Best college-town neighborhoods for adults

North Princeton, Princeton, N.J.

College: Princeton University

City population: 12,307

Median sale price: $1.02 million

Peace and quiet: North Princeton, about a mile north of the college, is safer than 81% of U.S. neighborhoods, according to NeighborhoodScout.com. For every 10,000 residents, 591 were victims of "known offenses" in 2010, the FBI says.

Anchored by Grover Park and Princeton Shopping Center, Princeton North is split into two sections: Riverside and Littlebrook, "each named after the elementary school where children attend," says Beatrice Bloom, an associate with Weichert Realtors in Princeton.

"Homes and houses in these areas generally enjoy larger lots, more privacy, treed canopies and access to the parks that abound in Princeton," says Bloom, who adds that they are "close to the university and the downtown buzz."

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Gunbarrel, Boulder, Colo.

College: University of Colorado

City population: 97,385

Median sale price: $272,500

Peace and quiet: Last spring, Playboy magazine called the University of Colorado the nation's top party school. About six miles east of campus, Gunbarrel offers a tranquil buffer from any student chaos, despite the neighborhood's noisy-sounding name. The name was created many years ago, when the only road connecting Boulder to this once-rural swath was as straight as a gun barrel. The area is safer than 91% of U.S. neighborhoods, NeighborhoodScout.com says. For every 10,000 Boulder residents, 596 were victims of "known offenses" in 2010, the FBI says.

Launched in 1963 as a 668-home subdivision to accompany a new IBM plant, Gunbarrel now includes single-family houses, condos, a country-club community, huge chunks of open space and a former gravel pit that is now a fish-stocked wildlife reserve called Sawhill Ponds.

"I fish there all the time," says Rich Alpers, a broker associate with Coldwell Banker Residential, who moved to Gunbarrel 17 years ago.

Home prices, he says, are "much lower than in central Boulder."

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Greenbrier, Charlottesville, Va.

College: University of Virginia

City population: 43,475

Median sale price: $205,500

Peace and quiet: Tucked into a former suburb that the city annexed in the 1960s, Greenbrier is about three miles northeast of campus. The nook surrounding Greenbrier Park is safer than 72% of U.S. neighborhoods, NeighborhoodScout.com says. For every 10,000 citizens in Charlottesville, 888 were crime victims in 2010, according to FBI statistics.

"I think of Greenbrier as a UVA neighborhood simply because we have so many families with parents who work at the university or the (University of Virginia) Health System," says Bruce Gehle, president of the Greenbrier Neighborhood Association. "However, we don't have the actual students themselves living among us, with all their attendant noise and detritus."

Neighborhood residents can bike or jog to campus or drive five minutes to John Paul Jones Arena to see a basketball game, Gehle says.

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Sunnyside Hill, Pullman, Wash.

College: Washington State University

City population: 29,799

Median sale price: $199,000

Peace and quiet: Four hills, one jutting from each quadrant of the city, define Pullman's layout and topography. In the southwestern corner of town, Sunnyside Hill envelops a residential cluster that's safer than 87% of neighborhoods in the United States, NeighborhoodScout.com says. For every 10,000 Pullman residents, 468 were victims of reported crimes in 2010, the FBI says.

With many newer homes and notable views, the area also boasts Sunnyside Park, a 25-acre parcel containing a gazebo, community gardens, willow trees, trails and a brook that links two ponds. The neighborhood is about three miles west of campus.

"It's quiet up there," says resident Angela Corwin, an administrator at Re/Max Home and Land in Pullman. "I face south and can look out toward the Blue Mountains and all the gorgeous farmland below. When the wheat comes up, it's green, and during the fall harvest, it's gold. You also can see a lot of really nice cloud formations from that elevation. It's a real serene spot."

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East Village, Amherst, Mass.

College: University of Massachusetts

City population: 37,819

Median sale price: $232,900

Peace and quiet: East Village is less than two miles from the UMass campus, and the National Register of Historic Places named it a "historic district" in 1986.

The intersection of Main Street and North East Street is its hub, according to an Amherst government map. It is the safest part of a safe city: For every 10,000 people in the town, 356 were crime victims in 2010, the FBI says. East Village is safer than 62% of neighborhoods in the United States, says NeighborhoodScout.com, which adds that the area has more "residents employed as executives, managers and professionals" than 96.2% of the nation's neighborhoods.

