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re: Experts rank the SEC college towns
Posted on 4/21/15 at 3:06 pm to SummerOfGeorge
Posted on 4/21/15 at 3:06 pm to SummerOfGeorge
I just think you're burning a strawman here. Auburn is a pretty old little town. I get your point about our history being necessarily more connected to the school than Tuscaloosa's, but I don't see how that makes us more like a suburb than Tuscaloosa.
We're spread out with neighborhoods and shopping centers and whatnot...just like every other small southern city.
We're spread out with neighborhoods and shopping centers and whatnot...just like every other small southern city.
2
Posted on 4/21/15 at 3:08 pm to cardboardboxer
quote:
I am just saying, we are an hour and a half from a flight almost anywhere in the world. Most of the SEC can't say that, so we aren't in the boonies or something.
I have been there and my last trip was in the past year or 2. You are in the boonies when compared to other SEC locations. Flying in there is the only way to get there as the drive from most SEC schools is a pain in the arse. Texas is Texas and nothing is close to anything in the state as they should not have left it so big when they sized the states.
Virginia was split into Virginia + West Virginia + Kentucky
North Carolina was split into North Carolina + Tennessee
There is nobody and nothing in the Dakotas but thy still split them into North and South.
Posted on 4/21/15 at 3:09 pm to KCM0Tiger
Athens is my favorite
Tuscaloosa is my second favorite
BR is too high on the list
Gainesville is my least favorite sec town and yes I've been to Starkville
Tuscaloosa is my second favorite
BR is too high on the list
Gainesville is my least favorite sec town and yes I've been to Starkville
Posted on 4/21/15 at 3:09 pm to Pettifogger
quote:
I just think you're burning a strawman here.
Maybe, but I don't think so. Auburn is clearly more white, college educated, etc because the entire town is the University. That isn't good or bad (in my eyes at least), but it does mean that everyone is generally much more a like. Everything grew up with the Unviersity so almost all commerce is built with college kids in mind and is newer. Not a whole lot of old stuff outside of a few things around Toomer's Corner. Again, not a bad thing, but not my taste.
Tuscaloosa is a real city with history that predates the University. The footprint of the city has been the same for 200 years. With that comes some lower income folks, which leads to "ghettos" and the like but also some old history alongside it. It's just different, that's all.
Again, not good or bad, just different.
This post was edited on 4/21/15 at 3:11 pm
Posted on 4/21/15 at 3:10 pm to Pettifogger
quote:
Auburn is a pretty old little town
Right, and he is saying that Auburn, the city, only exists because of Auburn University, and he is spot on.
Auburn, AL historical population
1900 - 1,447
1910 - 1,408
1920 - 2,143
1930 - 2,800
1940 - 4,652
1950 - 12,939
1960 - 16,261
1970 - 22,767
1980 - 28,471
1990 - 33,830
2000 - 42,987
2010 - 53,380
Posted on 4/21/15 at 3:11 pm to Tornado Alley
quote:
Right, and he is saying that Auburn, the city, only exists because of Auburn University, and he is spot on.
Right, without Auburn University the City of Auburn is literally a crossroads. Not good or bad, just a different feel and because of it the city doesn't have a lot of "old" to it, it was mostly built up as AU was built up since the 1960s.
Not good or bad, but it makes a difference in a city's structure and feel.
This post was edited on 4/21/15 at 3:13 pm
Posted on 4/21/15 at 3:11 pm to Cheese Grits
quote:
quote: I am just saying, we are an hour and a half from a flight almost anywhere in the world. Most of the SEC can't say that, so we aren't in the boonies or something. I have been there and my last trip was in the past year or 2. You are in the boonies when compared to other SEC locations. Flying in there is the only way to get there as the drive from most SEC schools is a pain in the arse. Texas is Texas and nothing is close to anything in the state as they should not have left it so big when they sized the states. Virginia was split into Virginia + West Virginia + Kentucky North Carolina was split into North Carolina + Tennessee There is nobody and nothing in the Dakotas but thy still split them into North and South.
