<p>New Haven serves many more students than those at Yale. The largest university in central New Haven by enrollment is Southern Connecticut State, not Yale. Located about a mile away on a beautiful campus, it is one of the best public universities in New England. The area around Yale is the downtown part of the city, however, which happens to be the focal point of activity for the whole region. On weekends, tens of thousands of area college students descend on the area around Yale, making it easily one of the best college towns in the country. In particular they are from Southern and Quinnipiac, which have very large enrollments, but also from Albertus Magnus, Gateway, University of New Haven and others in the immediate area; students from schools within a half hour drive like Wesleyan and Fairfield come in good numbers as well. This is a good thing for Yalies, since they can drink and walk a block to their dorms, but a bad thing for the other students, who sometimes drive home drunk and get into accidents (luckily, the larger area schools now provide nonstop bus service every 20 minutes to downtown New Haven, and the buses are packed). </p>
<p>The students plus the fact that New Haven has more 25-34 year olds and yuppies than any other city in the State by a wide margin are the reason why some of the streets get so packed, they literally have to be closed to automobile traffic on weekend nights, and why some of the diners and cafes are open 24/7, or at least to 3 or 4 am. Considering the area around the college, no other Ivy college town compares, not even remotely.</p>
<p>Also, Byerly’s figures are invalid because his numbers for New Haven only consider the central area, due to boundaries drawn in the 1700s. In reality, New Haven covers a much larger area than those 18th-century boundaries, with a population of more than 500,000. You have to consider the density; New Haven’s downtown has more residents than places like Denver and Seattle and is one of the densest downtown areas in the country. The only valid way to compare cities is to use U.S. Census data on metropolitan areas, or to pick central points and evaluate demographics within a certain radius, e.g., a half hour drive. In either case the results will usually show that New Haven is one of the wealthiest cities in the country, second to San Francisco. This explains why there are dozens of unbelievably expensive restaurants and stores in the downtown area around Yale - they certainly aren’t all supported by the Yale students and staff.</p>