America’s Finest Small Cities of 2024

I brake for small cities. In my travels documenting roadside Americana throughout the land, I go to a whole lot of small cities a yr and dedicate a lot of my free time, together with each trip, to exploring them.

They’re, for sure, the spine of America, and I say this as a proud resident of New York Metropolis and an admirer of city areas. The American small city is considered one of our most interesting innovations, an incubator of expertise and sweetness, and an intergenerational present that shapes our collective identification.  

Few issues in life are extra thrilling than approaching and eventually coming into a small city that’s new to me. I get butterflies in my abdomen, and my fingers clam up a bit on the wheel. It’s like Christmas morning, with the wrapped presents concealing a joyous thriller.  

As I spot the primary drag, my eyes dart, and my thoughts asks so many questions. Is the downtown thriving, or do the storefronts supply mute testomony to a extra affluent previous? Are there traditional eating places or diners? Are there any good neon indicators or quaint classic storefronts? What (and who) are they most happy with right here? What are the best — and most modest — properties like? Is there a unusual attraction right here — the world’s first or largest one thing or different? What business is, or, within the case of the forlorn city, was, the massive deal right here? Is entry to nature the business? What would the sunshine — and the timber — be like on a crisp October afternoon?   

In brief, what provides this city its sense of place?  

The questions are limitless, and even the smallest city can intrigue me for hours. If I prefer it sufficient, and I typically do, I resolve to return, and in time, I really feel a twinge of eager for it.

Pulling right into a small city is the simplest factor I do on a street journey. The toughest is passing one by with out stopping, often as a result of I’m pressed for time as a result of I’ve a “extra necessary” place to go.

That’s nonsense, in fact. That small city off the exit is crucial factor on the journey. I can’t inform you how typically I’ve pushed previous that beckoning billboard or disregarded the trace of intrigue supplied by the phrases “historic downtown this exit.” I invariably remorse it and switch round, at the least for a fast look. 

Nearly at all times, there’s one thing exceptional or at the least thought-provoking to be discovered, one thing I’m higher for having skilled. Possibly there’s a passing dialog at an vintage store or a diner with an individual who, I’d prefer to assume, would possibly turn out to be a good friend have been I to dwell there sooner or later. I go away excited and longing for what different wonders could exist a couple of exits down the freeway. 

And positive sufficient, there will likely be one other small city, one other good friend to make, one other place to name house — at the least for now — and one other reminiscence to cherish.

It’s simple to fall for small cities for all these causes and extra. We crave them, we want them, they’re a part of us, and they’re extensions of house.

I believe you’ll really feel that means concerning the ones Journey + Leisure is sharing with you, too. 

— Rolando Pujol, The Retrologist

Finest Small Seaside City

Winner

Paia, Maui

Good year-round temperatures. Heat waters. Rainbow-splashed skies. Infinite stretches of sand in each conceivable shade. Hawaii could also be far (2,400 miles from the mainland U.S.), however when you go to its seashores, it’s exhausting to withstand the pull again. Of the eight main islands, Maui stands aside with its mixture of ritzy, resort-lined, sugary shores and historic seashore cities imbued with real aloha spirit. The outdated city of Lahaina, Maui’s tourism beacon, was lowered to ash by wildfires in 2023. As its waterfront rebuilds, the highlight has shifted to Paia, a former plantation city on Maui’s North Shore only a 10-minute drive from the airport.

Barely 7.5 sq. miles, the Bohemian city is hugged by a string of golden, crescent seashores fringed by swaying palms and nearly at all times dotted with lazing sea turtles. Households love the calm, protected lagoon at Child Seaside, tucked away on the western finish of Baldwin Seaside Park, exhibitionists bask within the solar on clothes elective Secret Seaside, and the sporty set come right here from across the globe to surf, kitesurf, windsurf, and wingfoil at seashores like Tavares and Ho’okipa. Even if you happen to don’t surf, the bluff above Ho’okipa Seaside gives the island’s greatest seat to look at the solar soften into the craggy ridges of the West Maui Mountains.

— Jen Murphy

Finest Small Mountain City

Winner

Island Park, Idaho

Ask any avid angler about fly fishing locations out West, and there’s an excellent likelihood they’ll inform you all concerning the famend waters of Henry’s Fork — a tributary of the Snake River and one of many biggest trout fisheries in the USA. Whereas the river is over 110 miles lengthy, operating from Large Springs to the place it meets the South Fork of the Snake River, a number of of the most well-liked sections are present in Island Park, Idaho. 

