If you're not scared of cold weather, some reasonable options might include Burlington, Madison, Duluth, Champaign, and Grand Rapids.

If you want something warmer, maybe Charlottesville or Knoxville?

If you don't mind insufferable heat then Gainesville is reasonable.

I may have miscalibrated what you mean by "small cities." For even smaller places, I'd choose some random upper midwest non-flagship college town (Winona? LaCrosse? Houghton? Valparaiso?).