Good article on some great small towns. Personally, I have only been to Brevard, NC but found it to be a wonderful place. Anyone else have any experiences at these places?
http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-35617390
Good article on some great small towns. Personally, I have only been to Brevard, NC but found it to be a wonderful place. Anyone else have any experiences at these places?
http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-35617390
A common mistake people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools. -Douglas Adams
I used to go to running camp in Brevard during HS...maybe how you know it Hink_Planner? Wonderful trail running in the area and they have a large population of albino squirrels.
"Never invest in any idea you can't illustrate with a crayon." ~Peter Lynch
Been to six of them. Egg Harbor most often. The Door County Penninsula is home to a handful of quaint small towns along the shore, with forests and cherry orchards inland. A couple years ago they chose another Wisconsin town for their list. I did the master plan, downtown plan, and economic development plan for that village.
Anyone want to adopt a dog?
I've been through Bandon OR and Cloverdale CA. (Through Cloverdale hundreds of times.) Downtown Cloverdale suffered big time when CALTRANS built the US 101 bypass--what, perhaps 15-years ago? The main drag has reformed itself into a very pedestrian oriented community. I should have taken pictures last time I was out there.
A nuisance may be merely a right thing in the wrong place — like a pig in the parlor instead of the barnyard.
I haven't been to a running camp there (I went to one in Indiana), I had visited friends who live close. We enjoyed the area, the wine, and the hiking. Great place.Originally posted by beach_bum
A common mistake people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools. -Douglas Adams
And now it is no longer on the list?
Yup!And now it is no longer on the list?
As you know, I did the plans years before the village was listed.
Anyone want to adopt a dog?
For an international perspective... another list of great small towns (see group A):
http://www.livcomawards.com/media-2009/results.htm
Anyone been to any of these places?
I have been to all three US places on the list. Also Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Anyone want to adopt a dog?
Of all of the wonderful small towns in Texas, they went with Cuero????
"Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."
- Herman Göring at the Nuremburg trials (thoughts on democracy)
Wilmington, North Carolina is a small beach town in southern north carolina bordering the outer banks. a beautiful small city!
I, personally, would have added Jerome, Arizona to the list. It sure as heck beats out Medicine Park, OK (though Medicine Park isn't that bad a place).
I've always considered the WI 42 side of Door County (Egg Harbor, Fish Creek, Ephraim and Sister Bay) to be too 'touristy' and snooty for my tastes (A common question of candidates for office in Wisconsin is "Wisconsin Dells or Door County?" - it's like those Miller High Life beer ads with the beer truck driver retrieving his product from places and events where it doesn't belong). If anything, I'll take the WI 57 side (Bailey's Harbor and Jacksonport) - it's still untouched by the snooty tourists and a much, much more 'genuine' Door County experience.
Mike
I agree Wilmington is a very nice CITY but not really a small town. In the article discussed all towns are <10,000 population. Wilmington is a major NC metropolitan city with over 100,000. The MSA has appx. 345,000.
Sorry, if you want to talk small coastal NC towns there's Swansboro, Oriental, or Southport.
What, no love for Beaufort?
Process and dismissal. Shelter and location. Everybody wants somewhere.
Haven't been there yet so can't say.What, no love for Beaufort?
I never even heard of Cuero when I was living in Austin. I traveled around quite a bit on weekends, exploring some of the small towns an hour or two away from town, but never encountered Cuero. (Lampasas was an unexpected surprise; an almost intact Texas-style county seat in an area of otherwise gawd-awful Army towns.)Of all of the wonderful small towns in Texas, they went with Cuero????
I'm finding a lot of little gems around Ithaca; Trumansburg, Dryden Village and Aurora so far.
Growth for growth's sake is the ideology of the cancer cell. -- Edward Abbey
I agree that Wilmington is a great town but is way too big for this list. There's some nice places along the NC coast, but I never really found a small-town there that was all that great.What, no love for Beaufort?
kalimotxo - my parents used to always love going to Beaufort when they would come down to visit... I could never understand why.
All that said, the NC coast is on the list of places I'd love to buy a vacation home when the time is right. Topsail Beach or Surf City are at the top of my list followed by Carolina or Wrightsville Beach.
As for the list itself, I've only been to Saugatuck and that was years ago when I was in junior high school on a family vacation. It was nice then but a bit boring - of course, what isn't to a 13-year-old? I imagine I'd enjoy it thoroughly if I went now. I've heard that over the past ten years or so, the town, beaches, hotels, and rental properties have become overrun by Chicagoans in the summer and prices have gotten much more expensive than they used to be.
"Where free unions and collective bargaining are forbidden, freedom is lost." - 1980 Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan
Beaufort is one of those towns that I should love but it never quite did it for me. I'm really a nerd for small, historic towns in the southeast. The historic preservation there is kind of weak, and there's not enough going on otherwise to keep my interest.
Beaufort, SC, on the other hand, is a gem. My former employer had me down there for weeks at a time two summers ago and I really enjoyed it. Unfortunately the road the Hilton Head is lined with ever-expanding Wrinkle Ranches.
Process and dismissal. Shelter and location. Everybody wants somewhere.
Ely kicks ASS!
I definitely agree with Saugatuck, MI. I've been there a few times. A couple when I was a young lad and went to extended family beach house near there and again for my honeymoon back in 2003. Love it each time I visited. It's like a town where time stood still sometime in the 1950's, but with an artsy vibe. Tons of galleries, antique stores, good restaurants, and a great Lake Michigan beach nearby. There are great sand dunes where you can go dune buggying right up the road, too. Wineries abound in the nearby countryside, and there are lots of bed & breakfasts (Susan B. Anthony stayed at the one we stayed in). Great place.
"When life gives you lemons, just say 'No thanks'." - Henry Rollins
I turned down a job offer in Beaufort a long time ago. Beaufort/Morehead City just left me feeling "meh".What, no love for Beaufort?
Growth for growth's sake is the ideology of the cancer cell. -- Edward Abbey
This thread made me ponder, while I've never been there, this town has peaked my interest while researching a paper on sustainable growth and the effects of sprawl.
http://www.prairiecrossing.com/
I guess my definition of a perfect small town would fit here. Clear long term vision for sustainable growth from the beginning.
I've always loved the small coastal Maine town, especially those north of Portland. Sure, they can get full of tourists at the summer peak, but I've visited even in off-seasons and felt the charm is truly year-round. Camden and Rockport are just two of the more well-known towns. Successful downtowns, seaside views, art festivals, farmers markets, an abundance of green in the summer and red, orange and yellow in the fall, and a short drive to Acadia National Park.
Another one I thought of:
If ever on I-72 between Decatur and Champaign, check out Monticello, IL. It's a beautiful, quaint town with lots of big old, preserved homes, a nice downtown with courthouse square, nice restaurants and antique stores, and a nearby former estate that's open to the public called Robert Allerton Park with a big mansion with reflecting pond, english gardens, sculptures, and walking trails through the woods.
"When life gives you lemons, just say 'No thanks'." - Henry Rollins
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