Some characteristics that I have seen some families list as important are:
Climate (whether not humid or getting sufficient sun)…so related to location, but different
Academic distribution/major requirements (wanting few or good breadth or avoiding certain classes or getting credit for certain APs, etc)
Particular activities (does not have to be through the school), whether that’s Irish dancing or a type of orchestra, or…
Liberal arts college vs. research universities, sometimes with families being as specific as mentioning an institution is an R1 school
Racial diversity of school (whether seeking a “diverse” student body, or mentioning an HBCU, or PWI)
I’ve heard of students caring about the relative location of a Chick-fil-a or boba tea or other desired place.
For some people, the school colors can be important.
The architecture/visual aspect of campus
The size of the campus (compact vs. more spread out)
Existence and extent of shops/restaurants, etc, right off campus
Distance from airport
Safety of campus and nearby areas
And here are two threads that talk about things that ended up being important for some folks (though these two threads happen to be more about parents who disagreed with their kids on something, but other posters sometime took the kids’ sides):