America’s Greatest Small Cities of 2024

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

They’re, undoubtedly, 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 one in all our most interesting innovations, an incubator of expertise and sweetness, and an intergenerational reward that shapes our collective identification.  

Few issues in life are extra thrilling than approaching and at last getting 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 principle 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 greatest one thing or different? What trade is, or, within the case of the forlorn city, was, the massive deal right here? Is entry to nature the trade? What would the sunshine — and the bushes — be like on a crisp October afternoon?   

Briefly, 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 usually 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 vital” place to go.

That’s nonsense, in fact. That small city off the exit is a very powerful factor on the journey. I can’t let you know how usually 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, not less than for a fast look. 

Virtually all the time, there’s one thing exceptional or not less than 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 wish to suppose, would possibly grow to be a pal have been I to dwell there at some point. I depart excited and looking forward to what different wonders could exist a number of exits down the freeway. 

And certain sufficient, there will likely be one other small city, one other pal to make, one other place to name house — not less than 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’d like them, they’re a part of us, and they’re extensions of house.

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

— Rolando Pujol, journalist and founding father of The Retrologist

Greatest Small Seaside City

Winner

Paia, Maui

Excellent year-round temperatures. Heat waters. Rainbow-splashed skies. Countless stretches of sand in each conceivable coloration. Hawaii could also be far (2,400 miles from the mainland U.S.), however when you go to its seashores, it’s arduous 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 previous 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 all the time 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 for those who don’t surf, the bluff above Ho’okipa Seaside provides the island’s greatest seat to look at the solar soften into the craggy ridges of the West Maui Mountains.

— Jen Murphy

Greatest 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 let you know all concerning the famend waters of Henry’s Fork — a tributary of the Snake River and one of many best trout fisheries in america. Whereas the river is over 110 miles lengthy, operating from Huge 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 all the time tempted by the potential for 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 resort idea was dreamed up by part-time Island Park residents and proprietors Mara and Blake Hansen. Their new enterprise, which welcomed its first company in Might, is situated proper off Island Park’s well-known 33-mile-long Major Road, a stretch of Freeway 20 that goes straight via city and north towards West Yellowstone; the street can be generally known as the longest Major Road in america.

— Lydia Mansel

Greatest 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 perfect of something is usually missed, the fortunate lakesiders — together with titans of American trade and their households — who’ve hung out 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 coloration 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 via forests of birch, maple, and cedar could be embraced by leafy canopies, just like the 20-mile Tunnel of Timber alongside the M-119 freeway. On the southern terminus of this explicit scenic byway, simply past Harbor Springs’ stately neighborhoods of heritage lake cottages that appear to be architectural layer muffins, an previous roadside lodge has been not too long ago resurrected into a trendy inn with sturdy ties to Michigan’s midcentury-design heritage, simply in time to welcome a brand new technology of vacationers to the world.

— Leilani Marie Labong

Greatest Small Desert City

Winner

Bisbee, Arizona

With a downtown that appears straight out of a storybook, Bisbee, Arizona, is a kind of splendidly walkable cities that makes you cheerful to depart the automobile on the resort. Native outlets 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 acquired its begin as a copper mining city, a historical past that continues to be on the forefront of the city’s identification. Outdated miners’ cabins nonetheless stand in Tombstone Canyon, and the Queen Mine provides excursions of its expansive underground chambers. These historic websites are enhanced by a full of life, creative neighborhood that gives the neighborhood with inventive delicacies, galleries, and near-constant dwell music.

— Evie Carrick

Greatest Small Arts + Tradition City

Winner

New Hope, Pennsylvania

For a small city with just some thousand residents, New Hope has an outsize repute. The Bucks County borough on the sting of the Delaware River is the birthplace of early-Twentieth-century Pennsylvania Impressionism; the situation the place numerous stars of the stage, from Liza Minnelli to Robert Redford, acquired their begin; probably the most 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 this present day.

Whereas lots of the most recognizable names in artwork and theater have put New Hope on the worldwide stage, a brand new technology of tastemakers is continuous to present guests the curtain-up therapy. New Hope is packed finish to finish with idiosyncratic and mental attract, all crammed into simply 1.4 totally 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

Greatest 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 simply about 275 residents. This string of homes and resorts straddling the Pacific Coast Freeway is usually 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 substances, elevating not solely delicacies like sea urchin but in addition extra humble objects like seaweed harvested from the close by shoreline or lace lichen plucked from overhanging bushes.”

— Evie Carrick

Greatest Small Spa + Wellness City

Winner

Ouray, Colorado

Scorching springs are Mom Nature’s spa. And the world round Ouray is riddled with pockets of steamy, mineral-rich waters. The Ute Indians that settled southwest Colorado’s Uncompahgre Valley referred to 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. At the moment, the world’s half-dozen scorching springs soothe the weary muscle mass of climbers, skiers, and hikers who come to play within the self-proclaimed “Outside Recreation Capital of Colorado.” I like an excellent therapeutic massage simply as a lot as I like an excellent soak, and the January debut of the Grotto Spa, situated inside the not too long ago revamped Western Resort, is the proper 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 are feeling such as you’re spooning with the mountains,” says DeLinda Austin, basic 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

Greatest Small Retirement City

Winner

Stuart, Florida

Stuart is a spot you bump into. It is not all the time up there in probably 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 in terms of unbelievable Floridian locations, together with pristine seashores that are perfect for spending a day (and lots of are dog-friendly besides, as long as your pup is leashed), and it has swaying palm bushes that information the light and heat breezes proper to your cheek, together with a downtown space that is the best mixture of purchasing, historic websites, and oh-so-delicious eating.

However in Stuart, you may discover one thing particular you do not get to expertise in lots of the state’s bigger cities: a real sense of neighborhood. Right here, everybody says hey to their neighbors. Anticipate to spend a bit of 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 occasions with folks you have simply met, and all the time be ready for a bonfire on the seashore. The folks of Stuart are actually into that form of factor, and they’re utter consultants at making you’re feeling welcome.

— Stacey Leasca

Greatest Small School City

Winner

Clemson, South Carolina

Tucked within the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains alongside the shore of Lake Hartwell, Clemson is situated in South Carolina’s rural Upstate area. The quaint downtown is lined with outlets promoting purple-and-orange merch, student-filled sports activities bars, and a crop of latest native companies. I graduated from Clemson College in 2018, totally indoctrinated into Tigers fandom. I grew up on the opposite aspect of the state’s greatest 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 every little thing was all Clemson, on a regular basis. 

“Clemson is an distinctive faculty city as a result of it seamlessly blends tutorial excellence with an inclusive, welcoming neighborhood. Our lovely environment, vibrant native economic system, and powerful faculty spirit create an setting the place everybody can thrive,” Clemson mayor Robert Halfacre says. 

— Elizabeth Rhodes

Greatest Small Purchasing City

Winner

Spherical High, Texas

Pulling into Spherical High, Texas, for the primary time appears like discovering a hidden gem. It seems nearly immediately after miles of nation roads, a drive accented by white fences and sightings of longhorn cattle. Barely a sq. mile in dimension, the 87-person city is made up of a group 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 Occasions deemed Spherical High “the Cotswolds of Texas,” and an area was quoted in CultureMap San Antonio calling it “the subsequent 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 prime U.S. mountain cities — it has a definite persona and attraction that’s tied to the famed Unique Spherical High Antiques Truthful.

— Lydia Mansel