I would avoid any town in a high tax state, like California, NY and MA.
I agree that some of these were just towns with colleges. Savannah a college town? I’ve been to Savannah lots and would never have known there was a college there from just visiting. Beaufort, SC? Beautiful and great place to live, but a college town for USC Beaufort (small part of USC system) -no. Asheville? Not so much. It’s reputation and personality doesn’t come from having a college there.
I think a real college town is one where college influences the town’s personality and economics. To me, Lexington VA is college town. I agree with list that Athens, GA is college town as is Charlottesville. Clemson, SC is college town. UofSC maybe in a slightly different way - Columbia is a capital city and has lots of other stuff going on, but UofSC does influence the personality more than NYU does in NYC.
I wouldn’t want to live in a smaller college town if I didn’t go to college there. I don’t see the appeal if you don’t have a connection to the college.
Sometimes you move to the town, and then you find yourself immersed in the college.
Concept is very subjective. Lists like these are meant to generate discussion/clicks on a website. So you want to include some that will be a surprise/controversial. But what is “best” depends on what you are looking for, what you like, etc. Varies by person. Same is true of colleges though we have multiple threads discussing “best” college.
Fargo?
I saw the click bait post so I did not jump onto it. Tough to find a one place fits all.
Surprised Greenville, SC, wasn’t on the list!
Greenville is a great town but also not really a college town IMO. Furman is not in center of town and doesn’t influence it’s personality. My aunt lives near there on Paris Mt. Growing up we would go there and area that is now grown up near Furman was a bunch of warehouses. When I was in HS it was small, private Baptist college. Now it is more integrated into town but it’s definitely not a defining part of downtown area.
I know I’m biased, but Berkeley and not Palo Alto? I agree with some of the other posters, I wouldn’t want to live in many of those towns.
35 Ithaca, can't say its the place to be at least 3/4 of the year. Nice in the summer without a doubt. #9 Malibu--yes! but so pricey, who can afford to live in Malibu, unless its just beach front that's pricey?
Re Berkeley and Palo Alto. Berkeley is close enough to San Francisco that makes it an easy selection, not to mention Berkeley has its own views of the GG bridge and proximity to beaches, and a marina, Sausalito and Tiburon.
Palo Alto on the other hand, too suburban. Nothing special or unique about that neighborhood.
Not too long ago, when I started a thread asking about Troy University, I was dissuaded from considering it. And now it show up on this list!
I hope Gainesville, Florida is on that list. :">
Berkeley is pretty filthy, has a homeless problem and cars are constantly broken into. My relative lives there in the hills and their car was broken into recently. Also, IF there’s no fog, then you can see the Bay Bridge. Good luck seeing GG Bridge, maybe if you squint really hard.
OTOH, Palo Alto rarely has fog, at least compared to Berkeley, has views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Portola Valley, Woodside, etc. and beautiful tree-lined streets. You also have beach access to Half Moon Bay via 92 that takes 40-45 minutes and you can take a “baby bullet” Cal Train to the City in about 40 mins. Also, Palo Alto is where Steve Jobs used to live and Mark Zuckerberg now lives, just to name a few big names. And the public school system is considered outstanding. You can’t say that about Berkeley.
It is hard to beat Clemson for a small college town, due to it being right next to a large lake, and two other lakes nearby. There is a marina on the lake right across from campus.
There is also 14,500 experimental forest near campus with hiking / biking trails, and the Blue Ridge mountains, waterfalls, whitewater rivers are nearby.
@sushiritto , the average home price in Palo Alto is $2.5M. I think that would go a lot further in 95% of the towns on the list.
I wonder if @sushiritto has ever stepped foot in Berkeley. He certainly does not appear to understand the concept of a three-bridge view, which MANY houses in the hills have (Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, Bay Bridge AND ye olde Golden Gate to boot). And I LOVE the fog. You couldn’t pay me to live in Palo Alto.
But, let’s move on to important questions. How the heck does Hanover not make the top 50? I dream of kiddo getting a job there so the wife & I can pull up stakes and move. It might be the only town I’d leave Berkeley for.
Malibu, CA is roughly $2,000,000 per sale on average. And Berkeley isn’t cheap either. I’m sure it’s over $1,000,000. The price of a home is based upon supply and demand. And Palo Alto homes are generally in high demand.
I’m NOT saying it’s #1, but certainly should be included in the Top 50, when other cities in the list are IMO suspect.
Actually, I’m there quite a bit. As I said, I have relatives that live there in the hills and one is a student. Berkeley does have a lot of great restaurants, I’ll give it that, but other than dinner and visiting relatives, nope, I’d never live there. I’d much rather live over in PA. And BTW, I don’t live there either. 
Yes, if you squint hard and there’s no fog, you can see the GG Bridge in the distance. Wow, I’m impressed. 
Berkeley’s breathtaking view of GG Bridge is from Sather Tower. No need to squint by the way. It’s not for everyone, but why it made the cut (instead of Stanford) is the Soho Cambridgey like feel of the town, and its character as seen in the little unique shops along fourth street, access to the water and great little college town with diverse, cheap and good eats. There is People’s Park and homelessness, but you’ll find that everywhere in sunny CA. Affordable housing is something we all need to work on, its not a unique problem to Berkeley.