They decided there had to be a GOAT state
Posted on 4/21/15 at 3:12 pm to KCM0Tiger
I'm from Baton Rouge and it's too high.
Outside of LSU, it's awful
Outside of LSU, it's awful
This post was edited on 4/21/15 at 3:13 pm
Posted on 4/21/15 at 3:14 pm to SummerOfGeorge
quote:
Right, without Auburn University the City of Auburn is literally a crossroads. Not good or bad, just a different feel and because of it the city doesn't have a lot of "old" to it, it was mostly built up as AU was built up since the 1960s.
Not good or bad, but it makes a difference in a city's structure and feel.
I get all of that. I don't understand why that would make the Decatur vs. Woodstock comparison true. Perhaps because one is boring, more country white area and another is a traditionally black area being supplanted by modern white hipsters who like to talk about urban grit while sipping fair trade, locally roasted lattes?
Posted on 4/21/15 at 3:15 pm to ShaneTheLegLechler
quote:
They decided there had to be a GOAT state
Yes, and they named it Alaska!
Posted on 4/21/15 at 3:16 pm to Cheese Grits
quote:
Texas is Texas and nothing is close to anything in the state as they should not have left it so big when they sized the states.
Actually when Texas was admitted to the union it was given the right to split into up to seven states. Texas wasn't "sized" though, it never went through the "territory" phase other states went through. It was accepted as is as a state.
This non-traditional (and some say illegal) annexation of Texas is why some Texans still claim its an independant state.
Posted on 4/21/15 at 3:16 pm to RT1941
quote:
Fayeteville is just as far for me as a Mizzou or aTm trip, 650 to 700 miles.
So I can drive from Knoxville to NYC in the time it takes you to drive there. Holy mother I just googled and it's 707 miles (driving) from Knoxville to NYC and 708 miles to Fayetville. New York, New York is closer.
Posted on 4/21/15 at 3:18 pm to Pettifogger
quote:
I get all of that. I don't understand why that would make the Decatur vs. Woodstock comparison true. Perhaps because one is boring, more country white area and another is a traditionally black area being supplanted by modern white hipsters who like to talk about urban grit while sipping fair trade, locally roasted lattes?
You are putting all of those additional words into my mouth. I didn't add in any of the sterotypes of the people that associate with the area, just the structure of the areas themselves.
Woodstock was built as a result of the growth of Atlanta, leading to it being newer and not having a whole lot of historical bits to it (it technically existed before the boom of Atlanta, like Auburn, but it was a crossroads).
Auburn became an actually city as the result of the growth of Auburn University, leading to it being newer and not having a whole lot of historical bits to it (it also technically existed before 1950, but only as a crossroads).
Tuscaloosa was the State Capital of Alabama and a major trading hub in 1826, before the University was even founded. It became a city because of things totally separate from the University, which means it is not built around something else or to serve the needs of something else.
Also, not really sure where those ridiculous stereotypes of Decatur come from, but they are fitting right in with the stereotypes of "ghettos". Decatur has just as many law partners at Alston Bird and senior management at Coke who make $1M as they do hipsters and local coffee bean roasters, because it costs as much or more to live in Decatur than it does in the pristine reaches of Northern Fulton or Cobb. Gritty hipsters can't afford it. Also, who the hell would call Woodstock "country"?
This post was edited on 4/21/15 at 3:21 pm
Posted on 4/21/15 at 3:23 pm to SummerOfGeorge
Also, actually, Tuscaloosa is much more like a normal Southern town than Auburn is.
How many towns in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia or South Carolina have a black population of 17%? Honestly, outside of suburbs of major cities, I doubt there are any.
How many towns in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia or South Carolina have a black population of 17%? Honestly, outside of suburbs of major cities, I doubt there are any.
