Recap: This fall there are 8 home football games out of the 12 game regular season. We used this rather unprecedented home game advantage as an impetus to ask ourselves how we stack up against other, similar regions. How does Ann Arbor compare to other college towns in the US? 

Is it true, can we believe it? Is this really the first away game of the season? Depending on your perspective, you’re either gearing up for some long awaited Saturday activity downtown, or pining for the return of the beloved Wolverines to the Big House. Either way – this weekend’s game gives us another opportunity to compare Ann Arbor to an additional American college town.

Arguably, New Brunswick, NJ, was one of the first ever American college towns. Rutgers is the nation’s eighth oldest institution of higher learning—one of only nine colonial colleges established before the American Revolution, and is celebrating its 250th anniversary this November. As American universities go, that’s old.

Alright, now for our classic contextual discussion before we present the infographic:

– New Brunswick is a lot smaller than Ann Arbor (about half as big), though Rutgers has a larger student body enrollment.

– Though not a large city itself, New Brunswick is within 25 minutes of Newark, and about 45 minutes of New York.

 – New Brunswick is just one town in the midst of others of similar population, unlike Ann Arbor, where the population is more concentrated.

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 ICYMI – Here are links to the series on our athletic (and economic) competition!

Ann Arbor vs. Madison

Ann Arbor vs. State College

Ann Arbor vs. Boulder 

Michigan vs. Florida

Michigan vs. Hawaii

Source: SPARK