Small town vs. Big city

[shai]

So my girlfriend and I have an enduring debate and I would like to know what other people think about it. When choosing where to apply to, I'm leaning toward a small university town and she's leaning toward a big city (NYC being her perferd spot). While I keep claiming that meeting new people in a big city can be difficult (from my experience, the bigger the city the less prone you are to start chatting with a random stranger), she claims that in a small town you get bored easily from the people ther and you don't have much options after you get to know everyone.

Anyone else have the same debates ?

[kahlan_amnell]

I grew up in New York City, and am currently living in a small town. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.

I agree with you that it can be difficult to meet people in a big city unless you make an effort at it. Big cities can also be overwhelming to those who are not used to them. They can also be really distracting, I've seen lots of people choose schools in big cities for undergrad mainly because they wanted to live in that city, not because of the school. They spent too much time doing city things, and not enough on their work. Also the college was often a poor match because they were thinking about the school's location rather than the school itself.

However, cities do have advantages. Many of them have great public transportation, and you'll never need to own a car. There are wonderful cultural opportunities, such as museums, concerts, and plays that you could visit every day if you had the time and money. There are stores that sell just about everything you could want, and restaurants that serve just about any type of cuisine. Many businesses are open late or open 24 hours.

Small towns can be difficult to adjust to if you are not used to them. There may seem to be nothing to do because there are not as many options that are there all the time as in a city. However, small towns that have colleges tend to have lots of cultural events passing through, so you just need to be a bit patient if there isn't one around right at the moment. The stores in a small town might not sell quite everything, but if you look around you can usually find what you need, and if you can't there is always the internet. There may not be quite as many kinds of restaurants, but there are usually a few good ones. It is much easier to meet people in a small town, and unless you are living somewhere so small that everyone knows everyone else, there are usually new people to meet. It is much less distracting living in a small town.

Personally, I prefer small towns.

That being said, grad students are often so busy they don't really have time to enjoy or not enjoy their surroundings much.

I'd suggest you apply to schools in a variety of locations, and decide once you get acceptances which one is the best fit. Consider applying to some "compromise" locations, in large towns or small cities. Do remember that a school's fit is much more important than it's location when choose a grad school, and don't apply places you wouldn't want to go just because they have a good location.

[aginath]

Honestly, this isn't something I would use as a major criteria to pick a program. It is definitely something to consider once the offers come in, but don't let it narrow your focus before you've even begun to apply.

[shai]

Thanks for your point-of-view. However, I do believe that taking in consideration the location when choosing a program is not only important - it is necessary. I've moved a lot in my life, and when deciding on what i'll do in the next 5 years or so an important aspect of it is where i want to do it.

I really don't get all the people in this forum saying that grads don't have lives. Lives are what you make of them. I know this is a cliche, but take it from some one who spent 3 years in the navy and knows what it means to have NO time for yourself.

[michigan girl]

Make sure you consider college towns (i.e., Ann Arbor, Madison, Berkeley, Chapel Hill, etc..) They often have big-city amenities and cultural events.

[shai]

what's the difference between a small town and college town. (this from someone who's not an american...)

I know this is more for the "city guide" part of these forums, but what would you consider the following places :

Chicago (obviously a city, but how threatening is it ?)

Boulder, Colorado

Ithaca, NY

Boston (same question as Chicago)

Pittsburgh, PA

San Diego

Vancouver, British Columbia

Urbana Champaign, IL

Northwestern, IL

Thank you everyone !

[purplepepper]

what's the difference between a small town and college town.

A college town has a university! With universities as you know, comes students and student culture. So, even if there isn't much in the town itself, the university will provide cultural opportunities, diversity, and of course bars, restaurants, cafes, libraries, book stores, etc.

Just a regular small town is mostly residential and probably not so many students around. And after living myself in a regular small town for a while, I miss being with my peers. All of the women my age in this town have families and are mostly housewives (though some do work). I don't have much in common with any of them, so I'm only friends with old ladies. Which is fun, but I do miss having people with the same interests around.

All of the cities listed here would be college towns, as they all have universities in them. Though you could argue that a big city such as New York or Chicago isn't really a college town because it's not dominated by students. There is enough diversity and cultural opportunities there without having to go through the university for access

[kent shakespeare]

I prefer a small-to-medium city, where you can still meet people and there is enough going on, socially and in the arts, yet with enough of a smallish feel that one can feel at home.

If I were you two, I'd try to compromise, and look for a small town commuting distance from NYC. Westchester, SW Connecticut or northern Jersey might meet needs, where you can be in Manhattan in less than an hour: Rutger's and 2/3 of Pace campuses off the top of my head. Of course, that depends on your programs, too.

[kent shakespeare]

what's the difference between a small town and college town. (this from someone who's not an american...)

