I live in a college town. The amenities here are insane- we have concert halls, museums, gym with climbing walls and swimming pools, great health services paid with a flat fee, a bus system that is well-connected/maintained, etc. The students here are very nice, smart young people.
I pay $310 a month for rent, furnishings, and utilities with roommates.
Honestly I feel like I’m living in a bit of a bubble, and it may be downhill from here. Are College Towns as good as it gets?
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Everyone likes different things, but I’m with you, particularly schools in rural areas. Think Penn State, WVU, Dartmouth.
College towns do tend to be nicer than average, but they don’t have a corner on the market.
I greatly prefer where I live now than the small town I went to college in, but I also am an unrepentant city slicker.
Most college towns are basically McCity Living
When I was in college, I thought so
Within a few years of graduating it just … annoyed me. Now I love to visit for a game but that’s it. I love it more from a distance.
It can be pretty good, but eventually you get older and everyone else will still be in their early to mid 20s.
You’ll either be the creepy old guy everywhere, or you’ll want everyone to keep the noise down outside because you just put the kids to bed.
Of the places I’ve lived a college town was one of the best. Good transit and amenities, good CoL, low crime. If you’re going to be in town it’s not bad. The only real trick would be finding a neighborhood full of other townies so you’re not the old man yelling at college kids to quiet down.
Well…that and surviving game day traffic.
I live in a college town and we have insane amenities too, all the things you mention and more. I love that aspect of it.
Unfortunately rent for a one bedroom apartment is around $1800 and we have tons of people who are homeless. So, it’s a mixed bag.
Depends on what you like to do and how much money you have to spend on the things you like to do.
Living in San Francisco is the happiest I’ve ever been. It’s way more fun than my college town where I felt boxed in and like all there was to do for fun was hang out at people’s houses or go to bars.
But for other people SF would be their personal hell. So, it’s just about preference.
I’ve found college towns consistently better than average, but rarely exceptional.
A college town can have facilities that are very good, but the concert halls are for student ensembles. The museum collections are for lesser artists. College town restaurants are rarely exceptional. But it makes sense. College towns exist on charity and donations. A big endowment might fund a museum, but generations funded the Chicago Art Institute.
The exception to all this being colleges in major cities.
It’s definitely a bubble. Enjoy
No. Chicago is.
No… adulthood gets much better. I reallllly missed college for awhile and wanted it back desperately but the more money I started making and the more I stared to experience life on my own accord I left that desire behind.
I think they’re really well suited to a certain type of person with no major commitments who just wants to enjoy life (ie college students), but they may not be as great for say a middle aged couple with young children.
That stuff gets old fast, imo. It’s only possible due to the pyramid scheme that is higher education (/s maybe lol).
I never used half the things even when I was paying tuition.
But if you find it enjoyable, take advantage of it.