Living in a college/university town?

[azgal81]

I live in Tempe which is were Arizona State University is located. It's cool there's alot of stuff to do and it's really close to downtown phoenix. Plus since I work at ASU I get to ride my bike to work everyday. Of course I don't have any kids but I think this town appeals more to the younger crowd then the family crowd.

 

[chrissyk]

Do you or your spouse have jobs that could translate to employement at the college? Once part of the college community then you have no trouble becoming part of the college town atmosphere.

We could certainly become employed at a college, but I don't know that either of us would want to at the moment. I am in the process of becoming a high school math teacher (2nd career for me). I want to teach public high school for sure. I wouldn't really want to teach college, nor would I consider myself qualified to do so (I don't have a PhD or the interest to get one right now). Perhaps something like that would interest one or both of us in the future, though.

The city where DH and I went to college has loads of colleges, but I don't consider it a "college town". I think it is more like a city that just happens to have a bunch of colleges. If we do end up looking to move to a college town, I'd want to go somewhere that is really focused on a value for education, a liberal atmosphere, etc. Perhaps a big university town would be more along the lines of what I am thinking of.

Also, I'm hoping for a young atmosphere...not necessarily just college-aged, but 30-something and academic if that makes any sense. There's nothing wrong with that, but I think that I would like to live somewhere a bit more...vibrant...when we are raising kids if that makes any sense.

 

[becka]

Can you stand another recommendation for Columbia, MO? I think Columbia is a perfect college town and I have to say we have really enjoyed being here for the past 8 years. My kids are too young for public school but while some of the schools are not top notch I don't believe any of them are really bad and some of them are fantastic. For a town this size Columbia really offers so much because of the University.

 

[AtlantaSue]

I've lived in 2 college towns. I was born and raised in Baton Rouge, not far from the LSU campus. I had a great experience; my dad and my brother are still there. I'm going home next week, and will enjoy taking my kids around campus. It was a great place to grow up.

In my 20s, I lived in Athens, GA, and went to the University for law school. Athens was also a great town, and I knew lots of families who loved being there. Retiring in a college town sounds like a great plan to me!

 

[chrissyk]

I've lived in 2 college towns. I was born and raised in Baton Rouge, not far from the LSU campus. I had a great experience; my dad and my brother are still there. I'm going home next week, and will enjoy taking my kids around campus. It was a great place to grow up.

In my 20s, I lived in Athens, GA, and went to the University for law school. Athens was also a great town, and I knew lots of families who loved being there. Retiring in a college town sounds like a great plan to me!

Athens, GA was one of the college towns on Money Magazine's list I think. I was thinking of looking into that one.

 

[Galahad]

I think it would be a great place to retire! DW and I loved our college town so much that for a few years (about 20 years ago) we lived there and drove an hour to another city to work. DS#2 is likely to attend that same college. It'll be great spending more time there.

Don't know how the magazine would rank it as a place to retire (though many alums do) because it's cold in the winter, but as college towns go you can't do much better than Bloomington, IN!

 

[robinb]

I live in a perfect combination: a University Town/State Capitol.

 

[Snowysmom]

My older DS goes to UMass. DH and I love the area and keep saying we want to move out there when younger DS goes to college, especially if he goes out there. The con to this is that there are not alot of jobs in his field or mine. We may just have to wait until we retire!

 

[LightBurnsBlue]

I live in the same University Town/State Capitol as RobinD. Many people love living in Madison, WI...it has been listed in many magazines as a great place to raise a family.

Personally, I am counting down my days until I can leave Madison and move back to Milwaukee. In part, my negative feelings toward Madison are politics-related. I'm a fairly conservative person, and Madison is absolutely not conservative. I don't feel very at home in a city that bans bar and restauarant owners from allowing their customers to smoke on their own private property. I also don't feel very at home in a city where I was harrased for wearing a Bush pin during the campaign season.

Some have stated the "party school" factor as a reason for not living in a college town--UW Madison is the #1 party school in the nation, and I don't think it has much of an impact on the greater community. You won't notice it unless you are VERY close to campus...and there are not many family homes that close to campus.

So...college towns are great for having a lot of things to do and for having a fairly young population, but not necessarily ideal if you don't share the same liberal viewpoint as the majority of the city.

 

[MsLeFever]

PapaDuce- want to add anything about KU???

I'm not PapaDeuce but I taught at KU for several years and couldn't afford to rent there as student renters drove up the price!

That area has the best diners anywhere!