The largest town in Orange County, North Carolina, Chapel Hill is the official home of the University of North Carolina's flagship university. In walking distance to the west is the town of Carrboro, affectionately called by some the People's Republic of Carrboro. Like Durham, Chapel Hill and Carrboro are great towns for graduate study: affordable, green, rich in art & culture, vibrant, welcoming, family-friendly and smart--with one of the highest concentration of Ph.D’s in the nation.
Kudos for Chapel Hill
36 Hours in Chapel Hill/Carrboro, NC (New York Times, May 27, 2015)