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

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power
Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns
MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant
A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.
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.
Caltrans
City of Fort Worth
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie