<p>“Quintessential College Town” If you hear that expression, the speaker is discussing one of two schools: Cornell or University of Michigan. And if you want some sun, the choice is obvious. How much is weather a factor for you in your decision making? Does the town make a huge difference to you? If you’d like a lot of quaint shops, restaurants and a great college environment but don’t want to be in a large city like boston, Michigan is certainly a great choice.</p>
<p>“Cornell or University of Michigan. And if you want some sun, the choice is obvious.”</p>
<p>It is?</p>
<p>Haha hilarious post. I have never hated “weather” before so with much anger in my life until I came to the midwest. Made Boston feel like Stanford.</p>
<p>Then why are you staying? I’m sincerely curious.</p>
<p>Implied that weather is one of the least important factors. At the end of the day, it is what it is. I plan on sticking for awhile, but open to options.</p>
<p>“If you want some sun, the choice is obvious.”</p>
<p>Really? I’m from Central New York and currently attend Michigan, and the climates are basically identical. The only differences are Ann Arbor is windier and Ithaca gets more snow. The sunniness is about the same.</p>
<p>Also, that term “quintessential college town” can refer to a number of towns. State College, Madison, Boulder, Ames, Corvallis, and Urbana-Champaign are also great towns, among others. As far as elite schools, however, you’re correct in that it doesn’t get much better than A2 or Ithaca.</p>
<p>Had to chime in. Having been born and reared in Ann Arbor, I didn’t know there was such a thing as blue skies in winter until I moved to Maine. I remember the winters as being colder in Ann Arbor, but spring is wonderful, unlike mud season here in Maine. I’m heading “home” this summer to attend my 35th High School Reunion. I’m ready to enjoy the heat and humidity (tongue in cheek).</p>
<p>Favorite college town - Austin, TX. 6th street awesomeness. Big city but small town feel. No snow. Not to mention Hippy Hollow.</p>
<p>Berkeley if you want decent weather…but city is kinda gritty with large homeless population and an element of the older hippie generation remains. Public transportation in Bay Area is excellent.</p>
<p>IMO Austin TX is not a college town. Madison, WI is not a college town. IMO, a college town is a place where a college DOMINATES almost every facet of the location. If the college/colleges disappeared, the town would dry up and die. IMO, State capitals are not college towns, suburbs of very large cities are not college towns, and large cities with multiple colleges are not college towns. Chapel Hill is a College town. Raleigh is not. Gainesville is a college town. Talahassee is not. Boston is not a college town.</p>
<p>helpmeout, Boston is snowier than Michigan and almost as cold (5 degrees warmer on average). I am not sure how Michigan winters make Boston’s look like San Francisco. I agree that Ann Arbor is slightly colder, but not significantly so.</p>
<p>Ithaca and Ann Arbor are both great college towns, but they are very different. Ann Arbor is 4 times larger, does not have the same natural landscape and is more centrally located.</p>
<p>I agree that Boston is not a college town, but Austin and Madison, while not as exclusively collegiate as Ann Arbor or Ithaca, do qualify as college towns in my opinion. My favorite college towns are Ann Arbor, Athens (GA), Austin, Bloomington (IN), Boulder (CO), Burlington (VT), Chapel Hill (NC), Charlottesville (VA), Gainesville (FL), Ithaca (NY) and Madison (WI).</p>
<p>Ann Arbor is just windier than Boston. The temperature isn’t so bad, but when you add in the fact that the town is a giant wind tunnel then that makes it a lot worse.</p>
<p>^Exactly. Also, I would call Boston/Cambridge a lot superior college town. But of course you can’t compare a real large city with a town.</p>
