# "College towns"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 22, 2010, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-towns/526049 "2010-01-22T22:47:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-towns/526049/61 "2010-01-24T06:11:47Z")
Quoth **Exapno Mapcase** : > [@](#): > > Way of an overstatement, I think. Most of the classical names, especially in the northeast, originate either because they celebrate the Greek and Roman states, the origins of democracies and republics, or because they were founded in the 1820s and were saluting the Greek War of Independence. > > Syracuse, NY, was settled in the late 1700s and was incorporated as the Village of Syracuse in 1825; the university wasn’t founded until 1870. Ithaca, NY, was incorporated in 1821; Cornell not until 1850. Looking at a map of western new York is like looking at a classical atlas. Ah, OK. I’m from Ohio originally, and knew that Athens (which is very definitely a college town) was the land grant for Ohio, so I assumed that the pattern of classical name - founded for the college held in general. I hadn’t realized that the town of Syracuse predated the university by that much. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-towns/526049/62 "2010-01-24T06:43:50Z")
I live in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which has already been mentioned as a quintessential college town. It’s impossible to overemphasize the influence that the University of Michigan has on the town. Ann Arbor existed before the university moved here, but when it did, pretty much all industry became inextricably linked to the university. Almost everyone in town has some kind of connection to the university. They go there or they went there or they work for it or their spouse works for it. The university brings in a lot of events that wouldn’t otherwise happen in a town this size. Every office complex in Ann Arbor seems to have some arm of the university operating in it. (The administration necessary to run such a large university long ago outgrew the campus proper.) It’s very common to see the blue and yellow block M flag flying from random office buildings. Football Saturdays bring total chaos to the town - several streets leading to and from the highways are temporarily changed into one-way streets to facilitate traffic; they go one direction before games, and the other direction after the games. A number of bus routes simply shut down, or run alternate routes. There are other industries here. Domino’s Pizza and Borders are both headquartered here, but there wouldn’t be a “here” here for them to headquarter themselves if it weren’t for the university in the first place. The university makes Ann Arbor probably the coolest town in Michigan, as well as one of the most economically viable. You’re welcome to stop by any time, **Sunspace** , if you want to see what it’s like. We’re about 45 minutes due west of Windsor. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-towns/526049/63 "2010-01-24T08:42:08Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’m from Ohio originally, and knew that Athens (which is very definitely a college town) was the land grant for Ohio, Let me be the first to fight this ignorance: OSU is the land grant school in Ohio. It’s in Columbus, as mentioned upthread. [obWiki list of Land Grant schools](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_land-grant_universities) BTW, it was actually the Morrill Act of 1862 (not the Northwest Ordinance) that provided funding for land grant schools. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-towns/526049/64 "2010-01-24T11:45:26Z")
There are an enormous number of Greek names that were given to American towns in the early 1800’s. Such towns had to be part of the U.S. at the time, so they are nearly all in places east of the Mississippi. I conjectured once that this was mostly a southern thing, but that doesn’t seem to be true. Here’s the closest I could find online to a comprehensive list of these names: > **[Quizzes | Free Online Quizzes | PCHquizzes](https://www.pch.com/quizzes)** > > PCH offers fun quizzes on a wide range of topics. Animals, history, traveling and more. Test your knowledge and play our quizzes today! (A few names on this list may be only coincidentally Greek. The names are given in the first couple of posts on that webpage, and then there’s a bunch of irrelevant political discussion.) If anyone knows of a more comprehensive list of such names (either online or in some book), I’d like to know about it. There was a tremendous revival in the interest in classical Greek times during the first half of the nineteenth century. The scholarly interest in such things was going on in academic institutions all over the Western world, but it appears that giving classical Greek names to towns was restricted to the U.S. If anyone knows of some standard book on this subject, I’d be glad to hear about it. