100
best places to live and launch 67 of them are college towns Money - Mar 2008
...USA - "Are job worries tempting you to start your own company? We
canvassed the country to find towns with the best mix of business advantages
and lifestyle appeal. Check out our 100 top picks and find the perfect place
to build your dream."
Read the College
Town News
a weekly digest of news from college towns across the United Sates, and beyond.
College town life
College towns make great hometowns. Students, singles, families, working people,
and retirees all can find connections and a niche for themselves in the wide
variety of college towns across the United States. Town and gown together
create a better quality of life.
CollegeTownLife
P. O. Box 223
Oxford, OH 45056
Robert Karrow, editor
"Great college towns have a spark that comes
not only from young blood, but from jazz clubs, literary events, book stores
and cafes. They are intellectual, cultural and economic hubs, balancing tradition
with new business growth. Often, they mix urban amenities and small-town charm."ePodunk
2004
"Creating a successful college town is more about establishing a diverse,
creative environment where the most eccentric, innovative and bold entrepreneurs
thrive and are inspired to provide the kind of food, service and atmosphere
that emotionally grabs people. It is not about creating a formal system for
attracting retail and restaurants much the same way shopping malls are done."
CoolTown
Studios
1988
"The best college communities cater to a wide variety of interests, needs
and bank accounts. They bristle with all-night supermarkets and pizzerias,
laundromats, photocopy services and hangouts. The bookstores stock rare books
as well as best sellers, and the record stores offer Mahler as well as the
Boss. Culture also means the cinema (as in film, not movie), jazz clubs and
local repertory theater. Outlying environs are equally important, particularly
the presence of mountains, rivers and ski slopes.
Yet a college town should come wrapped in a relatively small package, minus
the hustle and bustle of ''the real world." New
York Times
"Your definition of a great
college town probably depends on whether you're a student, faculty member,
townie, retiree or tourist.
As more Americans look to college towns as places to live, we thought it
was time to assess these communities in a new light.
In our view, great college towns have a spark that comes not only from
young blood, but from jazz clubs, literary events, book stores and cafes.
They are intellectual, cultural and economic hubs, balancing tradition with
new business growth. Often, they mix urban amenities and small-town charm.
"
ePodunk "applied 15 variables to assess arts and culture, recreation,
intellectual activity, historic preservation and cost of living:
Population
Population change, 1990-2000
Total college enrollment
Median age
Per-capita income
Unemployment rate
Owner-occupied housing
Restaurants
Book, music and periodical stores
Entertainment offerings
Publishers, recording studios and other information-oriented companies
Public library holdings, circulation and expenditures
Grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment
for the Humanities
Symphony orchestras
Historic sites and historic districts
Wherever possible, a median was determined for each variable, based on
a per-capita figure. In some categories, such as historic districts, communities
were grouped according to size and a median value was determined for group.
College towns were arranged by population, as recorded in the 2000 Census:
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