@MomofKZ I applaud you for being very thorough in your research, I hope your child appreciates it!
We visited Knox several times, so I can give some thoughts on the area. Galesburg is a former railroad hub town, has a “downtown” which is about 4-6 blocks by 4-6 blocks. Some faded storefronts, but also some neat shops. A block or two from the corner of campus is a stretch with “college-y” shops – good pizza, bagels, and other restaurants, plus some eclectic gift shops. A few blocks past that, further from campus, there is is a terrific tea/coffee place, I forget the name of it, but it had wonderful croissants, tea, coffee and was very busy on the weekend. We stayed a couple miles on the outskirts, in a Comfort Inn or similar type of place. Amtrak runs to and from Chicago, and people do use it, though it is a 2-3 hour trip, as I recall.
Knox is one of my favorites – a true hidden gem. The new President (well, she’s not that new anymore, I suppose), has invigorated campus and the alum, I happened to chat with her, without realizing it, while sitting at an athletic event. She is very smart, very impressive. I was sold on her vision of the school’s future. Alum giving is increasing, the school is taking care of some (long) deferred maintenance, and building new. The new arts facility should be gorgeous, the science and athletic facilities have already been upgraded, improved. I found the library charming. The kids at Knox are – like at some of my other favorite schools – not a single type of kid. There were athletes, social justice, artists, etc., and my kid found, from his overnight, they all genuinely seemed to get along. There is greek life, but it is “non-traditional” in that I think it is not affiliated with national chapters, or some other mechanism which makes it less “fratty.” My kid visited class at about 15 LACs, and said that the Knox professor and class was the single most amazing class he attended. Granted, that was one prof, one day. He also had extensive conversations with professors in his areas of interest, and the coach was a great guy. I know you can only go to one school, but we really thought Knox is special.