Though I’m at all times tempted by the opportunity of catching a brown or rainbow trout, there was another excuse I deliberate a visit to Island Park in June 2024: Yellowstone Peaks Resort. A boutique property with 21 freestanding cabins, wood-fired soaking tubs, a dry sauna, and communal chilly plunges, the distinctive lodge idea was dreamed up by part-time Island Park residents and proprietors Mara and Blake Hansen. Their new enterprise, which welcomed its first friends in Might, is positioned proper off Island Park’s well-known 33-mile-long Primary Road, a stretch of Freeway 20 that goes straight by way of city and north towards West Yellowstone; the street can be generally known as the longest Primary Road in the USA.

— Lydia Mansel

Finest Small Lake City

Winner

Harbor Springs, Michigan

Measuring simply 1.3 sq. miles on the furthest reaches of Lake Michigan, the city of Harbor Springs barely qualifies as a radar blip, even for lifelong Midwesterners. Understanding that the most effective of something is commonly missed, the fortunate lakesiders — together with titans of American business and their households — who’ve frolicked on this historic Nineteenth-century hub of fur and lumber buying and selling are drawn as a lot to its hush-hush seclusion (bereft, as it’s, of any indicators of big-city commerce) as they’re to its surrounding surroundings, unspoiled and ripe for recreation: The turquoise seashores and bays are sometimes likened to the Caribbean, however in shade solely — the summer season temperature of the water tops out at 69 levels Fahrenheit, making swimming a piercing, however fashionable, pursuit.

Lakeview bluffs, windblown sand dunes, and jaunty ski hills are simple elevations with sporting payoffs. Enchanting roads by way of forests of birch, maple, and cedar might be embraced by leafy canopies, just like the 20-mile Tunnel of Bushes alongside the M-119 freeway. On the southern terminus of this specific scenic byway, simply past Harbor Springs’ stately neighborhoods of heritage lake cottages that seem like architectural layer desserts, an outdated roadside lodge has been just lately resurrected into a classy inn with sturdy ties to Michigan’s midcentury-design heritage, simply in time to welcome a brand new era of vacationers to the realm.

— Leilani Marie Labong

Finest Small Desert City

Winner

Bisbee, Arizona

With a downtown that appears straight out of a storybook, Bisbee, Arizona, is a type of splendidly walkable cities that makes you cheerful to depart the automotive on the lodge. Native retailers and historic resorts line the street, and because the city climbs into the Mule Mountains, slim stairways — together with some which were reworked into alfresco artwork galleries — present European-style foot entry. 

Bisbee is house to fewer than 5,000 folks, together with artists and creatives. It obtained its begin as a copper mining city, a historical past that continues to be on the forefront of the city’s identification. Previous miners’ cabins nonetheless stand in Tombstone Canyon, and the Queen Mine gives excursions of its expansive underground chambers. These historic websites are enhanced by a vigorous, creative neighborhood that gives the neighborhood with inventive delicacies, galleries, and near-constant dwell music.

— Evie Carrick

Finest Small Arts + Tradition City

Winner

New Hope, Pennsylvania

For a small city with just some thousand residents, New Hope has an outsize popularity. The Bucks County borough on the sting of the Delaware River is the birthplace of early-Twentieth-century Pennsylvania Impressionism; the placement the place numerous stars of the stage, from Liza Minnelli to Robert Redford, obtained their begin; one of the crucial LGBTQ+-friendly locations within the U.S.; and the muse of George Nakashima, a founding father of the American Studio Craft motion whose workshop nonetheless operates on the outskirts of city to at the present time.

Whereas lots of the most recognizable names in artwork and theater have put New Hope on the worldwide stage, a brand new era of tastemakers is constant to offer guests the curtain-up remedy. New Hope is packed finish to finish with idiosyncratic and mental attract, all crammed into simply 1.4 completely charming sq. miles. Add to that its location, about an hour from each New York Metropolis and Philadelphia, and it’s no shock that modern-day creatives proceed to assemble right here, injecting their very own aptitude to its enduring pure magnificence, long-established creative tradition, and quirky attraction.

— Jackie Caradonio

Finest Small Meals + Wine City

Winner

Elk, California

On a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, you’ll discover the tiny city of Elk, California, house to only about 275 residents. This string of homes and resorts straddling the Pacific Coast Freeway is commonly missed by vacationers en path to Mendocino. However Elk, which lies near the wineries of Anderson Valley, is making a reputation for itself within the meals and wine world.

Foodies make the trek to Elk from San Francisco to dine at Harbor Home Inn’s two-Michelin-starred restaurant, which sits above the Pacific shoreline. The Michelin Information calls the cooking right here “extremely unique,” touting chef Matthew Kammerer’s use of “hyperlocal and foraged elements, elevating not solely delicacies like sea urchin but in addition extra humble gadgets like seaweed harvested from the close by shoreline or lace lichen plucked from overhanging timber.”

