I already live in a place that fits the criteria, Shrewsbury in the West Midlands region of the UK, population of the urban area around 75,000, it is about one hour from Birmingham by car/train, 90 minutes from Manchester or Liverpool.
We made it onto the annual Times newspaper '100 Best places to live in the UK' list this year.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/b...imes-3qkwjnvrm