I agree, there’s a big difference between towns. I’d call Lexington VA or Brunswick, ME a “cute walkable town” but other posters would call neighborhoods in St Paul or Pittsburgh cute and walkable. All up to the student’s preferences.
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Colorado State. The Old Town area of Fort Collins is just perfect.
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Also, in Colorado- Colorado College in Colorado Springs. Blocks from downtown.
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Ohio University. Athens, Ohio is a great college town. The “downtown” area has lots to see and do. Worth a look see anyway.
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Agree, but now outside of campus many cute little shops and pizza places are popping, especially after juniors and seniors are kicked from campus.
Another vote for UC Davis, the downtown is connected to the campus. Such a nice town with many types of restaurants, shops and a charming farmer’s market. We only paid for 5 days meal plan for S24, he like to try different restaurant over the weekend.
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Louisiana Tech and Ruston
University of Louisiana and Lafayette (the city)
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B-town is awesome!
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Any of the 5 colleges in the Pioneer Valley, MA. Particularly Smith and Amherst Colleges.
Also consider Gettysburg, Franklin & Marshall, Dickenson Colleges.
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Probably a repeat (sorry I skimmed) but U Wisconsin in Madison has a campus right up against the capitol area (shops, farmers market, nice vibe) and is surrounded by little lakes as well. I do hear that some students use the (free frequent) bus because of the cold and some sprawl to the campus area, but I think most people would rate food and entertainment as walkable rather than totally separate like some other places. I like the vibe better than UIUC.
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Yes! Not a “college town” because it exists not just for the college, Colorado Springs has a walkable downtown with shops, cafes, restaurants, bookstore, thrift shops, very appealing downtown area. About a 15-20 minute walk from campus.
I’ll put in a pitch for Oberlin College – the town and campus are seamlessly integrated, surrounding a lovely green square. Oberlin is a small town (maybe 9,000 residents?) but has all the essentials – a great bookstore, bakery, coffee shop, several terrific restaurants (we sampled Thai + pizza and both were outstanding), etc. I think of all the college towns we visited on our winter trek through the midwest last year (including several mentioned above), this one hit the sweet spot of accessibility (not a mile away but really right there) + excellence.
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Colgate is in a fantastic town which reminds me is Stars Hallow if you are familiar with Gilmore Girls.
Link to town: A day in Hamilton: Photo essay of people, places in Upstate NY village - newyorkupstate.com
My sister lives nearby and used to work for Colgate. They town and University have a good relationship.
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Seconding UNC Chapel Hill and Georgetown University, my two favorites from the tours I went on. The Georgetown neighborhood of DC is beautiful and has lots of shops, and Franklin street/Chapel Hill felt like the perfect college town to me.
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I like the campus, too - it’s where DH got his BS. But I can’t imagine walking that hilly campus in the winter when the wind is whipping off the lake. And I like cold weather!
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I went to UD a long time ago but I have such fond memories of Main Street.
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I mentioned this is another thread, but my older daughter goes to Mizzou and one of the biggest selling points was their adorable and fun Main Street (Broadway). Has some great bars and a variety of places to eat. Almost anything you crave, you can find the very best either on Broadway or within walking distance of the dorms:
Sushi CHECK
Burgers CHECK (Booche’s)
Grill CHECK (Addison’s)
Authentic Mexican CHECK (El Fogón Veracruzano)
BBQ CHECK (Bud’s)
Pizza CHECK (Shakespeare’s is a tradition at Mizzou)
Diner food CHECK (Broadway Diner)
Cookies CHECK (I literally dream of Hot Box Cookies on Broadway)
If you visit you’ll want to stay at The Broadway Columbia (a Doubletree hotel).
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Berkeley is a nice walkable “town” especially in the Elmwood District area where there are some nice shops and restaurants.
University of Portland or Portland State, have relatively close neighborhoods where there are great places to walk around with places to eat and to window shop such as the Pearl District, NW 23rd, Mississippi Street, or Alberta Arts District.
U. Wisc Madison seemed like a nice city to walk around near campus. Walked down State Street and had a bite to eat at the Old Fashioned.
Like Harvard and MIT, I found the areas surrounding Tufts a nice area to walk around.
SCAD is in the heart of Savannah and was a beautiful city to walk around. Can’t beat the architecture of the buildings, the downtown and historic district.
Georgetown as mentioned has a very nice but upscale downtown.
Dartmouth and Hanover, like Williams and Williamstown, was a nice walkable little town. Didn’t seem like much there, but there’s a few restaurants or coffee shops that were nice enough.
UCSD is also close to downtown La Jolla which is a great place to walk around and window shop and a nice place to get a bite. Safe area overlooking the ocean.
UCSB has State Street. Good food and restaurants as well. But again not so close to walk there, but close enough where it’s only a few minutes drive.
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