I helped out my SIL last year with a new car, right in your price range.
I researched a bunch of used vehicles, then new vehicles. The short list ended up being Toyota rav4, Honda CRV, or Subaru Forester 2.5

The Subaru won hands down. Lots of room, decent mileage, very green company, attractive, and the right price. SIL loves it. IIRC we drove it off the lot for around $24K. Quite a nice value, and reasonably attractive.