Comments by "A.J. Hart" (@cobbler88) on "Top 10 Worst College Towns in America" video.

  1. Dang. A lot of those high-crime school areas seem to have something in common. I just can't quite put my finger on it.
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  2.  @haledwards4642  That must be it! Loads of Scandinavian immigrants in nuclear families who strongly stress the importance of education, self-reliance and respect for institutions. 🤣
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  3. Yes. I was looking more for towns like State College, Pa., College Station, Texas, Chapel Hill, NC, etc.
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  4.  @dhouse609  On the face of it, it would seem so, but that's not really how the term is defined. Think of it kind of like the old mining towns of the 1800s, or factory towns of the 1900s. Basically, a college town is on where the life of the town revolves/relies heavily around the college located there. When I was at Penn State, I believe there were 45000 students in a town of only about 25000 people, and many of those people were also affiliated with the college. When football is doing poorly, it is felt in the local economy. If the university disappeared, the town would take a huge hit it and would likely all but disappear rather than ever recover. If UCLA disappeared, it would be felt a little because of some of its affiliations with the city, especially in the medical community, but the City of Los Angeles probably wouldn't really notice, otherwise. One good rule of thumb is that it's a "college town" if, in most cases, people outside of the area wouldn't even generally be aware that the town exists if it were not for the college located there. I dont' know that most people would have ever heard of South Bend, Ind., Chapel Hill, NC or State College, Pa., if it wasn't for Notre Dame, UNC or Penn State. There are outliers like Madison, Wis., and Columbus, Ohio, that are good-sized state capitals but still also "college towns" but they're not the norm.
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  5. But they're in the same MSA, so it's a distinction without much of a difference. That's like saying Green Bay and Ashwaubenon are different entities.
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  6.  @danlieberman1590  Still the same MSA.
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  7.  @scallopohare9431  Do does California and New York. But taken as a whole the end is the same. Take care.
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  8.  @johanneskreisler7647  I think maybe you've never lived in a true college town if you don't believe there's a difference. We've got multiple colleges in Des Moines. If they're not in session, no one really cares. The impact isn't felt that broadly throughout the city. I've also lived in State College, Pa. The city has 43K people. Penn State has 46K. On a football weekend, it swells to become the third-largest city in the state after Philly and Pittsburgh. The impact of the school is felt much differently there, I assure you. It can be a tough call, though. A city like Madison has a large university presence, but it's also the state capital and has 250K people of its own. I'd say it's kind of a tweener.
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