College Vists...Small Towns

I am a high school senior, which means the college decision time is coming up.  I have started my touring process and have seen 2 schools I applied to and received admission too.  I went to see Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona as well as Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon.  Both are small towns, which gave me a different outlook on our hometown of Los Altos.  Here we are in an averaged sized town, but we are surrounded by big cities right next door, like Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, Mountain View and then big cities like San Jose and San Fran.  It was interesting seeing these towns because the next closest town was usually about 15 minutes away.  I really enjoy the small town culture and feel a sense of a tight community that sometimes you don't get in big cities.  Although the small town lacks some of the big events, I think there is a lot to offer with a tighter community.