Best and worse FCS college towns?

[Skjellyfetti]

What. No mention of Pierce's Pit BBQ? http://www.pierces.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I like their sauce... kinda cinnamony. Their BBQ is good... their ribs are pretty awful, though.

[ASUG8]

(JMU) Harrisonburg Va isn't a city or even a big town but it has a lot offer; JMU draws from Wash DC and Richmond with easy interstate access from both, 2 hrs each. H'Burg has two mountain ranges (Shenandoah Valley)...hotels and especially restaurants are getting better all the time...JMU's tailgate has gotten large and nothing is better than beer/cigar/smoked brats on a cool Fall Saturday morning!

JMU is a city. Either small or medium size depending on who's definition, but a city none the less. It would be considered huge for a town if it was one. One of 39 independent cities in VA, and the 13th largest population of those 39 as of 09' estimates, 45k, more than Charlottesville and UVGay. Micropoilitan area (to include Rockingham County) is 120k.

I've always been curious about college town population size - Boone alone isn't very big, but throw 15-16K students in there and it's not terribly small anymore, and I'm sure Statesboro, Missoula, Harrisonburg, etc. are the same. I don't know if sites like Wiki take college populations into account.

[93henfan]

I don't know if sites like Wiki take college populations into account.

That remark prompted me to do some googling. Census rules are that college students are to report their residence as where they live most of the time. So, all students living on campus (or at least within city limits) should count, but any students commuting from outside city limits would not count.

[ASUG8]

I don't know if sites like Wiki take college populations into account.

That remark prompted me to do some googling.

That's creepy, dude - I don't want to make some guy google......

[93henfan]

That remark prompted me to do some googling.

That's creepy, dude - I don't want to make some guy google......

I had a rag handy. No worries.

[kalm]

Here's how small Cheney is.

The largest public event in the history of the town was the 2006 EWU-Montana game at just under 12,000. And that was because 6,000 Griz fans made the trip over.

(but I wouldn't have the town any other way - small that is, less griz fans would be nice )

[BDKJMU]

I've been to JMU games at 15 different away schools but only stayed in the city/area for 1/2 doz away games:
-W&M
-Lehigh (best friend used to live in Bethlehem and still owns a place there)
-Furman (pregamed in Greenville before the 04' qtr final game)
-Chatty
-Youngstown
-ASU

The rest I drove straight to parking, tailgated, saw the game, and left. So I'll comment on those 6:

-Chatty stayed at the Hampton Inn not in a great area. Never even saw downtown. Stadium setting not great, but the stadium itself is good, tailgate and game atmosphere was great. Course can't really compare them to the others as that was the NC game.

-Youngstown pregame at a BW3 was good. As far as the home side- looked steep like UD but even higher and sounded very loud. Another one of those lopsided stadiums with a visitor side a fraction of the home side. Good game atmosphere, esp for a Fri night game the day after Turkey Day. Youngstown is a shi*hole though, at least the parts I saw.

-Bethlehem is a pretty cool historic town with sort of that "small town college feel". You have the river running through it and the nearby mountains. And now you have the sands Casino Resort Bethlehem (table games just started 4 days ago) if you want to do a little gambling and 200k sq ft of premium retail outlet shopping for the women. Lehigh's campus of seems pretty nice. You have the mountain setting, from what I remember the stadium and tailgate was decent, and the game day atmosphere was ok (this was a 1st round T-giving weekend playoff game when attendance usually isn't great.

-Williamsburg. One of the most historic small cities in the country with the whole downtown Colonial Williamsburg tourist thing right next to the campus, and nearby Yorktown to celebrate our victory over the limeys. Also nearby Busch Gardens. A small city, with nearby big ones (the whole Tidewater area of Norfolk, Hampton, Newport News, Chesapeake, Suffolk, VA Beach (over an hr away). W&M has a pretty campus, Zable is a pretty nice stadium, the tailgate scene has always been good for the JMU fans that I've seen, as is the gameday atmosphere (although granted, its not to the level of UD or ASU in that regard).

-Greenville seems like a nice small city. Stayed in Charlotte. Remember doing a pregame at a downtown it might have been a BW3 with a big JMU crowd. Did a short tailgate at the stadium where some cops came by and just told us to be discreet if we were drinking, so that was cool. Furman has a pretty campus, but its well outside of downtown. As I remember, decent stadium, and the atmosphere for that game was good.

-Boone was the best of those 6 in terms of the whole package: "college town feel", town setting with the mountains, tailgate atmosphere, nice, huge (by I-AA standards) stadium (although stands are too far away from the field with the track), stadium setting, and game atmosphere. Plus nearby Blue Ridge Parkway

[BDKJMU]

Of the CAA away games I've been I haven't paid attention to whether or not they have a small town college feel, as with the exception of W&M once, I get there, tailgate, go to the game, and leave. But I know UD, Nova, Towson, don't have those settings. W&M is more a historic tourist town than small college town. UNH, UMass, and Maine I don't recall seeing much of their downtowns.

