<p>Amherst is rated as the best college town in the U.S. I lived in the area for ten years, and am happy my son will be attending such a great place to be. (He’s thrilled when I joke that I’ll be happy to visit him weekly.)</p>
<p>This area has all the virtues of a rural setting with the cultural, entertainment attractions of a metropolitan area.</p>
<p>As for VaTech. Blacksburgh who? Miles from nowhere.</p>
<p>And to inject a tad or politics and regional culture. The Attorney General of Virginia recently issued an advisory to Viginia’s public colleges that they do not have the legal authority to extend equal protection to gay members of their community.</p>
<p>[Virginia</a> attorney general to colleges: End gay protections - washingtonpost.com](<a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/05/AR2010030501582.html]Virginia”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/05/AR2010030501582.html)</p>
<p>Last week, the state’s governor issued a proclamation for Confederate History month that omitted any mention of slavery.</p>
<p>If you want to live in the South, fine, but I don’t think Vatech’s rating above UMass is more than a distinction without a difference.</p>