This post was edited on 4/21/15 at 3:24 pm
Posted on 4/21/15 at 3:25 pm to SummerOfGeorge
quote:
Also, not really sure where those ridiculous stereotypes of Decatur come from, but they are fitting right in with the stereotypes of the ghettos and the non-white middle class types. Decatur has just as many law partners and senior management at Coke who make $1M as they do hipsters and local coffee bean roasters.
I live ITP. I'm also not a transplant. I bring up Decatur because it's a response to the absurdity of those who "crave authenticity" and criticize suburb dwellers while living in 600k+ neighborhoods with off duty cops pulling security patrols and sending their kids to Lovett. My point about Decatur is that most of those who say ridiculous shite like that are living their because of gentrification, not because they're part of the existing community that predated their arrival.
As for Auburn, it's more like a better educated version of Valdosta, Georgia than it is a northern Atlanta burb. You also ignore that Lee County has a sizable black population, and that Opelika, which is barely even considered distinct anymore, has an industrial/blue collar past and has traditionally had a high minority population.
Posted on 4/21/15 at 3:27 pm to KCM0Tiger
State Capitals cannot be considered college towns because if the school were to leave, the city would survive.
That eliminates Baton Rouge, Nashville, and Columbia, SC from consideration.
That eliminates Baton Rouge, Nashville, and Columbia, SC from consideration.
Posted on 4/21/15 at 3:28 pm to SummerOfGeorge
Fayetteville is 6% black, which makes it the blackest city in NWA.
Western Arkansas is more demographically similar to North Texas than the deep South.
Latinos are our main minority west of Little Rock.
Western Arkansas is more demographically similar to North Texas than the deep South.
Latinos are our main minority west of Little Rock.
This post was edited on 4/21/15 at 3:30 pm
Posted on 4/21/15 at 3:28 pm to Pettifogger
quote:
I live ITP. I'm also not a transplant. I bring up Decatur because it's a response to the absurdity of those who "crave authenticity" and criticize suburb dwellers while living in 600k+ neighborhoods with off duty cops pulling security patrols and sending their kids to Lovett. My point about Decatur is that most of those who say ridiculous shite like that are living their because of gentrification, not because they're part of the existing community that predated their arrival.
Well yes, I actually agree with a lot of that and have the same irritations at many of my neighbors (though we are not in Decatur proper so we don't have that same issue persay, we are actually around many of the more hipster types who can't afford the City). My point wasn't that Decatur and Tuscaloosa are the same, it was that I had the same conversations with people who would ask me why I would live in such a crime ridden ghetto hellhole that I tend to have with Auburn people talking about Tuscaloosa (I'm also a native, born in Northside and two kids born at Northside).
quote:
As for Auburn, it's more like a better educated version of Valdosta, Georgia than it is a northern Atlanta burb.
Valdosta is 51% black and 42% white. It really isn't even close.
quote:
You also ignore that Lee County has a sizable black population, and that Opelika, which is barely even considered distinct anymore, has an industrial/blue collar past and has traditionally had a high minority population.
How much do Auburn folks drive around Lee County to Loachapoka and Notasulga? I do agree that Opelika is much more working class.
I just don't quite understand why the idea that Auburn is more white and lilly clean than Tuscaloosa is such an irritant. YOU GUYS RUN AROUND CLAIMING THIS EXACT THING 24/7!
This post was edited on 4/21/15 at 3:31 pm
Posted on 4/21/15 at 3:30 pm to SummerOfGeorge
quote:
How many towns in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia or South Carolina have a black population of 17%?
Bryan has a 32% black population.
Posted on 4/21/15 at 3:30 pm to SummerOfGeorge
quote:You really need to do some research fella. The city of Auburn was established in 1839, only 20 years after Tuscaloosa. There wasn't a college there for another 20 years. The Civil War and Great Depression hit the area extremely hard and it didn't really recover until WW2 (as you can see from the big population jump between 1940 & 1950 posted above).
Auburn became an actually city as the result of the growth of Auburn University, leading to it being newer and not having a whole lot of historical bits to it (it also technically existed before 1950, but only as a crossroads).
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