I know this is more for the "city guide" part of these forums, but what would you consider the following places :

Chicago (obviously a city, but how threatening is it ?)

Boulder, Colorado

Ithaca, NY

Boston (same question as Chicago)

Pittsburgh, PA

San Diego

Vancouver, British Columbia

Urbana Champaign, IL

Northwestern, IL

Thank you everyone !

Ithaca is a smallish city but with a lot going on. I've had lots of friends who have gone there. Its got many big-city cultural assets in a place that isn't so big.

For a major metro, Boston is a much more college-ish city than Chicago or NYC; it just feels like a giant college town. NYC may have more colleges, but they don't permeate into city identity the way they do in Boston. It's a quite beautiful city.

The University area of Pittsburgh is quite nice, a sub-city unto itself. Great parks, restaurants, nice area to live.

San Diego has amazing weather year-round, and is quite nice. I don't know the U area specifically.

Vancouver is also a beautiful city, but I haven't been there since '92 so I can't say much more about it other than it's nice.

[michigan girl]

College Towns: Boulder, CO; Ithaca, NY; Urbana-Champaign, IL; Evanston, IL (Northwestern)

Big Cities (have many colleges but students don't dominate the population): Chicago, Vancouver, Pittsburgh, San Diego

Boston is in the middle -- medium-size city with numerous colleges.

[pea-jay]

I've got experience in both. My educational background is urban planning, big cities are a natural for this subject. I've lived in the DC, NorfolkVA, Chicago and SoCal. Very Urban.

On the other hand...my work experience has been in small towns. Without colleges. As a rule, they kinda suck culturally and amenity wise. If you like the outdoors, this is a different story of course .In anycase I have found that WORKING in a rural area has been a net positive for my career. In an urban area, there are far more specializations, which you dont get in a small county. I've become a jack of all trades, professionally and risen far faster than had I stuck around the big city. That said, when it comes time to return for the masters in planning, Im ONLY considering NYC or Chicago. I'm small towned out.

[zilch]

Adding in my 2 cents,

The major difference between a small town and a big city is going to be the population diversity and availability of resources/amenities. Chicago, for example, has a gigantic immigrant population (I think it has the biggest polish population outside of Warsaw). While small towns tend to be much less diverse.

College towns are small-ish towns that are dominated by a University (or universities as may be the case). Urbana-Champaign (where I am) has a small urban setting with a population of around 120,000 (somewhere around there), during the school year the university adds around 40,000 students (grad and undergrad). On top of that, the University is by far the largest employer in the area so the town is incredibly diverse and the culture is very friendly towards college students. The local residents also tend to be highly educated.

Ithaca and Urbana-Champaign were both ranked in the top 5 college towns (pop. under 250k) in the united states by USA Today(http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/ ... htm?csp=34). Wikipedia actually has a pretty nice definition (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_town)

[psycholinguist]

what's the difference between a small town and college town. (this from someone who's not an american...)

I know this is more for the "city guide" part of these forums, but what would you consider the following places :

Chicago (obviously a city, but how threatening is it ?)

Boulder, Colorado

Ithaca, NY

Boston (same question as Chicago)

Pittsburgh, PA

San Diego

Vancouver, British Columbia

Urbana Champaign, IL

Northwestern, IL

Thank you everyone !

Both have their advantages and disadvantages.

I lived in Ithaca for four years. It's basically the prototypical college-town: it wouldn't really be there anymore without Cornell University and Ithaca College. The town is very geared towards a student lifestyle, which is a major upside of it (or any good college-town, for that matter). For its size, it does bring in an impressive variety of musicians, comedians, and other celebrities to talk (usually at Cornell). And there's more to do there than you'd think. But it IS in the absolute middle of nowhere; getting there (and out of there) is a pain in the rear-end. Only three other airports are connected to Ithaca's directly: Detroit's, Philadelphia's, and New York LaGuardia. Otherwise, you're stuck taking the bus there, or taking the train to Syracuse and transferring to a little local shuttle that doesn't always show up.

On the other hand, I grew up near Vancouver. The University of British Columbia is a very self-contained area, mostly because it's set well away from downtown, on the end of a piece of land to the southwest. However, Vancouver itself is definitely not a college-town; it has 2 million people. Lovely city, if you can handle a LOT of rain and greyness in the winter. Seasonal affective disorder is a problem out there; in October or November it clouds over, and that only really clears up in May. The summers are stunningly pretty, though. And the transit system is pretty good considering its size and its location on a pretty tight river-delta.

San Diego is a lot like Vancouver: it contains multiple colleges, but it's not a college-town. Also a great city. Can't beat the climate. Lots to do with gorgeous scenery everywhere. Transit isn't as good as Vancouver's in my experiences, though so I'd recommend getting a car.

(Haven't been to the other places you mention.)