I went to school at Michigan Tech. This is located in Houghton, which is Upper Peninsula of Michigan. If you like lots and lots of snow this place is pretty good. Primarily rent/house will cost little. It's a college town and has international students (mainly Chinese and Indians), the place is very quiet, there's one Walmart and chain of restaurants. MTU has library where you can find lot of people. I haven't been to cafes around the place, so I can't say for certainty if it will meet the 'intellectual atmosphere' criteria.