The quality of the relationship between a university and its host community both reflects and helps determine the effectiveness of the work they jointly pursue. Through the single issue of partnering to reduce college student alcohol misuse, we examined the quality of town-gown relations using a well-established typology grounded in the marriage and family literature. In describing the evolution of town-gown relationships over the dual factors of effort and comfort, we explored the circumstances and conditions that helped to create a (presumably mutually desirable) "harmonious" town-gown relationship--one characterized by high levels of effort as well as high levels of comfort.