-Already commented on W&M

-UD- been to the last 3 JMU @ UD games- I live only about 45 minutes away. Newark and their campus are ok. UD has the best tailgate and game day atmosphere. Steep stadium provides for better sightlines. The only negative would be the bathrooms having to piss against the wall and drunks' piss splattering on your shoes.

-Towson- been to last 3 JMU @ Towson games. Nice stadium. Would be great if more people actually cam to the game.

-Nova: live about 25 min away. Been to the last 4 JMU games there. Radnor is a wealthy area, and Nova's campus is nice. Tailgate scene sucks for away fans because of their no tailgating rule in the main lot the visitors park in. Stadium is ok. Their game day atmosphere leaves a lot to be desired due to their well documented lack of fan support.

-UNH- was at the JMU @ then #1 UNH HC game in 06'. Pretty campus from what I saw. Sucked because was only one road in for a HC game with 10k+ people so sat in traffic for an hr getting in, the lots where drinking was allowed was full by the time we got parked, so we had to stealthily drink because some cop in a van kept coming by trying to catch people drinking, the stadium sucked, and due to a large halftime line at the couple of port a potties on the visitor's side lots of us just went into the woods behind the HS like stands on the away side to piss.

-At UR's old city stadium which is quite a ways from the UR campus I've been to the last 3 JMU @ UR games. From the last game in 08' where it was a record setting crowd of about 17k with then #1 JMU @ top 5 UR, in the main parking lot the city parking Nazis were cramming the cars in going around telling everyone no tents and no tables. As far as the stadium, is great on the home side, but sucks for visitors on the visitor's side because the sight lines on the away side suck unless you are between the 40s. The new on campus stadium will be beautiful, as is UR's campus, but way too small, with the stands too far from the action because of a track. Moronic in this day and age to build a stadium with a track around it.

-UMass's- The only time I've been was this past yr with at the time a 4-5 JMU vs a 5-4 UMass. Campus is ugly. A few hrs before the game was able to park very close to the stadium. Would have had a pretty good tailgate but started to rain shortly after we got there. Stadium seemed pretty nice. Would have been better if there was more than maybe 1500 people there to watch 2 around .500 teams in the rain...

-Maine- The only game I went to, 08'. Campus seems ok, as we had to drive around it to find the stadium, as 3+ hrs beforehand there was no gameday traffic or signage. Parked right off one side of the stadium- was only one other car in the lot at the time. Shortly there after started to rain. Wasn't much tailgating going on. Home side of the stadium was nice, but another one of those very lopsided stadiums. Even though they were hosting then #1 JMU, the actual crowd of maybe around 1500 sucked. Granted was pouring rain by game time.

[ASUG8]

I'll speak to the few away SoCon venues I've attended:
App - 'nuff already said
Citadel: it's Charleston, so it's good good tailgate close to the stadium, cadets were great to visitors, great stadium
Cullowhee: nice campus, great stadium, good tailgate, beautiful view - very little to do outside of 10 miles to Sylva
Furman: beautiful campus, Paris mountain view from the home side, good tailgating, anemic crowd - 10 miles out of Greenville
Wofford: see Furman - Beacon burger - Spartanburg is an OK town, but I'm underinformed.

[93henfan]

-UD- been to the last 3 JMU @ UD games- I live only about 45 minutes away. UD has the best tailgate and game day atmosphere. Steep stadium provides for better sightlines. The only negative would be the bathrooms having to piss against the wall and drunks' piss splattering on your shoes.

Someone must have pissed directly on your shoes because you are a JMU fan. There's no backsplash from the GWOP because of the cascading water. The whole tensile strength of water thing (Iola can explain - he finished ChemE unlike me) makes the piss cling to the cascade. It's really an ingenious design.

[BDKJMU]

-UD- been to the last 3 JMU @ UD games- I live only about 45 minutes away. UD has the best tailgate and game day atmosphere. Steep stadium provides for better sightlines. The only negative would be the bathrooms having to piss against the wall and drunks' piss splattering on your shoes.

Someone must have pissed directly on your shoes because you are a JMU fan. There's no backsplash from the GWOP because of the cascading water. The whole tensile strength of water thing (Iola can explain - he finished ChemE unlike me) makes the piss cling to the cascade. It's really an ingenious design.

Well, I was assuming piss is bouncing off the wall. I'm still skeptical that with some drunk full of beer pissing full bore into the wall at varying angles some piss (your own or from someone right next to you) doesn't ricochet off despite your cascading water, tensil strength of water theory. After all, if it was such an ingenious design, how come no one else does it?

[eagleskins]

JMU is a city. Either small or medium size depending on who's definition, but a city none the less. It would be considered huge for a town if it was one. One of 39 independent cities in VA, and the 13th largest population of those 39 as of 09' estimates, 45k, more than Charlottesville and UVGay. Micropoilitan area (to include Rockingham County) is 120k.

