In search of the best small town in America

Since we have people from all over the US here, I'm hoping some of you can point me towards great small towns. Here's sort of what I'm looking for...

If you've seen the movies 'Doc Hollywood' or 'Baby Boom,' you'll understand the sort of town I'm interested in. Mayberry wouldn't be so bad, either.

A town with a population no greater than 20,000. Preferably mild climate and hopefully on or near a lake or river, but mountains or desert is fine, as well. Within an hour of a medium - large city and within two hours of an airport.

Any small town that has a true community feel, where everyone seems to know everyone is ideal.

Can't wait to hear your input! :tiphat:

This is too funny!! Can I ask why you're searching for a small town?

Trust me when I say small town living may not be as bucolic as it's portrayed in the movies. If you've never lived in a small town, it takes some getting used to.

And everyone knowing everyone else isn't necessarily a good thing, either.
For instance, I have been sober for 19 years, but when I moved back to my home town, I wanted to find an NA meeting. Guess what? Almost everyone at the meeting was someone I knew, like my banker, doctor, high school teacher, a preacher, etc. Now what happens in a meeting stays in a meeting (Carry the message, but not the messenger. :-) ), but....I wasn't happy hearing their stories, or having them hear mine. Actually some of them were my high school classmates!!

Depends on your lifestyle too. Do you want a small town with a bar, or one where it's dry?

You want a mild climate, but are you willing to brave tornado alley, or hurricane central to have the mild climate?

I have adapted since moving home to my small town, but I still miss being able to go to a concert w/o a 2 hour drive, or a football game, or basketball game, that's pro or college. Never mind access to museums, plays, shopping, and other usual "city" entertainments. Moving here from Atlanta, it was a challenge.

http://www.ohhanson.com/100bestsmalltowns.pdf
100 best small towns, pdf.


http://money.cnn.com/magazines/money...010/index.html
Money Magazines best small towns and you can scroll the list by year.


My favorate small town here in Texas is Fredericksburg. 8-)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fredericksburg,_Texas


Now I have one question as well...

Can I come with you!! :pray:

Las Vegas! I'll even come and visit you ;)

Going on the Lam are we? :-)

None of you guys actually live in a small town, and prob the ppl who made those lists didn't either! I can tell that most of them have no clue.8-)

I lived from my birth to the age of 18 in a small town population of 1122 in 2010 and probably 800 back when i lived there.She asked for a town with under 20,000 so in my area that would not qualify for a small town.
I live in Courtice Ontario today Population 18,626 we have decent sized Property and I have lived here 5 months and yet to meet my neighbour next door who has 6 acres of land .I moved here from your typical 40-50 ft lot neighbourhoods where I knew quite a few people on the street.
In a town like Courtice you can have privacy if you want it or be part of a community.
In small town 1122 , every one knows each other and their business.If you want to sell the big city home and move to a smaller cheaper location to fund your retirement ,I know many great places in CANADA :)

Judy

I grew up in Canton, NY, population ~ 6,500, last I knew. It was a great place to grow up. May not meet your criteria of being within an hour or two of a major city with an airport, unless you count Ottawa, which can be a pain/expensive to fly out of when you have to cross the border. Syracuse is about 2.5 hours away, Albany probably 3-3.5.

It is a great place, though. College town (my alma mater, St. Lawrence University is there, as well as a state college) with very friendly people. Most of my friends growing up were sons/daughters of people who worked at the University ... thus a very high value placed on education!

Also very close to the St. Lawrence River, which is beautiful in the summer.

It's also dairy farming country, and some of the dairy farms in the area still have cows that graze on grass in fields, if you can believe that. I grew up between two dairy farms. Will never forget when I took my first college roommate, a Chicago native, out to my house for the first time. We pulled into my driveway and with a look of shock and terror, he said "Aaron, you have cows on both sides of your house!"

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Simmo!

Las Vegas! I'll even come and visit you ;)

---

Actually, not a bad idea. Las Vegas, New Mexico is a great little town.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Vegas,_New_Mexico

Thanks, Muppet-Boy! :toothsmile:

Anthony--some interesting places in that first link. Much appreciated. :thumbsup:

Judy--sounds great where you live...just not sure I'm ready to leave the US. Plus, it's so close to Amcan! :razz:

Slotplayer--shhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! Don't rat me out!

Amateur--this is just something I've been toying with for quite a while now. I've lived in Los Angeles my entire life (minus a couple years in New Mexico for college) and I'm finding it less and less desirable with each passing day. I've thought about other large and medium cities, but I really think I want to be somewhere with that 'small town feel.' I dunno--this may be a passing mid-life-crisis phase, which is why I'm looking for a bit of input.

And Snoop--yeeesh! While Canton sounds lovely, it's a little too close to the CC offices! :tongue:

I don't know any off the top of my head, but I once did a road trip from LA to New York that passed through a bunch of towns like that.

