Not a comment specific to your town, but smaller university towns are like two different places: term time buzz or holiday time vacuum. There is a small city near where I grew up in South Africa which is home to a suitably small, but very vibrant university. During the longer holidays, the place can become something of a ghost town. Traditionally, there has been a festival of arts during July (which is deep winter, remember, and very cold), with both mainstream and fringe offerings. This attracts an enormous audience. Some well-heeled folks who go to all the highbrow events. Others who just come along to watch the fringe offerings or the buskers. And many, many crafters who set up stalls around the town. It's quite a bohemian event, but the audience is not limited to people with those leanings (my parents go, after all!). It generates traffic and income for the city during what would be a very lean time.