The best of small town USA?

[Madmannsucks]

Yes, definitely spend a bunch of time in West Virginia. Get up in them hills.

Oh, and New Britain. New Britain for sure.

I grew up in New Britain. It was in the 60's and 70's a great town. As the jobs started to leave, so many of the businesses closed, and then people moved away. They are finally coming back. I played a small role helping start up a housing co op on Beaver St replacing crack houses with the Beaver St Co Op. Broad St is now bustling.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Beaufort has gotten much nicer over the past 5 years or so. Riverfront area has good variety of food and entertainment.

I liked it even 20 years ago, but it has gotten better on food and entertainment. Not really a "small" town I suppose. My parents moved near there in the 90s.

 

[Marat]

Sparta. NJ

I was just there over the weekend 1st time and that is the definition of small town. I highly recommend going there - Lake Mohawk boardwalk, Main st with Krogh's Restaurant & Brew Pub, ice cream, etc.....

 

[SoCalCanine]

Astoria is a good recommendation. Cool town. Although don't look for it in WA. It's on the OR side of the Columbia River.

DUH! Of course it is! Brain Fart!

 

[uconnphil2016]

It’s...fine, I guess.

It’s not where they filmed Deliverance, though.

I gotta know, what in the world were you ever doing in Ellijay?

Mountain biking in CNF. Stayed at a place called Mulberry Gap. I like Ellijay bc it’s a bit more down home than some of the other touristy mountain towns in the southeast

 

[huskyinfl]

My point was that srq is not a small city...which is the topic of the original post . I love siesta and longboat. I live In Sarasota so feel competent to comment. Never lived in savanah or Charleston

Charleston has a population of 150k + Savannah is about the same. Sarasota has 50k people... of which how many actually are full time? Plus Sarasota has some unique stuff and history. So your comment threw me off since its so out of the ordinary when everyone has accepted super large tourist traps as "small" town usa. Should I have dropped a St Augustine ?

 

[Guapo]

Mountain biking in CNF. Stayed at a place called Mulberry Gap. I like Ellijay bc it’s a bit more down home than some of the other touristy mountain towns in the southeast

Yeah I’m very familiar. My wife is from Blairsville, GA which is a few towns over from Ellijay.

It’s, uh, very “down home”

 

[Conndog]

Brulington VT is great but is too large population wise, instead seek out Shelburne VT which is just south- still has Lake Champlain connection, cool restaurants and shops, Shelburne Museum and Inn, and only 10 minutes to Burlington (well, South Burlington).
Once out west I visited a town called Ouray, CO which was neat- best thing is the very large outdoor thermal heated pool. The area gets a lot of snow and seeing people in bathing suits in the pool with all the snow around is fantastic.

 

[NJHusky]

Charleston has a population of 150k + Savannah is about the same. Sarasota has 50k people... of which how many actually are full time? Plus Sarasota has some unique stuff and history. So your comment threw me off since its so out of the ordinary when everyone has accepted super large tourist traps as "small" town usa. Should I have dropped a St Augustine ?

I'm sorry you are offended that I don't think SRQ is a small town...but I don't. I love it...but I still don't think it's a small town. It's a charming city...it has an Opera, Ballet, performing arts center, 2 Ritz Carltons, westin, 2 Marriott Properties...probably over 50 hotels, 4 separate neighborhoods that by themselves might be a charming small town and an Airport. I'm sorry you are offended that I didn't comment on cities that I have no personal knowledge of.

 

[QDOG5]

@NJHusky and @huskyinfl you two need to stop bickering and start sand bagging around MY house. Thank you.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

@NJHusky and @huskyinfl you two need to stop bickering and start sand bagging around MY house. Thank you.

'stop bickering?'ya know, it's called the 'Bickeryard' for a reason.
'you stink!' 'no, you stink!' 'you stink on ice!' 'no, you stink to high heaven!' and etc.

 

[NJHusky]

@NJHusky and @huskyinfl you two need to stop bickering and start sand bagging around MY house. Thank you.

Good luck....With the storm coming across the state, I'm wondering if the effect on the west coast will be lessened.

I was very happy to find out my house is 22 Ft above sea level....I'm in the mountains!

