around, maybe bike to some of the farmers’ markets to pick up produce or to one of the local wineries.
The main area in town has a very “hippie” feel to it, very liberal. It has several interesting restaurants (Thai, Italian, nouvelle cuisinea small movie theater, a cute main street with a couple bookstores, and some bars (it’s a college town, remember) right in the center of town. There’s also a historical area called Hugenot Street that’s right off of Main Street - it houses some French Hugenot homes from, I think, the 1600’s.
Unfortunately, I really don’t know about the educational system or the housing prices, but I’m sure one could readily find out.
What I can’t believe is that Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC hasn’t been mentioned yet. This area is regularly on lists of the best place to live/retire.
Note that Madison, WI is second on the list and Athens, GA is #15. Another college town on the list but not mentioned so far is Cambridge, MA.
I personally still think your best bet is Austin, TX since it is so liberal, has good weather and so much happening.
I live in a college/military town (but the local military post is a college, too; it’s the home of the U.S. Army War College).
While it’s not especially liberal politically, the area still has a lot going for it. First, it’s near the state capital of Harrisburg, so there is a thriving job market for civil servants, and the region is large enough that there are jobs in almost every sector of the economy.
It’s also loaded with history. There are places here in town where it can be proven that George Washington slept there. Molly Pitcher and “Indian” Jim Thorpe were from the area, as well. Gettysburg is maybe 30 to 40 miles south of us, and Antietam, Harper’s Ferry, and Philadelphia are maybe an hour and a half or two hours’ drive from us. I plan to visit these places a lot when Aaron gets older. Nothing like learning history in the places where it happened!
We’re also close to Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and not that far from NYC, so there are lots of big cities to visit.
It’s really not a bad little area.
Robin
I will also cast a vote for good old Maize and Blue Ann Arbor.
The men’s basketball team may not be very good lately, but they are not the only hoops team in town. Coach Sue Guevara and the Wolverine Women are one of the best up-and-coming teams in college basketball. The women’s field hockey and men’s ice hockey teams are perennial national contenders as are most other Michigan sports teams.
Yes, a few people do tend to show up at the corner of Stadium and Main on six or seven Saturdays in the fall. Typically, the crowd at a Michigan football game is larger than the population of Ann Arbor. I definitely remember watching a game on TV and seeing a graphic to that effect flashed on the screen.
The original Borders bookstore is in Ann Arbor, though not at the original location. For many years it was the only Borders. There are many other good used and new bookstores, record stores, antique and collectible shops, and so on.
Lots of good and interesting places to eat, including Zingerman’s Deli, Cottage Inn Pizza, Krazy Jim’s Blimpy Burger to name a few of my favorites.
Maybe it’s just my Wolverine loyalty, but I think Ann Arbor is the greatest!
I have lived in three of the towns mentioned–Murfreesboro, TN; Madison, WI; and Chapel Hill, NC. I also lived in another college town–Amherst, MA. Pros and cons of each (MHO, of course):
Murfreesboro–less cosmopolitan by far than the other two, but much, much cheaper, too. Less of a college town, more of a nice town with a college in it. Hot summers, but the rest of the year is nice.
Chapel Hill–more stuff going on than in M’boro, but also harder to get around. Franklin Street is fun, but forget parking there during the semester. Expensive unless you live further out of town–Pittsboro is nice.
Madison–lots of cool ethnic restaurants and stuff to do, but an expensive place to live. I hated the winters, but I am from the south originally, so I don’t do winters well.
Amherst–see Chapel Hill re: parking and getting around and Madison re: winters. The closest mall is miles away. Northampton is nearby, so there are other cultural opportunities there, too. Fairly expensive, although my standards may be very different from yours.