Best College Towns You've Visited

Oh, yes. Lynchburg, Va., where Liberty's baseball scorekeeper tried to save my soul over the dinner table.

 

Kirksville baby!! Woooooo!

 

Boulder, Colo.
Oxford, Miss.
Athens, Ga.
Austin, Texas
Ann Arbor, Mich.

 

Madison

Ann Arbor

Missoula

 

Eugene, Ore.
Moscow, Idaho
Bellingham, Wash.
Pullman, Wash. (Probably on no one else's list, but I spent five years there, so it holds a special place)

 

Gainesville, Athens, Chapel Hill, Charlottesville ...

 

Lexington.

 

College Station, Texas -- You've got to like a place that got its name because of the train station out by the college. And even with all the Aggies, it's hard to beat a strip like Texas Avenue on a football weekend (Cow Hop, Dixie Chicken, et al).

College Park, Md. -- It may be overwhelmed by the sprawl from Washington, D.C., but I had a great time on my one visit there. And if I remember correctly, the football stadium is smack in the middle of campus.

Las Cruces, N.M. -- It's not Albuquerque or El Paso (which may be a good thing), and there's all the Spanish colonial stuff for the history buffs. If you're ever there, be sure to swing by Old Mesilla.

Abilene, Texas -- OK, this one is mostly because I grew up in the area and still have a lot of relatives around there. But it's kind of neat having three church colleges -- Abilene Christian (Church of Christ), Hardin-Simmons (Southern Baptist) and McMurry (Methodist) -- within a few minutes of each other. If nothing else, you can find a thelogical discussion with very little trouble.

 

WORST college town I've visited:

Greenville, N.C.

 

Hard to top that list.

 

My three favorites:

Madison
Champaign
East Lansing

Least favorite: West Lafayette. Who laid out this town, anyway?

 

My favorite part of the dumbassery that is the West Lafayette highway system: So you're driving west on Ind. 26, and there are like 56 signs to get to East Ind. 26, but one or none showing what lane you should be in to stay on west 26.