<p>New Haven isn’t the best college town in the world, but it is by far the best college town in the United States that is home to a top-30 university. </p>
<p>Because of the intense concentration of retail, offices, government, cafes, entertainment, nightlife, etc., surrounding downtown New Haven (one of the densest downtows in the country, and where Yale is located), it is often said that there’s more to do within a few blocks of Yale than within a few blocks of all the other Ivies, combined. There’s also easy access to parks and outdoor space. Frankly, the settings of most other top universities are boring by comparison.</p>
<p>In particular, it is worth pointing out that New Haven offers both a very diverse, opportunity-filled and interesting urban environment in its own right as well as easy access to the NY City metro area (which makes every other city in the USA look like a boring village). Yet Yale, being dense and fairly self-contained, still retains the bustling campus life that every college within NY City itself completely and utterly lacks. </p>
<p>Ann Arbor, Stanford, NYC, Princeton, Hanover, Cambridge, Ithaca, Boston and other cities that are home to great universities can’t offer the combination of these things, or even come close. That’s why New Haven trumps them all by a wide margin. </p>
<p>You have to go to Europe to find a college town that beats New Haven.</p>