Journey + Leisure America’s Finest Small Cities Methodology

Journey + Leisure launched a brand new annual tentpole, America’s Finest Small Cities, in 2023 to shine a highlight on the lesser-visited locations we wish you, our readers, to learn about, be it for pure magnificence and outside journey (suppose seashores, mountains, lakes, and deserts), or particular matters of curiosity, comparable to nice eating places and vineyards, fascinating tradition, and soothing wellness experiences. For the 2024 version, we added three new classes: purchasing, retirement, and school cities.

Meaning this yr, we have chosen winners throughout 10 small city classes to allow you to in on our journey secrets and techniques. We hope they encourage you to exit and get to know the locations which might be quietly making our nation such an exquisite place to discover.

See America’s Finest Small Cities of 2024

What are the classes?

• Finest Small Seashore City
• Finest Small Mountain City
• Finest Small Desert City
• Finest Small Lake City
• Finest Small Retirement City
• Finest Small Meals + Wine City
• Finest Small Spa + Wellness City
• Finest Small Procuring City
• Finest Small Arts + Tradition City
• Finest Small Faculty City

What are the principles?

With a view to qualify as one in all America’s Finest Small Cities, a city should be situated in the US and have a full-time inhabitants under 25,000 residents, based on the newest U.S. Census Bureau information. It should additionally excel in its class and supply a wide range of actions, lodging, and a well timed purpose to go to — be it a notable new pageant, resort, restaurant, attraction, or tourism initiative.

How did we select the winners?

We polled our colleagues and contributors, trusted journey advisors, and business leaders from all around the U.S. for nominations. Our 2024 America’s Finest Small Cities panel of 10 consultants, comprised of T+L editors, A-Checklist journey advisors, and journey influencers who specialise in home journey, then sifted via the numerous considerate responses and selected the locations we imagine our readers will get pleasure from essentially the most proper now.

Meet the Panel

Nina Ruggiero

Nina Ruggiero is Journey + Leisure’s senior editorial director and co-founder of Be A Journey Author, a web based course for aspiring journey journalists. She’s a metropolis dweller turned small seaside city aficionado and has fortunately known as Hermosa Seashore, CA (inhabitants 18,985) dwelling for the previous 5 years.

Alisha Prakash

Alisha Prakash is the affiliate editorial director at Journey + Leisure, the place she covers undiscovered locations, luxurious inns and experiences, outside adventures, and extra. Whereas she loves touring to far-flung places, she additionally finds pleasure in exploring nearer to dwelling: One among her all-time favourite journeys was a street journey via the U.S., hitting 35 states in 60 days.

Elizabeth Rhodes

Elizabeth Rhodes is a senior editor at Journey + Leisure who has traveled from the Antarctic to the Arctic Circle — and plenty of locations in between. Initially from South Carolina, she grew up exploring the Southeast’s many small-town locations, and now she contributes to digital protection of those lesser-visited spots for T+L.

Elizabeth Cantrell

Elizabeth Cantrell is a senior editor at Journey + Leisure. She edits the Discoveries part and assigns longer tales with a give attention to outside and journey journey, in addition to Canada, Northern Europe, and the Southeastern U.S.

Kareema Partin

Kareema Bee is an Emmy-nominated producer, author, and content material creator. Her love for journey took off on the tender age of 10 years previous, flying solo from NYC to the “huge” city of St. Matthews, SC to spend her summers along with her grandmother.

Susmita Baral

Susmita Baral is an editor at Journey + Leisure with a decade of expertise masking meals, journey, local weather science, and tradition. She’s lived in 11 U.S. states and visited 42 — and has a delicate spot for small cities around the globe.

Michelle Mure

Michelle Mure is a T+L A-Checklist journey advisor who owns luxurious agency Azurine Journey, based mostly in stunning St. Helena within the Napa Valley. She has the great fortune to have the ability to go to most of the beautiful small cities in California’s wine nation and past.

Mike Augustine

Mike Augustine is a T+L A-Checklist journey advisor who grew up in a comfy small city in rural Ohio, which fueled his love for journey and his ardour for showcasing small cities throughout America when he designs itineraries for shoppers. He believes these cities supply surprising allure and quirks that usually shock guests in one of the best of the way.

Chris Daniele

Chris Daniele (aka @dirtandglass) is a photographer based mostly out of southern Vermont with over 25 years of expertise behind the lens. Specializing in journey and architectural images, Chris has carved out a novel area of interest within the short-term rental area throughout the U.S.

Daniel Gorostieta

Daniel Gorostieta is an outside journey and panorama photographer whose work has appeared in Journey + Leisure, Surfline, and different top-tier journey and surf publications. Based mostly within the small metropolis of Santa Cruz, CA, he is recognized for his means to seize the pure great thing about the West Coast and past.