<p>Can I get some information from those of you who have lived in, retired to or went to school in one of the cities that is a State capital and has a large university presence.</p>
<p>Cities like Madison, Wisconsin, Boise Idaho, Lincoln Nebraska, Columbia SC, Tallahassee Fla, Nashville Tenn, Raleigh NC, and Austin Texas.</p>
<p>I am intereseted in the experience of living in these cities city centers- not the suburbs but downtown.</p>
<p>Interesting question. Is there a reason why it has to be a state Capitol? </p>
<p>We have toyed with the idea of retiring to a college town, so I’m eager to hear what others think.</p>
<p>We loved living in Austin during grad school. Great food, great music.</p>
<p>dragonmom- just a feeling that the economics of the city will be more staple with both a university and the state government having a positive impact.</p>
<p>More capitals with state universities in the city or very nearby city:</p>
<p>Phoenix, AZ (Arizona State)
Sacramento, CA (CSU Sacramento)
Tallahassee, FL (Florida State and Florida A&M)
Atlanta, GA (Georgia Tech)
Honolulu, HI (University of Hawaii - Manoa)
Baton Rouge, LA (Louisiana State)
Boston, MA (University of Massachusetts - Boston)
Saint Paul, MN (University of Minnesota - Twin Cities)
Jackson, MS (Jackson State)
Raleigh, NC (North Carolina State)
Albany, NY (SUNY Albany)
Columbus, OH (The Ohio State University)
Columbia, SC (University of South Carolina)</p>
<p>CSU Sacramento probably isn’t what you had in mind, although it does have 30,000 students. But Sacramento does meet your criteria.</p>
<p>The biggest industry here is, of course, state government. I don’t feel that Sac State has a huge role or presence in the local economy. </p>
<p>The difference-maker around here is the Sacramento Kings and the arena that comes along with an NBA team. After 10 years of suspenseful and threat-filled wrangling, the Kings just last week were a) blocked from moving to Seattle; and b) sold to a group which has agreed to build a dazzling new sports and entertainment complex in the downtown (the team is currently housed in a 30-year-old barn in the middle of a jackrabbit field). </p>
<p>We all hope and expect that over the next 3 years, new life will be breathed into Sacramento’s still-struggling construction industry as the arena is built. And we hope and expect that with the complex operating 300 nights a year or more, the downtown core will be revitalized.</p>
<p>I can’t overstate how important this is to the Sacramento economy. The Kings leaving might have been the last nail in the coffin for us.</p>
<p>Nashville is making all the lists recently as the “it” city and the fact that it is the state Capitol and has Vanderbilt and incredible health care certainly helps. You need to look at whether there are other strong employers/industries in the city, too.</p>
<p>Providence, RI + Brown University = delightful combination for a resident; I’m not sure how effectively the two institutions relate to each other, but a resident csn take advantage of both situations</p>
<p>Brown U is a gated school in a beautiful section of Providence called the East Side (of the city of Providence.) In the same neighborhood is Rhode Island School of Design. </p>
<p>The state government agencies are in the central downtown, just across the river from the East Side. Public transportation is unusally good. My D lived and worked post-college near Brown U for years without a car, just using bicycle, bus and her feet. Colonial New England architecture and close proximity allows one to walk from neighborhood to neighborhood fairly easily, or bus. Boston is an hour away, simple connections by train or bus, downtown to downtown.</p>
<p>Do not confuse “the East Side of Providence” (home to Brown) on a map with “East Providence.” That is an adjacent suburb, and not particularly interesting, although it has some good Portugese restaurants to explore.</p>
<p>Olympia, Washington here - and it’s the most happening place in America. We have the state capitol, a state college, and two other colleges/universities, two symphony orchestras, an opera company, six playhouses (plus those at the colleges), a great rock scene, boating (and many people living on houseboats), views of Mount Rainier and the Olympic Peninsula, and an hour from the ocean. </p>
<p>Stable employment, relatively low unemployment. And wonderful “traffic jams” that take about four minutes at rush hour. (Did I mention we are only 40,000 people, though with the surrounding communities, around 100,000?)</p>
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<p>Oh my, that’s really funny.
