My husband will retire before I do. He's 54 now and actually hoping his uni will offer an early retirement package, but it's not certain. Either way we will ER. His is a professional/academic support position and doesn't teach now, but he has thought about being in a similar very part time job at the university we will move closer to. So, we shall see.
The small town in which we live now has much to offer. It is beautiful. We can walk to the college campus. It's a liberal arts school so there's a lot of focus on music, arts, and lectures. We have free access to a full-service workout facility, including indoor track. It is definitely the kind of place I can recommend to many people and there will be many aspects of it we miss. But there are some experiences this place can never offer -- including closer proximity to our families -- that we feel are important. Also, I feel like we will have more flexibility with our FIRE goals if we are in a more populated area. For instance, easy access to good public transportation, local medical facilities with many more specialists, city services (including park and rec, public golf courses, AMAZING public library), and access to side hustle opportunities (should we want them) all make it a good move. I like blending in a little more to. I think that we would be on display here a bit and that many wouldn't understand our countercultural lifestyle.
I've even inventoried the educational/learning "assets" of the new town:
(1) Extraordinary public library (which we've already "test run"), easily accessible on foot, by bike, car, or cheap public bus
(2) Proximity to land grant/research university with lectures, performances, sporting events, lifelong learning institute, and academic library (which we can use at minimal cost)
(3) As a land grant university it has extension-outreach education, which is a good resource for a person with my interests (gardening)
(4) Top notch community college within 20 minutes (in my sibling's backyard) with a satellite campus in the town where we will live. The CC offers extensive continuing education and low cost courses
(5) Educated work force, including a large "creative class"
(6) Our taxes would support many community (park and rec) services that we would use to pick up new skills, exercise. This is just because there is a population and tax base large enough to support them.
Much of what is on this list is free, and what is not free would be very low cost to us. My husband and I are both introverts, but not hermits. We want to be able to engage with others and don't want to be isolated in FIRE. Seeking out educational opportunities will help us transition to our new situation. We can discover what we enjoy and who we like spending our time with.