Your favorite small towns
We always talk about cities, but how about the small towns? Which ones are your favorites? Which ones have great architecture, or are very lively or hip, or are very distinctive?
What's your favorite municipality with a population of under 5,000? What's your favorite municipality with a population of under 1,000? What's your favorite municipality with a population of under 500? |
Tourist towns seem to be the way to go here because they attract enough outsiders to be vibrant and interesting.
<5,000 - Galena, IL - https://maps.app.goo.gl/1UH3YxM43kkkWnnY7 <1,000 - Saugatuck, MI - https://maps.app.goo.gl/2q5ZWupXPz27XGDm6 <500 - Mackinac Island, MI - https://maps.app.goo.gl/k2sAfBXh8NqCVTxC6 |
Less than 500? Jerome, AZ.
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Anything with a metro under 1 million is a town in my personal opinion.
1000 people is a village 500 is a gas station on the side of the highway |
im temporarily living in petaluma, ca and it’s as good as i’ve seen in the u.s.. california does towns/small city-craft well.
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Not sure what line we're drawing to define "small town." There are plenty of what I personally would define as small towns that I absolutely adore... places such as Traverse City, MI and Portsmouth, NH. But even those could be debatable. So I'll go with a few places where there really couldn't be a debate.
Mendocino, CA: https://goo.gl/maps/TLiFVQvET3pF6L599 Jonesborough, TN: https://goo.gl/maps/C7pVpySJph7eFRSx9 Camden, ME: https://goo.gl/maps/cjLEMHBmtX96H7ni9 Manistee, MI: https://goo.gl/maps/vtpP8RqEaNYmqxf2A As you can see, I have a type. :haha: |
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Bullhead City (with Laughlin right across the Colorado) pull an amazing 1-2 punch. Bullhead City in particular.
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Pismo Beach,CA
San Luis Obispo (if that counts) |
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SLO 47,446 Pismo Beach 8,213 So technically per the specifications set forth by the OP, both don't count, although Pismo Beach I think is close enough. SLO is definitely not a small town. |
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It's funny, but I guess it's all perspective. Coming from the LA metro area, a lot of places feel like "small towns." Some years ago, a friend of mine from high school/college moved to Seattle and stayed there for about a year, a year and a half. He moved back to SoCal... to Long Beach. He got bored with Seattle fairly quickly. |
<5000
The exclusive, lakeside resort town/cultural retreat of Chautauqua, NY is pretty perfect, if not for the whitey enclave vibe. https://www.google.com/maps/@42.2086...7i13312!8i6656 |
In Canada I find some of the small towns between Toronto and Ottawa to be the more charming. You can find some very intact, complete, downtowns with great colonial architecture. Eastern Ontario does grey stone very well which I love.
Cobourg and it's gorgeous Victoria Hall https://www.google.com/maps/@43.9595...4!8i8192?hl=en Perth for said Grey Stone (start at the top of this street and go down): https://www.google.com/maps/@44.9013...2!8i6656?hl=en Perth has the meandering Tay River running through it, and I love buildings built right against small rivers like this: https://i.imgur.com/gaoHxuZ.png from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/400046379373020129/ Similar concept but further West near Brantford is Paris Ontario: https://i.imgur.com/ibruv4G.png from:https://ivebeenbit.ca/paris-ontario-tasty-road-trips/ Elora and Fergus are close enough to booming Kitchener-Waterloo that they've seen good investments in their downtown while still maintaining a small-town feel. Elora: https://www.atraveldiary.com/wp-cont...er-870x540.jpg from:https://www.atraveldiary.com/explori...elora-ontario/ https://www.google.com/maps/@43.6811...2!8i6656?hl=en Fergus: https://www.google.com/maps/@43.7055...2!8i6656?hl=en |
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Anyway, here's my list: <5,000 - Carmel, CA (pop 3,891) - one of the more unique California beach towns, just north of Big Sur, world class golf courses and Laguna Seca racetrack close by https://assets.simpleviewinc.com/sim...4174bcfcf7.jpg https://www.seemonterey.com/blog/pos...el-by-the-sea/ https://media.tacdn.com/media/attrac...7/68/a4/5c.jpg https://www.viator.com/en-CA/tours/S...651-2660SFOMON <1,000 - Coloma, CA (pop 529) - birthplace of the Gold Rush and great place for whitewater rafting https://alchetron.com/cdn/coloma-cal...resize-750.jpg https://alchetron.com/Coloma,-California https://www.mtdemocrat.com/files/201...6-1024x682.jpg https://www.mtdemocrat.com/sports/to...p-is-a-splash/ <500 - Marshall, CA (pop 400) - home of Straus Family Creamery and bomb oysters https://www.visitcalifornia.com/site...8_1280x640.jpg https://www.visitcalifornia.com/attraction/marshall |
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Never been to Mackinac Island, but I think we can probably say the same about it as well. Ahhh, the wonders of building places that don't have cars...... |
One of my all time faves was from back in my east coast days,
On the island of Nantucket: https://goo.gl/maps/C8hEE6cCwA2V4mFB7 |
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