Richard Florida takes the end of summer, and impending awakening of campuses across the country, as an opportunity to explore which of America's metro areas have the largest higher education concentrations.
When looking at the metro areas with the largest share of the adult population enrolled in college or graduate school, the list reads like "a veritable who's-who of college towns," with Ames, Iowa; Ithaca, New York; and State College, Pennsylvania leading the pack. "While these metros each have a large share of college students, taken
together they are home to a surprisingly small number of the nation's
student population [just 3.5% of the nation's total]," notes Florida.
Things get more interesting when looking at the metro areas with the highest total number of college students. According to Florida, "Although we tend not to think of them this way, America's largest metros are also its largest college towns."
"Two metros are home to more than one million college students - greater
New York City with 1.3 million and greater Los Angeles with nearly 1.1
million." Among the surprising entrants in the top ten are Dallas-Fort Worth and Miami, "the nation's seventh and eighth
largest college towns respectively, with roughly 380,000 students each."
"These figures show that our perceptions of college towns - small main
streets near liberal-arts schools with sprawling, ivy-covered grounds -
are misnomers," writes Florida. "In fact, the norm of U.S. college life is more filled
with concrete sidewalks, taxi cabs, and late-night diners."
FULL STORY: America's Leading College Towns
Pennsylvania Mall Conversion Bill Passes House
If passed, the bill would promote the adaptive reuse of defunct commercial buildings.
Planning for Accessibility: Proximity is More Important than Mobility
Accessibility-based planning minimizes the distance that people must travel to reach desired services and activities. Measured this way, increased density can provide more total benefits than increased speeds.
World's Largest Wildlife Overpass In the Works in Los Angeles County
Caltrans will soon close half of the 101 Freeway in order to continue construction of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing near Agoura Hills in Los Angeles County.
Brightline West Breaks Ground
The high-speed rail line will link Las Vegas and the Los Angeles area.
Colorado Bans No-Fault Evictions
In most cases, landlords must provide a just cause for evicting tenants.
Alaska Village Becomes Test Case for Climate Change Relocation
The Yup’ik village of Newtok is the first Alaska community to begin a full-scale relocation necessitated by the impacts of climate change. Another 31 Alaska communities remain vulnerable.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Tufts University, Department of Urban and Environmental Policy & Planning
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.