My kids had no interest in going to the universities/colleges in our city. Even one of the state flagships in the next state over at 1.5 hours away, was too close for them. On the other hand, they would have been homesick being a plane flight away, so that never appealed to them either. Each of them was/is about 3 hours away, which was ideal (we could be there quickly if we needed to and they could easily come home if they wanted. They didn’t/don’t come home very often, other than major holiday breaks, but I think they felt a sense of comfort that they could if they wanted to).
I would not have promoted the idea of either of my daughters going to a local college because they both, particularly my youngest, needed the experience of being far enough away to have to stick it out on rough days, and not having the ability to “hide” at home. Kind of a gentle but firm push from the nest. Of course every kid is different and of course my home will always be theirs and they are always welcome. I also agree that a lot of things happen on weekends and being local, there would be temptations to pop home to “sleep in my own bed” on weekends and short breaks.
Many local kids end up going to the state U located in our city (great school), but it does seem like they are home a lot of weekends. This particular university is struggling to overcome its reputation as a suitcase school and I do think there are more out-of-state students who do go there and stay on the weekends, but the kids that my daughters know seem to be home quite a bit.
My husband went to our college which was about 30 minutes away from his home (4.5 hours away from my home). He did go home a good bit because his family owned a business that he worked at on the weekends. I loved it because I got to do my laundry for free and eat some home cooked meals!