I guess it’s all in how you define remote. Elon is small town, but not remote. As noted above, nowadays there are shopping centers in Burlington, outlets in Mebane, a Barnes and Noble and restaurants right next to campus - very different from what Elon looked like decades ago when both the school and the town were named Elon College. Back then the only restaurant around was the Applebee’s, and you had to drive to Durham or Greensboro for most anything other than groceries.
It’s certainly not an urban center, and if you’re looking for lots of action and nightlife within walking distance, then you would be better off in a bigger city. But it’s not sitting out in the middle of cow pastures either.
That said, I did get a laugh when the Barnes and Noble opened. It’s a two-story store, and had the first escalator in Alamance County (most retail in the county is one story, the places that used to be retail before that were more than one story all had elevators but not escalators). There was a story in the newspaper about how to safely ride the escalator! Made we want to take that Sunday bath, hitch up the wagons and make a trip into the big city!