Found somewhat of a different slant in Outside Magazine’s best towns list this year. It is diverse for sure, Washington D.C., Louisville, KY and Crested Butte, CO are all in the top ten. Sustainability, revitalization, and renewal are the main focus, but that is not to say there are not a few highlights to let you know what each town has to offer in the way of the great outdoors.
For example, at the end of the Ithaca, NY Outside Mag summary, a place I have always wanted to check out, they note … THE LIFE: Locals cycle centuries around Cayuga, trail-run portions of the 562-mile Finger Lakes Trail, and hike to Lucifer Falls in nearby Robert H. Treman State Park.
The complete list of favorites:
Outside Magazine’s 20 Best Towns in America
Top 10
- Washington, D.C.
- Chattanooga, Tenn.
- Ogden, Utah
- Portsmouth, N.H.
- Tacoma, WA
- Ithaca, N.Y.
- Louisville, Ky.
- Eureka, Calif.
- Crested Butte, Colo.
- Columbia, Mo.
As for the rest … Oxford, Miss., New Orleans, Oakland, Sacramento, Levittown, N.Y., Wilmington, N.C., Corvallis, Ore., Seattle, Charlottesville, Va., and Brattleboro, Vt.
Sometimes it is the reaction from the people that actually live in these places that is my favorite part to read. While surfing around online, I found many Eureka residents, for example, that didn’t actually agree that they were “living the dream”!
I did find this great post though for anyone looking at some small mountain towns in Colorado, Live Work Dream: Our list of Small, Liveable Western Towns. Taking a tour through the Colorado mountains is a great time. Beautiful landscapes, cool mountains towns.
So where is the best place to live? Where can you “live the dream”? Anywhere really. You can search and search, find endless pros and cons in each and every place, but when it comes down to it, the best place to live, to “live the dream” is any place, as long as to you, it is the place you call home .