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-towns/526049/65 "2010-01-24T15:49:21Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Let me be the first to fight this ignorance: OSU is the land grant school in Ohio. It’s in Columbus, as mentioned upthread. [obWiki list of Land Grant schools](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_land-grant_universities) > > BTW, it was actually the Morrill Act of 1862 (not the Northwest Ordinance) that provided funding for land grant schools. Yes, states opened public schools long before the Morrill Act, but they were not specifically land grant universities. The Wiki entry on [Ohio University](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_University) is useful. > [@](#): > > The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 called for educational institutions as part of the settlement and eventual statehood of the Northwest Territory: “Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.” In 1797, settlers from Marietta traveled up the Hocking River to establish a location for the school, choosing Athens due to its location directly between Chillicothe (the original capital of Ohio) and Marietta. Originally chartered in 1802 as the American Western University,[2] Ohio University was founded on February 18, 1804, a year after Ohio was admitted to the Union. The first three students enrolled in 1808. Ohio University graduated two students with bachelor’s degrees in 1815. You can also see that a college is a wholly different animal in the early 19th century from those giant institutions you think of today. Virtually all colleges in the country were comparatively tiny until the 20th century, with graduating classes typically in the dozens or low hundreds. I’d guess some towns were college towns in the 19th century, Princeton, NJ almost certainly, and the sheer economic force of catering to students would have been important in many places. But until about 1950, fewer than 5% of the U.S. population went on to college. The mega-university is a very recent phenomemon. ---
**Author:** ![TheFifthYear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@TheFifthYear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFifthYear)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-towns/526049/66 "2010-01-24T15:52:57Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > College sports in the SEC (Southeastern conference) are a serious thing. You don’t see it in other geographical areas. :rolleyes:Except for the upper midwest, great plains states, atlantic coast, and west coast. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-towns/526049/67 "2010-01-24T16:45:16Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > It’s impossible to overemphasize the influence that the University of Michigan has on the town. Ann Arbor existed before the university moved here, but when it did, pretty much all industry became inextricably linked to the university. Almost everyone in town has some kind of connection to the university. They go there or they went there or they work for it or their spouse works for it… This suddenly put it into perspective. Substitute “Oshawa” for “Ann Arbor” and “GM” for “the University of Michigan” and I know exactly what you mean. I lived in Oshawa for a time and it was true until recently: you either woirked at GM or you knew someone who worked at GM. GM was woven into the fabric of the town. it had facilities and suppliers all over the town. The bus routes, roads, and railways were built around GM. But GM is only a shadow of its former self; the downtown facilities have been demoshed, leaving holes in the urban fabric, and there have been a LOT of layoffs. The province tried plunking the new University of Ontario Institite of Technology (the university with a confusing double name!) in north Oshawa next to Durham College, but I don’t know how well it’s taking root yet. (IMHO, they should have saved some of the old GM buildings downtown and put the university there; instead, we have the headquarters of the Ministry of Revenue, which squats over downtown Oshawa like a bloated white toad. Oshawa has appalling urban planning.) > [@Kyla](#): > > You’re welcome to stop by any time, **Sunspace** , if you want to see what it’s like. We’re about 45 minutes due west of Windsor. Thanks. Next road trip west, maybe… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-towns/526049/68 "2010-01-24T16:53:24Z")
Yep, that’s what I meant when I said “factory towns.” They’re all over the Rust Belt northeast. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-towns/526049/69 "2010-01-24T18:02:13Z")
State College has been mentioned a few times, and I can’t agree more. It’s as if there wasn’t really a town - just an extended campus with suburbs. Student cards (with money accounts attached) are accepted at many/most local businesses in lieu of cash. ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-towns/526049/70 "2010-01-24T18:24:35Z")
