You may have loved that small college town like Champaign, Illinois or Eugene, Oregon where the rent was super affordable when you went to school. And now you are thinking of moving to another university city. You are looking forward to the experience, so get ready to enjoy the following seven college town attributes:
Reasonable Rents
While renting an apartment in the center of the college district can be pricey since developers try to stuff as many students in a property as possible—and at relatively high rents—if you move to an area a little further from the main campus, you can find quite reasonable monthly rents.
Arts
College towns are alive with movie festivals, art fairs, great concerts, poetry readings, high quality dance troupes, and of course excellent college marching bands. If you are into the arts, a town with a college atmosphere is the place to be. The bigger the university, the higher quality you will see as those with quality masters and doctoral fine arts programs attract a number of exciting artists.
Eco-friendly
Students are notoriously eco-friendly, and their universities understand and cater to environmental causes. If you are worried about your carbon footprint, your college town will undoubtedly have many recycling centers. Some even ban plastic grocery bags, thereby forcing inhabitants to bring their own and conserve. You won’t find leafless bushes decorated with old plastic grocery bags in a college town that has banned their use.
Food
If ramen is your thing, or if you like Tex-Mex-Asian fusion, a college environment is your ticket to trendy eating. There will also be a fine amount of great burger and taco joints, and these places will really love your business when the students go home for winter break or summer. Prices are set to fit a student’s budget, so you can eat out often for cheap.
Sports
Move to a Big 10 or Big 12 college campus town, and you’ll find big time sports. From football to volleyball and much more, you’ll have top quality college athletics just a few minutes from your door. However antiquated it may seem, some schools still do homecoming weekends and senior nights, and these festive days can certainly bring back the memories.
Transportation
Good and bad here. There may be tight parking around campus areas, but there should also be some great public transportation that you can take advantage of. And of course lots of ride-share possibilities.
Gigs
Many students work part-time to afford beer money and other things, of course, and college towns will provide ample opportunities for gig economy jobs like food delivery services and ride-sharing opportunities. The local university is usually also a major community employer, so you can maybe find work there.
Related: College Towns: The Best Places to Buy a Rental Property
College towns offer an exciting lifestyle featuring reasonable rents, lots of visual and conceptual art, major sporting events, and great independently owned restaurants.
If you’re searching for your first home buying experience, then pick one in a warm-weather climate and you can have a great time no matter if you have just recently graduated or whether you are newly retired. And if you went to school in a great place, definitely consider that location as an option.
This article has been contributed by our friends at ABODO Apartments.