Thanks for the smile.</p>
<p>Edited to add, Olympia is a great little city. I love the PNW, but really…</p>
<p>Time Magazine hailed us as “The Hippest City in the West.”</p>
<p>(and who needs Harvard when you’ve got Evergreen?)</p>
<p>Here in Madison, Downtown is the place to be. New pricey condos galore, new restaurants, and a little more redevelopment every year. This is a very pleasant place to live, with plenty to keep most folks very busy and involved. Aside from the winters, and the simmering angst over present state govt, and rather impressive property taxes…it is a great place. Two massive lakes right in town add to the pleasure. </p>
<p>I moved here almost 30 years ago and life has been very good. </p>
<p>My previous hometown, Phoenix cannot really be put in this category, as the city and ASU are far apart geographically and in many other ways.</p>
<p>Re: Sacramento- Remember that UC Davis is a 20 minute drive from downtown Sacramento and the UCD Medical Center employs and serves many Sacramentans.</p>
<p>Tallahassee is ok, and I could get along there fine, but unless I had lived there for years and had family in area, I wouldn’t break my neck trying to move there for retirement. It is basically a small southern city/town that is dependent on the state government and two state universities to run its economic engine. The state of Florida’s politicians presently are hell-bent on trying to privatize as many government functions as possible which has created a sour mood all through the Tallahassee area. Tallahassee is very transient with many university students and state government desk-jockeys moving in and out of the town year round. The small downtown area is dominated by the state capital…I would describe downtown Tallahassee as like a newer Greyhound bus station with a few spills and stains on it already. </p>
<p>If you’re are interested in a Florida downtown retirement destination…check out downtown St. Petersburg. It is a little oasis in the Tampa Bay area located right on the bay waterfront. There is a state university downtown (<a href=“http://www.usfsp.edu/[/url]”>http://www.usfsp.edu/</a>), excellent medical facilities, walk to MLB Rays games, laid back business district with restaurants, most weekends there are outdoor concerts or festivals in city parks, grocery stores, affordable housing, and you can hop on an interstate h’way ramp downtown if you want to go anywhere else.</p>
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I think it depends a lot on the state. In MA, with Boston being both the largest city and the capital (and the amazing number of schools around), you may be correct. However, in NY, with state government being virtually the only industry . . . maybe not so much.</p>
<p>Well, it’s not a state U, but Annapolis has the Naval Academy. It’s a gorgeous small city, vibrant school spirit, and easy access to D.C. </p>
<p>Biggest negative would be that downtown real estate is outrageously expensive.</p>
<p>Raleigh is a nice sized city. Both DH and S1 are NCSU grads…loved Raleigh. S1 and friends want to open a business there together someday so they can live there forever!
Besides NCSU, Raleigh is home to Peace College,Meredith College, St. Mary’s College,Shaw University,St. Augustine’s University. Lots of young people…vibrant city.
[Downtown</a> Raleigh, NC - Go Live Work Play](<a href=“http://goliveworkplay.com/raleigh/downtown]Downtown”>http://goliveworkplay.com/raleigh/downtown)</p>
<p>Baton Rouge, Louisiana. When I work there, I cannot believe how dead this city is. Amazes me that it’s the state capital. When LSU is out of school, it is really dead. When football season is going on, major traffic. The campus is not close to downtown, so when I work downtown, near the courthouse, it is dead. However, there are some areas of Baton Rouge that are growing, especially near the medical complexes, and some nice shopping malls/subdivisions being built. Our Lady of the Lake Hospital, which also has medical campuses, for nursing, physicians assistant, is a major economic boost to the area. The state university probably employs a good number of people, but the legal community is far removed from the campus. Probably the biggest industries in Louisiana, aside from the New Orleans tourist trade, are legal and chemical. Chemical is very big in Lafayette, which houses the smaller University of Louisiana at Lafayette, an excellent, unknown university with great campus life and athletics, and an outstanding computer science program.</p>
<p>Even though I live in Honolulu and we do have the University of Hawaii in Manoa, I wouldn’t say there is a HUGE school presence. The residents do like the University athletes, including football, basketball and volleyball. There are also many community colleges in the system, where seniors can take courses tuition-free (they also are tuition-free at the main campus for senior residents, I believe).</p>
<p>Mini, you left out the part about Olympia being in the lava flow zone of the inevitable Mount Rainier eruption. Sorry, couldn’t resist bringing up that one.</p>