Faced with exorbitant rents, many small business entrepreneurs are eschewing traditional urban centers and setting up retail shops in college neighborhoods and towns.

Overall, college towns are experiencing increased growth, and according to reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, college towns have low rates of unemployment—a good sign of a vibrant economic life. Some of the fastest growing college towns include Fayetteville, Arkansas, and Fort Collins, Colorado.

College towns, especially for young entrepreneurs just out of college themselves, make a lot of sense. It's the marketplace they're most intimately familiar and cheap, flexible labor is readily available.

Of course, a college town location only works if their product or service caters to the client most heavily represented in these trading areas––young consumers with few responsibilities and a lot of expendable cash at hand. College students are more media and tech-savvy consumers, and start ups that cater to these consumers, such as Internet cafes, as well as environmentally-friendly businesses, tend to do well in college towns.

College town locations are not just for retailers. Lower rents and access to student labor make them attractive options to cost conscious office-based businesses.

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