The East Village "has all the appeal of being in town," says Rick Sawicki, an agent at Prudential Sawicki Real Estate in Amherst. "The homes are (mainly) beautiful Victorians with a lot of charm and a lot of history."  

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Sycamore Knolls, Bloomington, Ind.

College: Indiana University

City population: 80,405

Median sale price: $225,000

Peace and quiet: About a 10-minute drive from the center of town and the IU campus, this nook, southeast of the college, is safer than 72% of U.S. neighborhoods, NeighborhoodScout.com reports. For every 10,000 Bloomington residents, 957 were crime victims in 2010, the FBI says.

At the neighborhood's north end is Southeast Park, which includes tennis and basketball courts, a picnic shelter, a recently updated playground and one of the top sledding hills in town, says Robert Terrill, a resident and president of Sycamore Knolls' neighborhood association. Each year, the association hosts an Easter-egg hunt and a Fourth of July parade and picnic.

"I think that Sycamore Knolls is right in the sweet spot. It's close enough in that I usually ride my bicycle to the IU campus," says Terrill, an associate professor in the college's Department of Communication and Culture. "But we're far enough out that we rarely see students, unless they're lost. … The bustle of downtown seems a world away."

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Mill Creek, Auburn, Ala.

College: Auburn University

City population: 53,380

Median sale price: $204,000

Peace and quiet: Roughly three miles south of the Auburn campus, Mill Creek is safer than 64% of U.S. neighborhoods, NeighborhoodScout.com says. For every 10,000 people living in Auburn, 637 were crime victims in 2010, FBI statistics show.

One of the primary features of this slice of southwestern Auburn is the Auburn Links at Mill Creek Golf Course. The neighborhood surrounds those fairways and greens.

Mark Jones, broker and owner of Prestige Properties in Auburn, says the neighborhood is desirable. "Purchasers are attracted to this development because of its close proximity to Auburn University's campus, east access to Interstate 85, Chewacla State Park and the fact that you have a great golf course in your backyard," he says. "This neighborhood attracts a great mixture of ages, from first-time homebuyers to active retirees."

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Westpark, Stillwater, Okla.

College: Oklahoma State University

City population: 45,688

Median sale price: $171,750

Peace and quiet: On the city's western edge, Westpark is considered "a family neighborhood," says Grace Provence, broker and owner of Fisher Provence Realtors Inc. in Stillwater. Although another Stillwater neighborhood, Westwood, successfully lobbied the city to pass a zoning measure limiting off-campus student migration, that kind of issue has not cropped up here.

Westpark's large lots have attracted many families. "Westpark is probably one of the most popular neighborhoods (in the city)," Provence says. "You get a good value for your dollar."

Slightly less than four miles from campus, Westpark is safer than 63% of neighborhoods in the United States, NeighborhoodScout.com says. In 2010, 697 of every 10,000 Stillwater residents were crime victims, FBI figures show.

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Newstead, South Orange, N.J.

College: Seton Hall University

Township population: 16,198

Median sale price: $395,000

Peace and quiet: Less than two miles from Seton Hall, and14 miles from New York City, Newstead is safer than 81% of U.S. neighborhoods, NeighborhoodScout.com says. For every 10,000 residents of South Orange, 590 people were crime victims in 2010, the FBI says.

Most Newstead homes are Colonials with mature landscaping, and they attract young families who "have come in and updated the homes for today's lifestyle," says Perri K. Feldman, a sales associate with Keller Williams Realty in nearby Summit, N.J. The neighborhood's proximity to the Midtown Direct Train also is a plus, Feldman says.

Many Newstead families have called the neighborhood home for generations, she says, and some longtime residents are downsizing just to stay in the area.

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Grand-Summit, Ames, Iowa

College: Iowa State University

City population: 58,965

Median sale price: $167,000

Peace and quiet: Just off the northeastern fringe of the ISU campus, bordered by Grand Avenue on the east and Summit Avenue to the west, Grand-Summit is safer than 74% of U.S. neighborhoods, NeighborhoodScout.com says. In 2010, 600 of every 10,000 Ames residents were crime victims, FBI statistics show.

"If you're a regular supporter of the arts and enjoy outings to the theater, weekend boutique-ing or even a finely aged wine with dinner, then you're in good company with the people (in this part of Ames," says NeighborhoodScout.com. "(The area is) immersed with more 'urban sophisticates' than 98.7% of neighborhoods across the country."

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