I attended Eastern Kentucky University in the mid-90’s. Richmond was definitely a “college town”. I don’t know the population sizes then, but, according to wikipedia, as of 2008, the enrollment at the main campus was 13,784, and the population was 32,895. > [@](#): > > “Richmond is Kentucky’s 6th largest city… In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, Richmond was the fastest growing city in Kentucky and one of the fastest growing cities in the south.[citation needed] Richmond is Kentucky’s 6th largest city although it ranked 11th largest in the 2000 census.[citation needed]” So, apparently, the city itself was smaller 15 years ago. All that said… The big party night was Thursday night, because so many students went home for the weekend. I wouldn’t say that it turned into a “ghost town” during the summer, but it was close. There was a completely different vibe. During the summer, you could find a parking space anywhere. You could walk right into a bar without waiting in line, and it would only be about half full. I don’t think any businesses closed during the summer, but I’m certain the managers based their hiring around the school year. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-towns/526049/71 "2010-01-24T18:47:15Z")
> [@](#): > > Let me be the first to fight this ignorance: OSU is the land grant school in Ohio. It’s in Columbus, as mentioned upthread. Huh, I thought OSU was the normal school. Certainly OU has more of an agricultural bent now. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-towns/526049/72 "2010-01-24T19:26:29Z")
I don’t know what you’re talking about, Chronos. Ohio State has a large agriculture department: [http://cfaes.osu.edu/departments-and-schools/](http://cfaes.osu.edu/departments-and-schools/) I have been unable to figure out from an online search if Ohio University has an agriculture department at all. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-towns/526049/73 "2010-01-24T19:29:56Z")
Also, I don’t know what you mean by “normal.” Ohio State is a huge place and has departments for just about all academic areas. It may not have the top departments for each of them, but they are generally pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-towns/526049/74 "2010-01-24T19:36:27Z")
[Normal](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_school#In_the_United_States) schools were teachers’ colleges. As in Normal, Illinois, the town chosen to house Illinois State Normal University. But it seems that neither of those Ohio state schools were normal schools. And normal schools are certainly not the same as land grant schools, or the state university per se. Different purposes for each. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-towns/526049/75 "2010-01-24T19:42:48Z")
Yes, I know perfectly well what the term “normal school” means. It seemed to me that Chronos was not using the term in that sense. It seemed to me that he was saying that Ohio State was a typical university and not a land-grant one. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-towns/526049/76 "2010-01-24T21:20:28Z")
No, I meant “normal school” in the jargon sense of the term. I may be wrong, but I’m wrong in an informed way. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2010, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-towns/526049/77 "2010-01-24T23:21:17Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’m not sure I’d personally agree with the description or not, but a lot of people will even refer to cities as large as Boston as “college towns.” I would think the college town would be Cambridge, not Boston. Cambridge is the home of Harvard and MIT. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-towns/526049/78 "2010-01-25T00:43:03Z")
Over a century ago, the government of Saskatchewan had two choices to make: which city got the university and which one got the penitentiary. The choices were Saskatoon and Prince Albert. Saskatoon, which got the university, is a flourishing city of nearly 300,000 people and definitely a college town. A wonderful place to live. Prince Albert, which got the pen, is a wretched hive of scum and villainy that hovers around the 35,000 mark. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-towns/526049/79 "2010-01-25T01:00:00Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > I would think the college town would be Cambridge, not Boston. Cambridge is the home of Harvard and MIT. Yes, but the Boston area in general is considered a college town by some people and Boston itself has plenty of colleges (BU and Northeastern, for instance, as well as Emerson, Harvard’s Business School and a number of others I’m sure I’m forgetting). Like I said, I don’t necessarily agree with it, but Google “Boston college town” and you’ll see what I mean. There’s even a line in Spinal Tap that plays on this: “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.” ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2010, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-towns/526049/80 "2010-01-25T01:52:26Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Huh, I thought OSU was the normal school. Certainly OU has more of an agricultural bent now. > [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > I don’t know what you’re talking about, Chronos. Ohio State has a large agriculture department: > > [About Us | Academic Programs](http://cfaes.osu.edu/departments-and-schools/) > > I have been unable to figure out from an online search if Ohio University has an agriculture department at all. Isn’t the agriculture of Athens, OH centered more around, uh, _illegal_ crops? 😃 …at least, that’s what I’ve been told… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-towns/526049.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-towns/526049.md?page=5)