Cambridge

Harvard Square and MIT along the Charles define the city. 40k+ students, most of them in one of the world's densest concentrations of brainpower.

Across the Charles from Boston — every bit as walkable, transit-rich, and expensive. Winters are cold, summers are sticky, but the T and bikes make car ownership pointless.

• #2Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• #3Harvard University
• #315Lesley University
• #1114Hult International Business School