Scripps is a good call - or any of the Claremont Colleges.
The town of Claremont is adjacent to Pomona College, an easy 12-15 minute walk from Scripps and has a lot of cute shops, bakeries, restaurants etc.
It is a bit removed from LA proper but there is a metrolink station in town that can get you to Pasadena or Downtown LA for more urban adventures.
Perhaps this was said in consideration of the 40% of U.S. residents who are obese.
Holland, Michigan – where Hope College is located – is one of the towns featured in “Our Towns” by James and Deborah Fallows, a book about cities and towns undergoing civic renewal.
Hope is Christian - is all I’d add…not sure if that’s an issue. How Christian I don’t know.
Loyola University Chicago has a beautiful and compact campus on the beach in the Rogers Park neighborhood on the north side of Chicago and is just south of the amazing small city/college town of Evanston (where Northwestern is located). They have a second compact campus on Chicago’s magnificent mile near the Water Tower.
What about Gettysburg?
If we are talking Chicago, De Paul has a great campus in Lincoln Park!
Well, Gettysburg is NOT urban per se, and is in a semi-rural, small-town region but the campus is right on the edge of a downtown with tons of little restaurants, coffee, shops, clothing, gift and artsy boutiques, antique stores that cater to tourists (but a number of these would be attractive to students, too). It’s fairly buzzing with tourists for a town of that size. The campus also borders THE battlefield grounds on one side. It’s pretty close to Dickinson and these two schools are similarly-ranked. Dickinson is closer to the bigger hub of Harrisburg, Pa. They have slightly different vibes, with Gettysburg a little more Greek and preppy, but it’s not an extreme difference. If you happen to go to one, you might as well visit both in the same day. Gettysburg does have a compact and pretty campus (as well as a quite historic one, as the name implies: one of the main buildings was used as the hospital during the epic battle and is said to be haunted😱).
My kiddo is at Whitman, which has a lovely campus full of sculptures, and families of ducks in the stream, and it’s green, compact and walkable. It’s bordered on three sides by residential homes and on the third side by Walla Walla, which is a cute town that’s very walkable. He loves it there! (And I enjoy visiting there too; it’s a town that punches above its weight, with lots of great restaurants and parks, hiking close by, and a town square bordered by cafes and great coffee).
Whitman also does the early financial aid guarantee, where beginning at the end of June (prior to one’s senior year) you can send in your basic information to the financial aid office and they will come back within a couple of weeks with a guaranteed minimum financial aid amount (it’s possible that it will increase based on your application, as admissions officers can and do add additional merit aid, but this practice serves to level the playing field for anyone who may want to apply ED but couldn’t take a chance without knowing the financial package).
I live in Portland Oregon, within walking distance of Reed College. It’s a wonderful campus with a wooded canyon and creek and small lake through the center with bridges crossing above. It’s one of my favorite places to walk throughout the year, you’ll often see herons or a turtle if you spend a little time in Reed Canyon. The campus is very walkable and lovely, and there are the coffee shops, restaurants, grocery stores and businesses of the Woodstock neighborhood a couple blocks to the east, and the same with the Sellwood neighborhood a bit further (but still walkable) to the west. Plus the local light rail is a few blocks from campus as are buses taking you anywhere in the city.
I have one at Whitman, too—and went there a million years ago. I second this. Walla Walla is both funky and nice. And if you like wine, it’s heavenly.
I do love Whitman’s campus! When we were touring colleges in mid April 2022 we did the trio of Macalester, Carleton, St. Olaf and then two days later we were at Whitman. In Minnesota we were so surprised at how there were no signs of spring yet - the state looked rather barren to our Pacific Northwest eyes.
And then we arrived in Walla Walla and the cherry trees were about to bloom, the tulips and crocus bulbs were up, and there were spring leaves on the trees and all the perennial shrubbery and evergreens gave an entirely different feel. While my kiddo had a chat in the sunshine with a senior student, I had a coffee and walked around campus looking at sculptures, the lovely landscape, listened to the fountains burbling, watched the families of ducks paddling through the stream, and crossed my fingers that he might like the school half as much as I was enjoying my time there 
@ali-ice Gettysburg is also quite close to suburbs of DC and Frederick, MD. Student can fly to BWI too.
As a born and raised Upper Midwesterner who loves a four-season climate, it pains me to admit that the Pacific Northwest just objectively has much better spring prospects. I wouldn’t give up the falls and (at one time proper) winters I got, but springs were often short and chaotic and next thing you knew it was basically just summer.
Walla Walla is on the east side of Washington so much drier than the west side with colder winters and HOT summers. Four solid seasons 
Much different than the endless rainy season and dry summers we get on the west side.
Meant to tell you I loved this post! I think it’s a real hidden gem. I go there for a conference later this year so I can at least tell her about it.
Thank you! Appreciate your insight!
It’s got that old urban residential area feeling. Like ward parkway and KC which means nothing for folks on here! haha! But there are cute shops…bakeries/food/bookstores and the “real” city is a 5 minute drive away!
That is good to know! I didn’t have Gettysburg on the list. I need to add it
Yes - we live in Portland, just a 4 hour drive away from Walla Walla, but the weather is so different (and not wet)! My S23 loved all the sunshine in Walla Walla, and didn’t miss living with steady rain that we get in Portland from November-March. Winter was crisp and cold, but not bitter cold like the midwest or east coast. Summer is HOT, but it’s just the first 2-3 weeks of school and then it settles to a lovely fall.
Us too Love Walla Walla!
