The BEST College Towns And Cities: American Institute For Economic Research List

Location, location, location. The American Institute for Economic Research explores this first commandment of real estate in their 2010-2011 College Destination Index (PDF).

To develop their list, AIER ranked top cities and towns according to academic environment, quality of life and professional opportunity. Their index features the top ten cities in each of four categories: major metro areas, midsize metros, small cities and college towns. Below, find the top three in each category -- and check out AIER.org for the full list and methodology.

Is your college town featured? Do you think this list features good places to go to college? Let us know in the comments section.

 

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1. Major Metro City: San Francisco, CA

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I'd Never Live There When Can I Move?

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Comments

[Megan Chialastri]

01:47 PM on 09/16/2010

Why does HuffPo not realize that State College is terrible?

[Tree201]

10:14 AM on 09/16/2010

How can they leave out the Amherst, MA area? There's five colleges there and it's a beautiful area to boot.

[mamala4]

11:00 PM on 09/15/2010

Love State College....a great place to go to school...

[ilovemyprez]

10:34 PM on 09/13/2010

Yay Boulder!

[Senpay]

04:12 PM on 09/22/2010

Yes! Love that it's been voted #1!

[Gingercake]

10:22 PM on 09/13/2010

Iowa City is a wonderful town.... I have to admit that I'm biased. :) Boston is a great place as well-BU has a great campus.

[REDSTATEREFUGEE]

11:49 PM on 09/12/2010

The selection of Austin, Texas, was apt. Even 35 years later, I still hold fond memories for the most (only?) truly livable city in the Lone Star State. Walking between the Mediterranean style buildings in the center of the campus, listening to the carrillon chimes, and enjoying a refreshing spring day is one pleasure I would not trade for anything. Go horns....

[Amy Westmoreland]

11:01 PM on 09/12/2010

GO BLUE!!!

[jJohnson1]

06:50 PM on 09/20/2010

I second that. AA is the best one on the list

[Gross Josh]

03:31 PM on 09/12/2010

Nashville, TN should be on this list. Afterall we are the "Athens of the South"... we've got Vanderbilt Univ. ,Belmont Univ. , Lipscomb Univ, Fisk Univ, Tennessee State Univ, Watkins College of Art, Nossi College of Art, Aquinas College, Trevecca Nazarene Univ. ,Middle Tennessee State Univ (just south of the metro area), just to name a few.

[Jeff Schneider]

11:45 PM on 09/11/2010

How is Boston, MA not on this list???

[Robin Whiteside]

07:12 AM on 09/13/2010

Come February, ask yourself that question again. ;-)

[Man in the middle]

11:01 AM on 09/22/2010

"it is not a big college town"
-spinal tap

[NerdyStudent]

06:20 PM on 09/11/2010

I think Webster Groves is a nice small town--a close suburb of St. Louis City...but then, breaking into one of HuffPo's top 10 lists is about as likely as Mizzou breaking into the Big 10.

[Chuck Ott]

11:51 PM on 09/10/2010

Bozeman, Montana is all I have to say.

[justy84wvu]

06:14 PM on 09/10/2010

Wow Morgantown, WV isn't listed? It's considered one of the best small cities in the country with numerous awards, its been a powerhouse these past few years keeping a straight forward progressing economy and has the lowest unemployment rate in the country. NBC Nightly News even had to come check out Morgantown and find out what was going on here that the unemployment was so low and how jobs continued to be created, homes built, and people moving here so frequently. WVU and Morgantown are great partners and this small city continues to prosper everyday thanks to the forward thinking of this town and its people and students being open to all ideas. Maybe next year they will notice how great Morgantown is.

[MaggieHilliard]

12:49 PM on 09/10/2010

Bridgeport, CT, but not Madison, Wisconsin? Are you kidding? I went to UW-Madison and loved it, but my bias aside, Madison is widely considered one of the best small cities (and college cities) in the country. Bridgeport? Who even knew there was a college there?

[Majorbob53]

09:55 AM on 09/13/2010

I'm from CT, and I'm intrigued as well by the selection. There are actually 2 cities; the upper class B"Port (Near the Merritt Parkway), and then the inner city (right near/on I-95). Now, there are numerous colleges in/near the city. Sacred Heart Univ, Bridgeport Univ, Fairfield Univ, also several community colleges and technical colleges.

[JumpySnark]

11:25 AM on 09/10/2010

State College PA? Really?? They should have put San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly) on the College Town list, dude :)

[mamala4]

11:00 PM on 09/15/2010

Yup, go Lions!

[TakePenguin]

11:17 AM on 09/10/2010

I currently go to University of Iowa. Its a nice small college town if that's your thing and want to get away from the large cites. The problem is that its spread out quite a bit, and compared to other colleges in more populated areas there isn't much to do. It would be nice to see some place new. From what I have been told Boston is nice as well as Philly, but I guess I'm curious what are good college towns on the west coast?

[TruthAccepted]

02:05 PM on 09/10/2010

Beat State Tomorrow!!!!!!

[Deep77]

02:33 PM on 09/11/2010

Philadelphia is a great place to go to college. Philly is a big city, but it feels like a small town, it is a city of neighborhoods. There are some really good schools like Penn, Temple, and Drexel. Also Philly is right in the middle of it all. You are a 2 hour bus ride to NYC, 3 hours to DC, you can even take the train to Toronto and Montreal.