the Willamette river runs right along downtown, and NW corvallis is quite hilly, although mountains are in the distance. and yeah everytime i visit it seems to be buidling, but the good things are that it has both a large university and a number of high tech - the general pop is highly educated and has income for healthcare. I think vermont would be nice too...the towns are really small there, although from what I hear they can be a bit exclusive. have you ever tried find my spot? it's a fun site that will give you a list of places based on what you're looking for and maybe it will spark some more ideas:

http://www.findyourspot.com/

i'm excited for you!