Monday, September 16, 2024

My undergraduate Alma Mater, Madison, Wisconsin, is rated top college town in the U.S. by numerous sources

 ESPN, Sports Illustrated and USA Today have all agreed that Madison, Wisconsin is the Nation's Best College Town!

 The magazine Sports Illustrated called out Madison’s oft-cited attributes in other quality of life rankings, such as a great food and bar scene: “… Madison is about as picturesque as it gets, and the Terrace at Memorial Union on campus at the University of Wisconsin might be the most delightful spot in the Midwest …plus, it’s worthwhile to freeze for a late-season football game here.”

I have a friend who was not allowed to go to Madison since it was too much of a "party school" - ironically I went to Madison because of its 1960s radical activist history!! I wanted to join in with the radical populist scene and I did this full-throttle.

 And when it’s too cold to take advantage of the lakes, Madison offers a great food and bar scene—drink Spotted Cow while you’re within the Wisconsin state lines—plus, it’s worthwhile to freeze for a late-season football game here.

https://www.reddit.com/r/SameGrassButGreener/comments/1e3gp7y/whats_the_best_college_town_in_the_us/ 

 But, it’s subjective. I went to College in Amherst, MA and it was charming and quaint. I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else.

 I also went to Amherst MA for Hampshire College for one year. I'm much more of a coffeehouse college book reading person - reading books on the lawn, riding bicycle around - but in Amherst I took the bus in from Hampshire college - and then I just ate big chocolate fudge brownies and coffee - with a friend. Otherwise I just passed through town. I didn't hang out in town much. I was always just reading in my room or watching a movie with a friend - and talking with a friend about academic ideas.

 I was recently in Madison for a couple days and loved it: the arboretum, the botanical garden, the zoo. If I was going to live somewhere it snows, it would be high on the list. I visited a friend in Madison once. We went to their Goodwill Premium store. It was all geared to nice clothes and furniture for college kids. The town is perfect for a young adult on their own for the first time.

 People are claiming Madison is no longer "college town" - why not? I guess it has out-grown its college in terms of size? It would be like calling Minneapolis a "college town" when in fact the University of Minnesota Twin Cities is probably the largest university campus in the world, with several colleges.

campus size is 1,204 acres.

It has the sixth largest population of students.

  Berry College (Mount Berry, GA): 27,000 acres ok but not many students!

2,200 students. That’s nearly 14 acres per student.

 Runner-up SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse has 25,000 acres. In third place, the U.S. Military Academy, in Colorado, has 18,500 acres.

 

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