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re: Offseason thread: BEST SEC TOWNS
Posted on 7/27/24 at 9:55 am to ThrowITdeep
Posted on 7/27/24 at 9:55 am to ThrowITdeep
My favorites are Fayetteville, Oxford and Athens, in no particular order.
Austin used to be great, but the out of control growth has really changed that place. It doesn't have anywhere close to the vibe it used to have. Too hot and has water issues. Best pizza in the world at Homeslice on South Congress. Can't beat that with a cold Lonestar.
I'm in Baton Rouge regularly and there is no way I'd live there. God awful traffic, and it's soaked in carcinogens Beautiful Italian Renaissance architecture designed to look similar to Stanford.
Lived in Knoxville for close to a decade. There a lot great things. In those days The Old City was fun. Market Square. Proximity to the mountains. The strip was grimey but fun in those days. Now it's all cleaned up and fancy looking. Not sure it's an improvement.
Oxford is quaint and pretty. One of the best bookstores in America, but the prices are now insane.
Columbia is a nice place, and I've always heard good things about Auburn, although I've never been.
The campus in Norman is beautiful with its Cherokee Gothic architecture, but the town ain't all that.
Nashville has a lot to offer, but traffic and prices are nuts. There are a half dozen cranes in the air downtown on any given day. Vanderbilt's campus is very nice.
Starkville's not the end of the world, but you can see it from there.
Austin used to be great, but the out of control growth has really changed that place. It doesn't have anywhere close to the vibe it used to have. Too hot and has water issues. Best pizza in the world at Homeslice on South Congress. Can't beat that with a cold Lonestar.
I'm in Baton Rouge regularly and there is no way I'd live there. God awful traffic, and it's soaked in carcinogens Beautiful Italian Renaissance architecture designed to look similar to Stanford.
Lived in Knoxville for close to a decade. There a lot great things. In those days The Old City was fun. Market Square. Proximity to the mountains. The strip was grimey but fun in those days. Now it's all cleaned up and fancy looking. Not sure it's an improvement.
Oxford is quaint and pretty. One of the best bookstores in America, but the prices are now insane.
Columbia is a nice place, and I've always heard good things about Auburn, although I've never been.
The campus in Norman is beautiful with its Cherokee Gothic architecture, but the town ain't all that.
Nashville has a lot to offer, but traffic and prices are nuts. There are a half dozen cranes in the air downtown on any given day. Vanderbilt's campus is very nice.
Starkville's not the end of the world, but you can see it from there.
0
Posted on 7/27/24 at 4:13 pm to ThrowITdeep
quote:
14) Starkville(State) 15) Oxford(Miss)
Oh you’ve done it now
Posted on 7/27/24 at 4:40 pm to Bubbles Up
quote:
I think Auburn, Oxford, Athens and Fayetteville should be at the top.
Totally agree in no order for these. I also don’t think there’s really a “shithole” from an SEC perspective in terms of maintaining the college town framework that we have. Growing up in the 90s, Athens was the bigger place to be because of the music scene. Oxford is Oxford. Auburn is beautiful. Knoxville is bigger and with bigger comes more problems, but it’s beautiful to me and river is always a bonus unless you’re in Ohio. It’s honestly hard to rate a lot of SEC towns as “shitty”. It does mean more.
Posted on 7/27/24 at 4:56 pm to ThrowITdeep
My personal Columbia, MO bias aside: I’d most want to live in Fayetteville or Nashville amongst the SEC towns. Athens or Baton Rouge would get top nod for a Saturday in the Fall.
Posted on 7/27/24 at 5:09 pm to Bubbles Up
Austin shouldnt be that high either. Any metropolis doesnt fit the mold of a “college town”
Posted on 7/27/24 at 5:13 pm to ThrowITdeep
Fayetteville is nice. Austin is absolutely terrible - especially downtown. I’ve been to Norman. Forgettable. Alabama is okay, though Auburn is in a nicer area than Bama. Oxford is the nicest town in MS. For whatever that is worth
Lexington is a pretty nice town, as is Knoxville
Lexington is a pretty nice town, as is Knoxville
This post was edited on 7/27/24 at 5:16 pm
Posted on 7/27/24 at 5:16 pm to ThrowITdeep
Tuscaloosa too high
Posted on 7/27/24 at 5:38 pm to ThrowITdeep
I've been to all of them except Norman.
It's all subjective given age and stage, memories made, experiences, whether or not one really experienced everything around the stadium, in the town, the restaurant and bar scene.
In order of the places where I've been too the most ....
More than a dozen times ...
1 - Columbia, SC
2 - Oxford, MS
3 - Athens, GA
4 - Knoxville, TN
5 - Gainesville, FL
6 - Nashville, TN
At least a half dozen times ....
7 - Lexington, KY
8 - Starkville, MS
9 - Fayetteville, AR
At least three times ....
10 - College Station, TX
(Bonus) Little Rock, AR (including a Tex vs Ark game there in the late 80s)
11- Austin, TX
12 - Auburn, AL
13 - Baton Rouge, LA
14 - Tuscaloosa, AL
15 - Columbia, MO
One time
Birmingham, AL
Never
16 - Norman, OK ... but my wife and I are going this season with some other donor couples.
That's not the order of best to worst ... it's just where we've been to experience football games, in SEC cities, over the course of the past decades.
They're all different. They all have pros and cons. None of them are bad experiences.
I've been to a bunch of games in The Big House, several in The Shoe. Been to Happy Valley. Been to Nebraska. Been to SoCal and the Coleseum and to other places.
Every SEC town and experience is different .... they've all got a southern feel. We've got a great conference with great fans.
It's all subjective given age and stage, memories made, experiences, whether or not one really experienced everything around the stadium, in the town, the restaurant and bar scene.
In order of the places where I've been too the most ....
More than a dozen times ...
1 - Columbia, SC
2 - Oxford, MS
3 - Athens, GA
4 - Knoxville, TN
5 - Gainesville, FL
6 - Nashville, TN
At least a half dozen times ....
7 - Lexington, KY
8 - Starkville, MS
9 - Fayetteville, AR
At least three times ....
10 - College Station, TX
(Bonus) Little Rock, AR (including a Tex vs Ark game there in the late 80s)
11- Austin, TX
12 - Auburn, AL
13 - Baton Rouge, LA
14 - Tuscaloosa, AL
15 - Columbia, MO
One time
Birmingham, AL
Never
16 - Norman, OK ... but my wife and I are going this season with some other donor couples.
That's not the order of best to worst ... it's just where we've been to experience football games, in SEC cities, over the course of the past decades.
They're all different. They all have pros and cons. None of them are bad experiences.
I've been to a bunch of games in The Big House, several in The Shoe. Been to Happy Valley. Been to Nebraska. Been to SoCal and the Coleseum and to other places.
Every SEC town and experience is different .... they've all got a southern feel. We've got a great conference with great fans.
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