— Evie Carrick

Finest Small Spa + Wellness City

Winner

Ouray, Colorado

Scorching springs are Mom Nature’s spa. And the realm round Ouray is riddled with pockets of steamy, mineral-rich waters. The Ute Indians that settled southwest Colorado’s Uncompahgre Valley known as these springs miracle waters and used them for therapeutic ceremonies. Through the mining growth of the 1870s, prospectors and miners soaked within the restorative swimming pools to ease the aches of back-breaking work. As we speak, the realm’s half-dozen scorching springs soothe the weary muscle tissues of climbers, skiers, and hikers who come to play within the self-proclaimed “Outside Recreation Capital of Colorado.” I like a very good therapeutic massage simply as a lot as I like a very good soak, and the January debut of the Grotto Spa, positioned throughout the just lately revamped Western Resort, is the right respite for severe pampering.

Ouray’s location, nestled in a picturesque field canyon surrounded by the snow-capped San Juan Mountains, has additionally earned it the nickname the “Switzerland of America.” “You’re feeling such as you’re spooning with the mountains,” says DeLinda Austin, common supervisor of Wiesbaden Scorching Springs Spa and Lodgings. “You’re completely immersed in nature. Folks arrive careworn and also you see the change instantly. The panorama lulls you right into a extra tranquil state.”

— Jen Murphy

Finest Small Retirement City

Winner

Stuart, Florida

Stuart is a spot you come upon. It isn’t at all times up there in essentially the most looked for spots in Florida, however actually, that is a part of its magic. It is a uncommon, true, hidden gem. It is house to all the standard suspects relating to improbable Floridian locations, together with pristine seashores that are perfect for spending a day (and lots of are dog-friendly in addition, as long as your pup is leashed), and it has swaying palm timber that information the mild and heat breezes proper to your cheek, together with a downtown space that is the perfect mixture of purchasing, historic websites, and oh-so-delicious eating.

However in Stuart, you may discover one thing particular you aren’t getting to expertise in lots of the state’s bigger cities: a real sense of neighborhood. Right here, everybody says howdy to their neighbors. Anticipate to spend slightly further time on the espresso store as you chat up the barista, the individual behind you in line, and the couple sitting on the bistro desk on the exit. Be prepared to listen to about grandkids and new boats, arrange tee instances with folks you’ve got simply met, and at all times be ready for a bonfire on the seashore. The folks of Stuart are actually into that type of factor, and they’re utter consultants at making you’re feeling welcome.

— Stacey Leasca

Finest Small School City

Winner

Clemson, South Carolina

Tucked within the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains alongside the shore of Lake Hartwell, Clemson is positioned in South Carolina’s rural Upstate area. The quaint downtown is lined with retailers promoting purple-and-orange merch, student-filled sports activities bars, and a crop of latest native companies. I graduated from Clemson College in 2018, absolutely indoctrinated into Tigers fandom. I grew up on the opposite facet of the state’s largest rivalry, raised in a College of South Carolina household, however I used to be drawn to the college’s small-town setting; it felt like a Clemson bubble, the place the whole lot was all Clemson, on a regular basis. 

“Clemson is an distinctive school city as a result of it seamlessly blends tutorial excellence with an inclusive, welcoming neighborhood. Our stunning environment, vibrant native financial system, and robust college spirit create an surroundings the place everybody can thrive,” Clemson mayor Robert Halfacre says. 

— Elizabeth Rhodes

Finest Small Procuring City

Winner

Spherical High, Texas

Pulling into Spherical High, Texas, for the primary time appears like discovering a hidden gem. It seems nearly abruptly after miles of nation roads, a drive accented by white fences and sightings of longhorn cattle. Barely a sq. mile in measurement, the 87-person city is made up of a set of historic buildings that home vintage and classic purchasing, clothes boutiques, and even a cheese store, a sweet retailer, and a Hallmark-esque espresso and pie place. 

The New York Instances deemed Spherical High “the Cotswolds of Texas,” and a neighborhood was quoted in CultureMap San Antonio calling it “the following Jackson Gap.” Texas Month-to-month even gave it the title of “the Aspen of Texas.” However whereas there are touches of every well-to-do vacation spot all through Spherical High — the place the attraction of the English countryside meets the Western aptitude and sky-high actual property costs discovered within the high U.S. mountain cities — it has a definite character and enchantment that’s tied to the famed Unique Spherical High Antiques Honest.

— Lydia Mansel