This. Every one of the 50 states has a flagship university, and some of them are doing very good research in a variety of fields. You won't get rich there, but you can have a lot of fun and do cutting-edge work.

College towns usually have a lot more culture, in many senses of the word, than non-college towns of the same size. The highly educated workforce makes a big difference.

We used to live 30 minutes outside Eugene, Oregon (University of Oregon) on 50 acres. In retrospect, it would have been better to have a smaller place (3-5 acres?) closer to town. But we were definitely secluded.