[dont__panic]

Definitely agreed that it's weird to "go out" (even if you're just trying to have a nice beer at a decent brewery) in college towns once you're no longer of college age. I once considered living in Burlington VT and the college kid scene was enough to eliminate it from my list of options entirely.

However, as someone who lives in a top-10 major US city right now... college towns are nice. The older I get, the more I want to buy a house, have a lawn, a garage, etc... and not only is that so expensive in my city that I'll never be able to afford it, I also don't trust my city to, say, prevent homeless folks from camping on my front lawn, breaking into my garage, stealing my bikes, etc. Or even bother cleaning my street once in a while so it isn't covered in garbage. So college towns seem like a more and more reasonable balance where I can work remotely, actually afford a house (I know they're still expensive, but not quite NYC/SF/Austin expensive), go on trips without too much traffic, and remain relatively insulated from crime. Plus they're walkable, have nice restaurants/breweries/bars/etc, and I could even adjunct teach as an option in the future.

[jrwoodruff]

Living in a college-adjacent town (Lansing, next to Michigan State University in East Lansing) has been pretty ideal. Somehow, students tend to stay in East Lansing for the obnoxious benders, but grad students and professors live in Lansing and the scene tends to be calmer, with nicer/cooler restaurants and bars. I never expected to stay around here for an extended time, but I have yet to be bored, and the small size means I have a lot of connections in the community.

And houses are -cheap-