College Towns

Continuing on the 'back to school' theme, here is a bit on college towns. I grew up in a college town and love the feel. In fact, I have never actually lived in a place that did not have a college in town. Though I would not really consider Charleston, New York or Roanoke a 'college town,' Charleston can claim The Citadel and College of Charleston; Roanoke includes Roanoke College (and Hollins, sort of); and New York houses NYU, Columbia, Fordum, and the list goes on and on. Of course Columbia,SC is home to the University of South Carolina and Lexington, VA encompasses both my alma mater Washington and Lee University as well as Virginia Military Institute.

Here is what Southern Living had to say about the South's best college towns. To no surprise, Charlottesville topped the list at #1. Charlottesville is a lovely place with art and culture, good food and even better people. And of course, Star Hill lives here.

When thinking of New York as a 'college town' the schools that typically come to mind are NYU and Columbia. There are actually many many more but those are the main attraction. As mentioned in an earlier post, Columbia feels like a 'real' campus. You would never know New York City is just on the other side of that brick wall. NYU is a bit scattered with random buildings throughout Union Square and Greenwich Village but you can still feel the energy (and annoyance of college students crowding the sidewalk) in the neighborhood. I have lived in both neighborhoods and find them both quite charming ( minus the sidewalk crowding college students). For special finds around Columbia see the linked post mentioned above. There are many more but the ones mentioned are some of my favorites.  In terms of jewels around NYU,  Think Coffee is my favorite coffee spot. They also have amazing but HUGE sandwiches (more of a two meal sandwich).  Acme has fabulous Cajun food as does Great Jones (mentioned before). Working on New Year's Day several years ago, my southern colleague and I knew we could count on Acme for pork, collard greens, and hopin' john-- a New Year's Day good luck meal in the South. French Roast has locations near NYU and Columbia and happens to be one of my personal favorites. They have several different menus throughout the day and though I cannot stay up late these days, apparently the late night menu is fantastic. After staying out late, the best breakfast spot has to be Grey Dog. Another fun fact about Gray Dog- the owner went to Michigan (we like those who root for Blue!). The thing I love about college towns (or college neighborhoods) are the small, quaint establishments that pop up around these centers of knowledge. It just has that feel of where I grew up (minus the humidity).