I live here already. The mountains of Utah, 30 minutes from BYU. My house was very affordable on my salary alone and is 5000 square feet. I have a whole acre of forest for a backyard and I'm a short walk from trails into the mountains that I can explore for hours.

BYU being close is great because the town has an amazing food and music scene for it's size. BYU has a great art museum and does concerts regularly. Bands you've heard of like Neon Trees, Imagine Dragons, and Kaskade all got their start in Provo.

I think there are probably countless places that are 30 minutes from a large University that would check all these boxes.