BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — Popular real estate site Zillow rated Bowling Green as the third most popular college town in America.
Some residents say it personally ranks even higher.
"It's definitely number one in my heart for sure," Tim Emmerich, owner of downtown staple Call of the Canyon Cafe said. "There's a lot of towns out there, but Bowling Green definitely is a special place."
The site ranked BG only behind Tempe, Arizona, and Smithfield, Rhode Island. College students say it's the people that make the town.
"I think it's a welcoming friendly place, everyone I run into I find to be nice," freshman Izzy Best said.
"Always new people to meet and you still see familiar faces all around campus," freshman Hunter Sidle added.
Business owners say it's the annual flood of new college kids that always keeps the town current.
"Getting all the college kids downtown, it's just fun to have the influx of youth here to keep our town young," Emmerich said.
When asked if there was anything that could make the town even better, not much came to mind.
"Honestly, I don't know," Sidle said. "I think they're doing a great job. There's always things going on and there's always places to go."
"No I like it, I like that it's small," Best said. "Everything's very easy to walk to, back and forth."
The site's list was created based on a number of criteria, including rental listings, median list rent, rent growth and rental page views.
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