<p>helpmeout, Cambridge is not exactly a stand alone college town and it has a ghetto sandwiched between Harvard and MIT. Walking in that area at night is not prudent. And Boston is not a college town. It is a major misconception and myth that a city like Boston can be a college town. To be a college town, you have to (1) be a town and (2) have a dominent university that pretty much permeates all aspect of city life. Additionally, in a good college town, the town and gown relationship will be a healthy one. Boston fails miserably in all three counts. Ann Arbor is one of the top 5 college towns in the US, while Boston is not even a college town, and if it were, it would not be a good one, let alone a great one. Now if one likes large cities, Ann Arbor and Boston are not in the samer league. Boston is a large city while Ann Arbor is not. But as far as college towns go, and this thread is about college towns, Ann Arbor destroys Boston. It is not even close.</p>
<p>Also, I have spent a lot of time in Boston in the winter months. Boston is almost as windy, slightly warmer but it is wetter and snowier. I did not notice a significant different. Ann Arbor certainly does not make Boston feel like San Francisco. Sorry, but that is simply not accurate. New York or Philadelphia have slightly more pleasant winters than Ann Arbor, Boston does not.</p>
<p>My previous last sentence explains what you said. </p>
<p>In regards to weather, I just lived in Boston for 3 years and Boston certainly saw more sun and much less wind, which makes the temperature itself much more bearable. Snow amount seems to be similar, and not so bad. The only thing is that I did leave Ann Arbor just around when the weather was starting to get better. But comparing winter to winter, I think I would prefer the Northeast any time of the day. And you shouldn’t take the San Fran example so literally.</p>
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<p>Hmmm . . . Curious statement. I’d say Ann Arbor and Ithaca are both among the grayer places in the country, though Ithaca probably beats out Ann Arbor for grayer by a nose.</p>
<p>NOAA long-term weather records don’t seem to have much for these towns in particular, but we can extrapolate from nearby cities.</p>
<p>NOAA shows Detroit with 51% of days with sunshine–compared to, e.g., Phoenix with 85%, Los Angeles 73%, Honolulu 71%, Miami 70%, Denver 69%, even Minneapolis-St. Paul 58%.</p>
<p>On the other hand, the cities closest to Ithaca–Syracuse and Binghamton, NY–show 46% and 49% days with sunshine, respectively. So it seems likely that Ithaca is marginally grayer than Ann Arbor. </p>
<p>And the difference is biggest in winter. November-December-January-February-March show 26-25-33-39-46% sunny in Syracuse and 32-29-37-42-46% sunny in Binghamton, versus 35-31-40-46-52% sunny in Detroit. So definitely more winter sun in southeast Michigan than in central upstate New York. But neither place is going to win awards for winter sun. On the other hand, neither is as gray as Seattle (43% of days with sunshine annually) or Anchorage (41%) or Juneau (39%). Even Pittsburgh is cloudier (45% of days with sunshine).</p>
<p>helpmeoutman, Boston has cold winters, full stop. It is not milder than Ann Arbor by any means. Boston isn’t DC or Baltimore or Philadelphia. Yes, it may be slightly warmer than Ann Arbor by an average of 5 degrees and slightly sunnier (on average, 20 days sunnier per year, which works out to less than half a day more of sun per week). Both Boston and Ann Arbor enjoy between 1.5 and 2 days of sun per week. To say that there is a noticeable difference in weather between Boston and Ann Arbor is a gross overstatement. They have almost identical weather. If one needs nice weather to be content, Boston and Ann Arbor are just going to do.</p>
<p>“To be a college town, you have to (1) be a town and (2) have a dominent university that pretty much permeates all aspect of city life”</p>
<p>Madison and Austin are not towns, since they are both large. Did you know that Austin has well over 800,000 people in its city limits? That is more people than in Detroit. They are both state capitals where politics and/or industry are just as important as the colleges located in them.</p>
<p>5 degrees on average is significant. Global warming peeps talk of dire consequences from a 2 degree average increase.</p>
<p>^^^Yes and no UCB. When it comes to body comfort, a low or high temp. of 25F-30F is not going to be noticably different to someone exposed to it. Cold is cold and a mere five degrees difference doesn’t change that.</p>