I've always been curious about college town population size - Boone alone isn't very big, but throw 15-16K students in there and it's not terribly small anymore, and I'm sure Statesboro, Missoula, Harrisonburg, etc. are the same. I don't know if sites like Wiki take college populations into account.

Yeah, Statesboro is growing, but not as fast as GSU in terms of population. According to reports, GSU will be at 21,000 students this fall, and 25,000 by 2015. A move up is going to be inevitable.

[g-webb1994]

Beacon burger - Spartanburg is an OK town, but I'm underinformed.

The Beacon rocks, Wades is good too.

[bluehenbillk]

After all, if it was such an ingenious design, how come no one else does it?

It's hard to replicate perfection.

[UAalum72]

If this is a question of the city being the worst city based on gangs and all that junk, then this wouldnt apply, but if its the worst FCS town based off of the relationship between the town and school, I would have to say that the award goes to Bryant University and Smithfield, RI. URI is right down the road, for one, secondly, My wife grew up in smithfield her whole life and didnt know they had a competitive football team ( I agreed and said they dont), you dont see Bryant stuff anywhere, on people or in stores. Its like the school doesnt even exist, and smithfield isn't that big of a town for people to not know about Bryant. Its only like 22,000 people

Could that be because Bryant only has 3,000 students and has had football for only 11 years, and Division I for two year?

[CatMom]

I still say San Marcos is a beautiful college town with a lot to offer. Hell, hardly anyone here has even been there. I bet, aside from SLC posters, there are only a handful of you guys/gals that have seen it.

[rueful]

If this is a question of the city being the worst city based on gangs and all that junk, then this wouldnt apply, but if its the worst FCS town based off of the relationship between the town and school, I would have to say that the award goes to Bryant University and Smithfield, RI. URI is right down the road, for one, secondly, My wife grew up in smithfield her whole life and didnt know they had a competitive football team ( I agreed and said they dont), you dont see Bryant stuff anywhere, on people or in stores. Its like the school doesnt even exist, and smithfield isn't that big of a town for people to not know about Bryant. Its only like 22,000 people

Could that be because Bryant only has 3,000 students and has had football for only 11 years, and Division I for two year?

have you been to smithfield? in a town that small, football should still be known after 11 years. The point i was making is that the town couldnt give a crap about Bryant.

[houndawg]

Worst candidates

Terra Houte, Indiana
Carbondale, Illinois
Greeley, CO - I don't remember the smell, but it didn't seem like a great city when I was there.

And how is Cedar Falls better than those three? Carbondale is a great town, lots to do

He doesn't mean it, Jon. I think it's not so much C'dale itself that bugs him, but the six hour drive home on the heels of yet another booty whuppin' by the Salukis. It's been that way since before he was born so he don't know no different. The good news is that UNI has a historic opportunity this year to be among the last teams to lose at the Mac and one of the first to lose in the new stadium.

[TribeNomad]

Had a nice (but short) visit to Carbondale last year. Fans I met were nice (the teams had no history at all), the game atmosphere was I believe a bit muted by the 11 am start time. We drove to and fro from St. Louis and rode back along the Miss. River, very pastoral.

[NewAtThis210]

Haven't had much experience traveling to other campeye, but I do know where the WORST is>>> Altoona, Pa. There is NOTHING, I mean NOTHING there, except of course The former home of John Gotti Sr.

[RalphD58]

After all, if it was such an ingenious design, how come no one else does it?

It's hard to replicate perfection.

That and it's against new building codes, which is stupid. Not to mention the fact that America is pussified and most men should sit down to piss anyway. How can someone not see the beauty of a marble wall with cascading water and not want to urinate on it? It just regoddamndiculous!

BEHOLD THE WONDER!!!!!

[ASUG8]

It's hard to replicate perfection.

That and it's against new building codes, which is stupid. Not to mention the fact that America is pussified and most men should sit down to piss anyway. How can someone not see the beauty of a marble wall with cascading water and not want to urinate on it? It just regoddamndiculous!

BEHOLD THE WONDER!!!!!

Looks like a real shithole.

[RalphD58]

Looks like a real shithole.

Close, actually a really large pisshole.

[93henfan]

It's hard to replicate perfection.

That and it's against new building codes, which is stupid. Not to mention the fact that America is pussified and most men should sit down to piss anyway. How can someone not see the beauty of a marble wall with cascading water and not want to urinate on it? It just regoddamndiculous!

BEHOLD THE WONDER!!!!!

God DAMN it!

Someone else has a picture of the piss wall now? That really makes my sacrifice a little less special. Damn you, Ralph. Out of curiosity, was yours taken on a game day? Be honest.

Well, anyway, enjoy another angle. Between the two of them, we almost have a panorama shot:

[RalphD58]

God DAMN it!

Someone else has a picture of the piss wall now? That really makes my sacrifice a little less special. Damn you, Ralph. Out of curiosity, was yours taken on a game day? Be honest.

Not a game day shot, it was at the football alumni BBQ and spring game last year. I wanted to put one in my house along the basement wall, but the wife said no. She's just jealous because she wouldn't be able to use it.