<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>