For the Aggie that said Texas A&M does actually have something around it - yeah dude. It does have stuff around it - 2 suburb-sized cities. But that's it. They're like whitebred suburbs of any large city, but with no large city for 2 hours in any direction.
I lived in that shithole of a city (College Station) for the second half of high school, and I tell you, I was bored out of my gourd. NOTHING to do in that town, unless you enjoy getting drunk and having the cops ride your ass up and down Harvey road to see if you swerve the slightest little bit so they can pull you over and test you. Any job you can get in that town is only minimum wage, maybe one dollar more, but nothing else.
As soon as I discovered Austin during my second year of living in College Station, I knew it was where I needed to go. And I got over here as soon as possible. My parents and sis still live out there, and they always ask why I don't visit more often. Why? Because it's one of the most dull places anyone could ever live.
Too crowded and little personal space in Austin? Yeah, downtown. Go to Houston or Dallas son, then you'll see what "too crowded and little personal space" really means. Drive 5 minutes west from downtown Austin, and suddenly, you're out in the gorgous hills, or down by the greenbelt, enjoying truly beautiful natural scenery and cool waters of the Colorado's tributaries. I couldn't find a signifigant hill to bike on or cool bubbling clean river tributary to swim in in CS if my life depended on it.
Really, College Station and Bryan are both redneck boring towns that only exist because the college was built there. If it wasn't for that school, the towns wouldn't exist, and thus, there's no history, no culture, and nothing but ugly flat dull terrain for miles and miles and miles... I'll take city life any day. For you, maybe Green Acres is the place to be. Say hi to Arnold the pig for me.
Sorry for the negativity and all, but really, I cannot fathom that anyone in their right mind would ever prefer that town over Austin. I just don't get Aggies. That's likely a good part of the reason why I left. They're biggest way to show pride in their school is to put down UT. No, THAT just seems sad to me. Be proud of your school for what it is, not for the fact that you can hate another school so much.
Enough rambling, I'm done.