It really depends on the atmosphere you want. College towns are great in many ways, with lots of interesting things to do and a lot of cultural events.
However, a lot of people move to college towns and don't realize/remember what college kids are like... they will be noisy at night, sometimes destroy property, throw parties, do stupid pranks... it isn't for everybody
It's easy to recognize and avoid the student neighborhoods. Find out where the professors and doctors live. Or even the graduate students -- not as wealthy but tend to be quite well behaved. Many are raising families while in grad school.
I live in a college town -- mid sized city in the shadow of a major university in the Midwest. It has everything the OP wants, walking distance to supermarket and shops, easy to get around by bike, enough of an economy thanks to the university and hospitals.
Another option is those towns that are formed around some activity like skiing, hiking or surfing(Never surfed but I think it applies here also). They might be not cheap as some random rural towns but atmosphere and services are very good.
I have a relative who lived in Lancaster. She liked it. I visited there once and it seemed nice but I was only there for a few days. Also her house was huge.
