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Post by northbruin40 on Jan 11, 2022 10:52:29 GMT -8
I was thinking of coming up with a list of "college towns" in California, and might even do some statistical work for my twitter page.
But what should that include and not include? I have some ideas, but don't want to bias the discussion in advance.
Should there be a size limit (as in you can be too large to be a college town)?
Private, for-profit universities included? (U of Phoenix campuses?)
Trade schools?
Junior colleges?
What city do you assign UCSB to?
Is there a minimum size limit? (for instance, does CLU count?)
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 11, 2022 12:05:01 GMT -8
In my mind, a college town is a place where most of the business cater to students and the college provides most of the cultural life for the community.
Here is my opinion of a few places I have been to.
Isla Vista is a college town. Santa Barbara is not.
La Jolla is not a college town, even if UCSD is a big campus.
Although Washington is in Seattle, it has more of a college town feel to me. Between The Ave, and University Village, there are a lot of businesses that cater to the students.
Berkeley has a college town atmosphere, although Telegraph Avenue isn't what is used to be.
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Post by blindness on Jan 11, 2022 12:15:44 GMT -8
In my mind, Davis is the prototypical college town in California.
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Post by andyh64000 on Jan 11, 2022 15:00:53 GMT -8
In my mind, Davis is the prototypical college town in California. My vote would be for San Luis Obispo. |
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Post by Born2BBruin on Jan 11, 2022 15:29:19 GMT -8
My vote would be for San Luis Obispo. My grandparents lived in SLO. I spent a lot of time there in the 60's and 70's, and have been through there several times since then. Also toured the campus with my son. It's never felt like a college town to me. Honestly, although I've never been to Davis, I don’t think there's a real college town in California. |
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Post by northbruin40 on Jan 11, 2022 19:22:47 GMT -8
OK, thanks for the comments, but I'm going to make my own list. It's not classic college towns like Eugene, Boulder, Ames, and College Station, just cities with a significant university presence.
Going by population
Los Angeles (UCLA, USC, CS Northridge, LMU, ...)
San Diego (SDSU, UCSD, USD, ...)
San Jose (SJSU)
San Francisco (SFSU, USF, UCSF)
Fresno (FSU)
Sacramento (CSUS)
Long Beach (LBSU)
Bakersfield (CSB)
Riverside (UCR)
Irvine (UCI)
San Bernardino (CSUSB)
Hayward (CSU East Bay)
Pomona (Cal Poly)
Pasadena (Cal Tech)
Fullerton (CSF)
Santa Clara (Santa Clara)
Thousand Oaks (CLU) Is that large enough?
Chico (Chico State)
... more to come
Am I missing any for large cities. What about Chapman College? May have to look that up.
non included Oakland, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Stockton, Chula Vista, Fremont, Moreno Valley, Fontana, Modesto, Santa Clarita, Oxnard, Glendale, and Ontario (unless I missed a significant university presence?)
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Post by andyh64000 on Jan 11, 2022 19:28:19 GMT -8
My vote would be for San Luis Obispo. My grandparents lived in SLO. I spent a lot of time there in the 60's and 70's, and have been through there several times since then. Also toured the campus with my son. It's never felt like a college town to me. Honestly, although I've never been to Davis, I don’t think there's a real college town in California. Thursday evenings/nights downtown are about as college towny as it gets  |
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Post by northbruin40 on Jan 11, 2022 21:14:09 GMT -8
My vote would be for San Luis Obispo. My grandparents lived in SLO. I spent a lot of time there in the 60's and 70's, and have been through there several times since then. Also toured the campus with my son. It's never felt like a college town to me. Honestly, although I've never been to Davis, I don’t think there's a real college town in California. SLO would be a red county if it weren't for the city of SLO. Except for Del Norte way up top, SLO and Orange are the reddest coastal counties in the state. |
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Post by blindness on Jan 12, 2022 22:32:28 GMT -8
In my mind, Davis is the prototypical college town in California. My vote would be for San Luis Obispo. I've been to both. You can be in downtown SLO and not feel that there's a college nearby. In Davis, you feel the presence of students in downtown. Partly because the campus is in walking distance. |
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Post by andyh64000 on Jan 13, 2022 0:44:54 GMT -8
My vote would be for San Luis Obispo. I've been to both. You can be in downtown SLO and not feel that there's a college nearby. In Davis, you feel the presence of students in downtown. Partly because the campus is in walking distance. Only because you can smell the campus when you are in downtown Davis. |
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ucla73
Contributing Member
Posts: 59
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Post by ucla73 on Jan 15, 2022 10:17:56 GMT -8
In my mind, Davis is the prototypical college town in California. I worked at UC Davis for many years so I got to know the town and campus very well. Davis is definitely a college town, perhaps the purist one in California. Downtown is adjacent to the edge of campus so it is focused on the campus community. Student housing exists all over town, both in UCD housing and in private apartments. But perhaps most importantly, there isn't a lot to do in the immediate area other than college-related activities, so there is a strong sense of community. Being in a small city gives UC Davis a flavor that is quite different than, say, Westwood or Berkeley. |
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Post by mhbruin on Jan 17, 2022 13:31:50 GMT -8
Isla Vista may not be a college "town" because it is unincorporated, but otherwise it is totally a college town.
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