 

[Icculus]

SLO is great, but not really a "small town". Many disagree with me about Solvang. Last winter our friends from VT were out to visit. Somehow they got really interested in Solvang, so I bit my tongue and we went there. We parked near the restaurant we had chosen. They never made it out of the parking lot before they said, "Let's go to a different town. This place looks awful!" Los Olivos or Santa Ynez have all the good parts of Solvang (WINE!) without the pseudo-Danish architecture and awful Danish food (the bakeries are pretty good, but there is a reason you all don't have Danish restaurants in all your neighborhoods like Italian, Thai or Mexican!)

I kinda liked Solvang. Yes it's a little kitschy, but it sorta reminded me of an alternate-universe where there was a Denmark Pavilion in the Epcot World Showcase. (which I consider to be a good thing, but maybe I'm weird).
I will add that a little bit north of there & on the coast, Cambria is a great small town to check out.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Have not seen Murphys, CA mentioned so I'll throw it out there, and Idylwild, too.

 

[manbyrd]

Willimantic, CT

...but seriously:
Bristol, RI
Watch Hill, RI
Stonington, CT
Carmel-by-the-sea, CA
Williamsburg, VA
Middleburg, VA
St Michaels, MD
Hudson, NY
Beacon, NY
Edgartown, MA

Not so small:
Newport, RI
Asheville, NC
Alexandria, VA
Charleston, SC

 

[nwhoopfan]

Late to the party. These are all fairly small, some are more touristy than others so can feel busy at times. Most of them are on the way to hiking destination so that's part of the appeal to me.

Bishop, CA
Crescent City, CA
Cannon Beach, OR
Bandon, OR
Manzanita, OR
Leavenworth, WA (faux Bavarian village)
Winthrop, WA (faux old western)
Bozeman, MT
Livingston, MT
Stanley, ID (it's so small it's barely there, but the central location for various outdoor activities is great and it's the anti-Sun Valley)

and since Canadian towns have been broached, several I've enjoyed are Nelson and Invermere, both in BC

 

[DarthGrumpy]

For under say 50,000, here are a few towns I have been to (not in any order)...

1. Bar Harbor ME
2. Camden ME
3. Portsmouth NH
4. Hanover NH
5. Burlington VT
6. Provincetown MA
7. Great Barrington MA
8. Newport RI
9. Mystic CT
10. Greenport NY
11. Sleepy Hollow NY
12. Ithaca NY
13. Cooperstown NY
14. Saratoga Springs NY
15. Lake Placid/Saranac Lake NY
16. Princeton NJ
17. Wildwood NJ
18. State College PA
19. Rehoboth Beach DE
20. Annapolis MD
21. Chapel Hill NC
22. Ashville NC
23. Charleston SC
24. Savannah GA
25. St. Augustine FL
26. Sarasota FL
27. Ann Arbor MI
28. Traverse City MI
29. Golden CO
30. Steamboat Springs CO
31. Bend OR
32. Napa CA
33. Monterrey CA
34. San Luis Obispo CA
35. Santa Barbara CA
36. Sedona AZ
    
    
    

 

[uconn1999]

FREDERICKSBURG, TX
The town of Fredericksburg was founded in 1846 and got its name after Prince Frederick of Prussia. As you can guess, this had to do a lot with the fact that the area was settled mostly by German immigrants. The town is the seat of Gillespie County and it is the one of very few places where you can still hear “Texas German”, a very peculiar version of German language, now spoken mostly by older residents.
The entire downtown area of the town is on the National Register of Historic Places. Its historic downtown is just one of the reasons why Fredericksburg is such a popular tourist destination. For instance, its many microbreweries which started popping up in mid-1990s are also a big part of the town’s appeal.
Furthermore, the town and the area around it boast innumerable peach orchards, wildflower fields, herb farms, lavender fields and vineyards that people cultivate. Most of these people also run little B&Bs and you can find great accommodation that will also involve some work on the property. If you wish, of course.

The National Museum of the Pacific War is located in Fredericksburg, Texas, the boyhood home of Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. Nimitz

20 minutes to Enchanted Rock, 15 minutes to Luckenbach

You might even find some BBQ nearby