"America's Cool College Towns"

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Originally Posted by capitalcityguy

It takes numbers, i.e...decent sized population... to create "cool college towns"...at least to the level to get on a list like this. Both Des Moines and ISU would have benefited greatly if the university had been established in the state capital, rather than in Ames.

Pls don't take this as an Ames vs DSM thing. It is just an observation that I believe is pretty universally understood. ie.....increase population = increased amenities.

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I don't agree. State College is a much better "home" to Penn State than Harrisburg (state capital) would have been. It is a great college town.
Of the other great college towns I have been to: Boulder, Chapel Hill, Gainesville, Athens - none are big cities. Gainesville is a much better college town than Tallahassee (Florida State, bigger city, and state capital).

I grew up outside of Madison. I will take Ames any day. Madison is cool on football game days, but other than that it has the same feel as an east coast town. Chicago is much more friendlier and midwest feeling than Madtown.

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Originally Posted by Tornado man

I don't agree. State College is a much better "home" to Penn State than Harrisburg (state capital) would have been. It is a great college town.
Of the other great college towns I have been to: Boulder, Chapel Hill, Gainesville, Athens - none are big cities. Gainesville is a much better college town than Tallahassee (Florida State, bigger city, and state capital).

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Well, nothing is guaranteed, but as a general statement I'm not sure how you could argue that DSM and the university together wouldn't offer more than each do on their own. Don't over think or over analyze (or try to somehow marry this idea with random examples cities throughout the US since you're talking multiple variables to consider then). I think it is very safe assumption that they would have been better together in terms of creating a "cool college town".

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Originally Posted by capitalcityguy

Well, nothing is guaranteed, but as a general statement I'm not sure how you could argue that DSM and the university together wouldn't offer more than each do on their own. Don't over think or over analyze (or try to somehow marry this idea with random examples cities throughout the US since you're talking multiple variables to consider then). I think it is very safe assumption that they would have been better together in terms of creating a "cool college town".

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Yes, I think I misread your OP - to make a list such as this particular one, then yes, I agree that the larger the city, then the more attributes it has to offer.

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Originally Posted by capitalcityguy

It takes numbers, i.e...decent sized population... to create "cool college towns"...at least to the level to get on a list like this. Both Des Moines and ISU would have benefited greatly if the university had been established in the state capital, rather than in Ames.

Pls don't take this as an Ames vs DSM thing. It is just an observation that I believe is pretty universally understood. ie.....increase population = increased amenities.

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I don't think you are correct here...Oxford MS made the list and is smaller than Ames...and the nearest "city" is further than DM is from Ames (that would be Memphis).

Ann Arbor sucks

I have been there multiple times I am not a fan

Madison is great
State College enjoyed it
Champaign was fun

Austin and Boulder are great!

Eugene is sweet

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Originally Posted by cyclonenum1

I don't think you are correct here...Oxford MS made the list and is smaller than Ames...and the nearest "city" is further than DM is from Ames (that would be Memphis).

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Again...generally speaking when talking about the issue as a whole.

When speaking specifically to the merging of ISU into the DSM metro -- there really is only upside to possibility of increased "cool factor" if this were to have happened in the specific scenario of having placed ISU in Iowa's largest metro (as opposed to the small city of Ames) IMO. Pls note, I can't be "wrong" when I'm expressing this idea as an opinion.