Theres a book I have that lists all the interesting "off the beaten track" places - I'm sure that would give you plenty of ideas.

If you're interested its called Road Trip USA:

http://www.amazon.com/Road-Trip-USA-...4&sr=8-1-spell

Well GG, i'm actually 5 hours drive from Judy.

I was going to recommend the Traverse City region of Michigan, which includes Petsokey/Charlevoix, Leland, Suttons Bay, etc. It's great area, except it has real winter. It is about 5 hours drive from me. The Lake Michigan shore of Michigan have some great small towns. Winter comes standard as does "Lake Effect Snow". Oh, but a few casinos in the area.

Look to Delaware or Coastal Maryland for small towns that are warmer.

Not sure of you situation and whether it's possible, however, I grew very tired of the big city life (Melbourne, Australia is the second largest in Australia and about to overtake Sydney as the least affordable in the country). Since May 2009 I have been moving around and no more than about eight weeks in any place and usually less. Ideally I would like to spend around 12 weeks in each place, it just hasn't worked out like that.

It gives me a good opportunity to find out what I like and don't like about some places and also which ones I would like to revisit. The weird thing is I'm now back in the place where I thought I might move more permanently and what I found appealing last time I visited isn't doing it for me this time.

It does require a big change in lifestyle (living out of a bag), however, it sounds like you want a change anyway. I was moving countries which doesn't make it possible although maybe grab an RV and wander around at a leisurely pace.

Shelburnfalls, MA!

I lived there a couple different summers while working at a whitewater rafting company up the road. It's adorable, and there is tons of stuff to do. (whitewater rafting, zip lining, hiking, swimming...)

http://www.shelburnefalls.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelburne_Falls,_Massachusetts

Okay don't laugh I was thinking somewhere in either North or South Dakota. Plenty of small community towns. The downside could be the climate very cold in the winter.

My 2 cents

greek39

Coming from LA, and wanting a "gentle" climate, N & S Dakota do not qual. Neither do, Canada, MA, MI or NY.

Frankly, if you don't mind rain, or the occasional hurricane, I'd recommend looking at S Texas. I've fallen in love with the Gulf Coast since my recent trip to Biloxi, MS. It's small by your definition, great ambience, friendly people, and it's right on the Gulf of Mexico. About 90 miles (1 1/2 hrs.) from New Orleans and a nice drive over there as well.

Living in LA you've had to deal with earthquakes all your life, so dealing with an occasional hurricane shouldn't take too much getting used to. It's worth it imv.

A lot of great places in SW Virginia too. Check out Bristol (VA or TN) Smaller town, close to a regional airport with service to the major hubs. Good friendly folks. The advantage to Tenn is no state income tax, (although the sales tax is very high).

Other options would be the Blacksburg or Christiansburg (VA) area, I lived there many years and my wife grew up in that area. Great people, 30 mins to Roanoke (with a regional airport). In the years I lived there, it never went below 0 and never above 90. We actually had homes with out central air and really didn't need it.

Property taxes are low, housing is dirt cheap! You could sell your LA home and buy several homes.

Just saw this article and I thought I would share.

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-35617390

"The Coolest Small Towns in America"

Portola in California

Stayed there for an extended period of time while managing a sewer project back in 1999

Maybe not to everyones taste, it did look very run down with many shacks masqerading as homes, the local bar was a bit rough and the towns sherif was a classic stereotype of what you see on TV but i absolutely loved it and the people.

Rough and down to earth best sums them up,

Breakfast there in the local whatever it was called was an experience i will never forget and the women all seemed to have one tooth and wide smiles that frightened me stiff.

And if i recall the town hall was nothing more than an annexe, though the school at least was modern.

I would go back there in a heartbeat, great time and great atmosphere, made me feel very welcome even if they kept on asking me what part of Australia you from.

But regardless they all love an English accent, just pray they dont smile at you when they say it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Anthony

Just saw this article and I thought I would share.

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-35617390

"The Coolest Small Towns in America"

---

Thanks for sharing this Anthony! I think I may have found a new home in NC... Brevard looks awesome, looks like a great place to retire to. Sort of reminds me of my wife's old home town of Floyd VA.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Chips

Thanks for sharing this Anthony! I think I may have found a new home in NC... Brevard looks awesome, looks like a great place to retire to. Sort of reminds me of my wife's old home town of Floyd VA.

---

Talk about spontaneous, my wife and I took a trip to #2 on the Yahoo list, Brevard, NC and fell in love with it (after my due diligence researching). It is our idea of the best place to live and we found a house on a lake that we are moving to on Nov 1st.

It felt so good to be there and back in our comfort zone away from Richmond, all the crime, pollution and bustle. Main street was charming, teeming with shops that close at 5 pm and closed on Sundays yet it is still a short 5-15 min drive to the usual big box stores.

We can't wait to take over our new home! Will post pics once we get settled.

Now the chore of moving 400 miles away... (there is always a downside). :eyebrow: