The 16 Best Places to Live in the U.S.
A river- and mountain-loving town took home the top prize—again—in our 2015 contest. But the other finalists have something for everyone, too....
Aug 18, 2015
We began our 2015 Best Towns competition with a bracket of 64 favorites, then let you vote until one dream burg emerged. Here, we present the 16 finalists—the places you say are the top spots in the country to work, run, eat, sail, paddle, drink, ride, and climb. The winner? A southern gem that surprised us once again.
16. Lake Placid, New York
Site of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Games, Lake Placid still feels like an Olympic village. It’s tiny—population 2,500—but it’s an amazing place for all kinds of athletes to call home. Just ask 29-year-old U.S. Ski Team member and two-time Olympian Andrew Weibrecht, a Lake Placid native. He walked us through his favorite spots. —Megan MichelsonMorning: My day starts with coffee and breakfast at the Olympic Training Center, then a workout. I train in the basement of the former Olympic ice rink, which has everything I need, from free weights to physio balls. If I’ve got a day off, I get eggs Benedict at the Breakfast Club on Main Street.
Midday: On Saturdays, I’ll go out on my mountain bike. I can put together a two-hour ride on Logger’s Loop right in town, or I’ll head to Whiteface Mountain for something longer. For lunch I’ll grab a Buffalo chicken sandwich from Saranac Sourdough.
Afternoon: I like to spend the day on my boat, fishing for bass or pike on Saranac Lake. You’re never that far from town, but you feel like you’re deep in the wilderness.
Evening: In the summer, I’ll hit up the free concerts on the bandstand on Main Street. I’ll end the day at the Cottage, a lakeside restaurant that’s part of the Mirror Lake Inn, which my parents have owned since the 1970s. I’ll sit on the deck with tacos and a beer while the sun sets over the Adirondacks’ Great Range.
15. Bar Harbor, Maine
Bar Harbor’s vacation status does have its downsides. Home prices are about 70 percent higher than elsewhere in Maine—$292,000, with plenty of listings cracking seven figures—and many of the jobs are seasonal, like working on lobster boats or for the National Park Service. Local Eli Simon, who owns Bar Harbor’s Atlantic Climbing School, says sticking it out full-time is worth it. He starts his day at Morning Glory Bakery, and in a matter of minutes he’s in Acadia, climbing cliffs hanging over the ocean. For Simon’s 31st birthday, he planned a multi-sport expedition that involved loading bikes onto a canoe, paddling down a creek, then biking to a three-pitch climb. After lunch on a clifftop, he continued with a trail run and an ocean paddle, ending eight hours later at a potluck dinner with friends. “Few places on the planet offer as many activities in such a small area,” he says. “The people who live here year-round know it’s a gift.” —M.M.
14. Rochester, Minnesota
1. Silver Lake: Home to the Rochester Rowing Club—and thousands of Canada geese.
2. Quarry Hill Nature Center: A 320-acre preserve with five miles of hiking trails through woods and meadows.
3. Mayo Civic Center: Bands play all summer long in the green space along the Zumbro River out back.
4. Mayowood Mansion: The former home of a Mayo Clinic cofounder is open for tours four days a week.
5. Zzest Café and Bar: A neighborhood bistro with a patio on the Zumbro River.
13. Annapolis, Maryland
While it’s not cheap, you can buy a home with bay views for under $400,000, and jobs—many in tourism and the military—are plentiful. It can get touristy on peak weekends, but locals know to head for Wild Country Seafood, in an alley behind a maritime museum. They’ll share picnic tables and tuck into platters of Maryland blue crab, freshly caught that morning by the father-son duo who run the joint. —M.M.
12. Spearfish, South Dakota
The Black Hills around this town of 11,000 are the exception in pancake-flat South Dakota—there are cliff walls for cragging and streams teeming with fat browns just down the road. In town there’s an Old West vibe, but bikes are the preferred steeds. Locals can roll to the Cycle Farm for vegetables, partake in the bar-hopping Poker Ride, or saddle up for one of these three awesome annual events. —S.P.September 6, 2015: Dakota Five-O
A 48-mile, mostly singletrack jaunt that starts downtown on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. Look for the bacon and PBR station around mile 35.
March 19, 2016: 28 Below Fat Bike Race
Each March, come rain, snow, or mud, this 28-mile lollypop loop climbs 2,700 feet toward the Cement Ridge Fire Lookout on a groomed snowmobile trail.
June 11, 2016: Gold Rush Gravel Grinder
What’s better than a long ride through the Black Hills? An even longer one. Organizers say the 210-mile option takes you “deeper into the darkness.”
11. Middlebury, Vermont
You can get a three-bedroom house, complete with a chicken coop out back, for under $300,000, and jobs are relatively abundant. Woodchuck Hard Cider, for example, recently opened a new $30 million headquarters. Yet it remains very much a rural town—the closest city, Burlington, is an hour to the north—which means you’re never farther than a couple of blocks from your next adventure. So pluck trout from the New Haven River, or take a road ride over Middlebury Gap, a legs-shredding mountain pass that gains 1,800 feet right out of downtown. In the summer, row Lake Dunmore or run the Trail Around Middlebury, 16 miles of singletrack that loop the town. In the winter, catch the bus to the college-owned Middlebury Snow Bowl to race in Friday afternoon’s Ski Bum League.
The college kids graduate and move away, but a surprising number of them boomerang. “When I graduated, I never expected to come back,” says Garrott Kuzzy, a 32-year-old grad and 2010 Olympian in nordic skiing. “But where else can you go log rolling, play pond hockey in the back of a maple farm, and then hear the Dalai Lama speak?” —M.M.
10. Boone, North Carolina
The challenge is piecing together a sustainable life here: high-paying jobs are scarce. (The largest employer is Appalachian State University.) Meanwhile, the popularity of vacation homes drives the median house price up to $281,000. This is probably one reason Boone trends so young, with a median age of just 22. The population is dominated by students and other young people making the most of the lifestyle. “People here are getting into something rad every single day,” Thomas says. Afterward, many of them opt for a Long Leaf IPA at Appalachian Mountain Brewery, one of the fastest-growing breweries in the South. —Graham Averill
9. Pagosa Springs, Colorado
The namesake springs—the deepest in the world—attract 500,000 annual visitors to this remote corner of the state. The springs aren’t just for soaking: hot water runs beneath sidewalks, melting snow in the winter. Most residents live outside town, which has a population of just 1,700. (The county is home to 12,000.) “You have to be OK with that low-key rural aspect,” says Sandy Kobrock, owner of the Pass Creek Yurt and Wolf Creek Avalanche School. “Don’t come here if you want nightlife.”
Jobs are concentrated in tourism, but home prices are reasonable, with a median of $227,000, and the recreation opportunities are unparalleled. You can backpack, hike, and fish in the 500,000-acre Weminuche Wilderness, kayak on the San Juan River, or ski at nearby powder destination Wolf Creek, all with the confidence that you’ll never have to battle crowds. —K.S.
8. Beaufort, South Carolina
As for the city itself, think of a coastal Gone with the Wind. Giant live oaks, thick with Spanish moss, surround antebellum homes. Consider it a smaller, less expensive Charleston, with the same historic charm but a tenth of the population and slightly more affordable digs. (The median home value in Beaufort is $253,000.) Locals and visitors alike eat plenty of seafood, either fresh catch from markets like the Gay Fish Company or in the form of a shrimp burger from the Shrimp Shack. The oyster industry is picking up, too; get some of the super-briny gems from Lady’s Island Oyster Company. —G.A.
7. Flagstaff, Arizona
The high desert is prized by athletes, including marathoners Ryan and Sara Hall and ultrarunner Rob Krar, who come for the combination of sunny but cool weather, elevation, and a strong community of professional coaches. “At any given time in Buffalo Park”—a scenic mesa with a two-mile running loop—“super tall skinny people are blowing by you at a million miles a minute,” says Allie Stender, a program manager for the county public-health district. The climate also benefits the fat-tire set, which has built an impressive array of trails. “We have the best mountain biking imaginable,” says Robert Hamilton, inventory manager for Absolute Bikes, “and you can access dirt in ten minutes from anywhere in town.” Trails range from the mellow, flowing singletrack of the Schultz Creek Trail to the technical rock gardens on Secret and Upper Moto. There’s skiing outside town, and the Grand Canyon is just 90 miles away.
The median home price is reasonable— $266,000—and there are plenty of jobs in tourism, higher education, and manufacturing. Nestlé Purina PetCare has a plant here, and W. L. Gore has major offices. And it’s not like you have to be an elite athlete to enjoy cool, sunny days, as everyone from weathered Grand Canyon guides to fresh-faced Northern Arizona University students will tell you. —K.S.
6. Athens, Georgia
Breakfast: Down a fluffy, buttery biscuit from the Bread Basket, hidden in a gas station off Boulevard. This may be the world’s best hangover cure.
Lunch: Cali-N-Tito’s is a Peruvian joint with an infusion of Caribbean flair. Bring your own beer and order the arroz chaufa, stir-fried rice with plantains and hot sauce.
Happy hour: Local brewery Creature Comforts offers a huge range of beers in an airy space downtown. Try an Athena, a Berliner Weisse that’s slightly sour and incredibly refreshing.
Dinner: You can find a grown-up meal at the the National. It’s Mediterranean-inspired cuisine with lots of tapas and a great steak.
Cocktails: The Old Pal has a bunch of signature drinks, but I love a simple Bulleit bourbon with Blenheim’s ginger ale. Bourbon and ginger is kind of a thing in Athens.
Late night: The Hi-Lo Lounge has great late-night food. Get the salchipapas—French fries with sliced fried hot dogs, topped with salsa.
5. Glenwood Springs, Colorado
A laid-back outpost of 10,000 some 160 miles west of Denver along I-70, downvalley from pricier burgs Aspen and Carbondale, Glenwood’s claim to fame has always been water: its hot springs have attracted visitors for over a century. But it has the chops of any Colorado adventure capital. Trails for running and biking lead to Glenwood Canyon and up Lookout Mountain, and in winter, skiers choose from five resorts, including Aspen and Snowmass. A downside to the tourist economy is that rents are on the high side—as much as $1,000 for a one-bedroom apartment. But the median home price of $396,000 is much gentler than Aspen’s half a million.
The upside to the strong tourism: new restaurants keep popping up in the historic downtown, which boasts a thriving patio scene. And there’s a notable lack of jadedness and hostility toward newcomers that can plague other outdoor meccas. “People become a part of the community right away.” says Annie Rector, a property manager. “There is truly no attitude here.” —K.S.
*A previous version of this article showed someone walking across the log at Hanging Lake. That's against the rules—don't do it!
4. Eau Claire, Wisconsin
OUTSIDE: What’s your favorite local activity?
VERNON: Canoeing the Flambeau River and jumping in the lakes up by New Auburn. No question.
Did the town play a role in your musical education, or are you just a talented guy who happened to grow up there?
The public-education system in our great state was really and truly unmatched when I was in high school. I honestly feel as if I was receiving master’s-level music education.
Is the festival your way of giving back?
It isn’t just me. It’s the whole squad, from the sheriff’s department to town hall to the security guards keeping us safe. It’s a gift, but everyone’s giving it to each other.
I read that you moved to North Carolina for a while but returned to Eau Claire. How come?
The way the water tastes. The way the spring thaws and smells. The fact that it gets so cold in the winter. I was homesick.
3. Iowa City, Iowa
With no mountain climbs, cyclists here have turned to the state’s tens of thousands of miles of unpaved roads. “Iowa is ground zero for gravel riding,” says Steve McGuire, the director of the university’s School of Art and Art History, who’s been riding here for 34 years. Since there’s almost no traffic once you leave the tarmac, the only real obstacle is the occasional farm dog. But don’t be fooled into thinking it’s flat. The original grinder, the Trans Iowa, climbs 10,000 feet over 320 miles. “It makes the Dirty Kanza”—a notorious Kansas gravel ride—“look like a pussycat,” says McGuire. To support the obsession, the city has six bike shops, including a bicycle “library” that fixes old clunkers, and a bar called Ride, which has a dish named after Gary Fisher on the breakfast menu (scrambled eggs with ham and sausage, topped with gravy). For competitive types, there’s even a gravel time-trial state championship. Being that this is Iowa, there’s also a friendly ride every Thursday night. —Stephanie Pearson
2. Port Angeles, Washington
The message was clear. “We love this town, and this community can really pull together,” says Jacob Oppelt, owner of Next Door Gastropub.
Situated on the northern shore of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, Port Angeles is a gateway to Olympic National Park. Because of the dramatic relief—the peaks rise to over 5,000 feet within a few miles of the coast—the area hosts diverse ecosystems, including alpine environments studded with lakes, ultragreen old-growth forests threaded with whitewater rivers, and bays that harbor orcas and steelhead. “I call it the holy land,” says John Gussman, a local photographer. “We don’t have smog or traffic, and we have this beautiful million-acre wilderness in the backyard.”
Not surprisingly, the local culture is built on an appreciation of the outdoors, and the economy is boosted by adventure travelers. It’s not uncommon to see surfers toting boards through town or cars stuffed with gear for forays into the park. More recently, mountain bikers have arrived to ride the burly downhill trails in the 600,000-acre national forest.
But Port Angeles isn’t your typical bro experience. There’s a healthy population of retirees—the town’s average age is 42—and a strong blue-collar flavor. The town lumberyard sits near the sea-kayak put-in, there’s an active boat-building industry, and commercial fishing for halibut and Dungeness crab is a mainstay. These industries infuse the town with a grittier feel than artsy neighbor Port Townsend and sleepy nearby retirement community Sequim. But they also help keep home prices reasonable—the median is $201,000—and engender a live-and-let-live ethos. Longtime residents and progressive newcomers manage not only to get along, but also to come together. Take the recent Elwha River restoration: the largest dam removal in the country’s history took place just upstream from town and gained strong local support. Now, for the first time in 100 years, trout and salmon are migrating past old dam sites, and greenery is sprouting in empty reservoirs.
Port Angeles isn’t big, but as this year’s Best Towns showing demonstrates, it can compete with just about anyplace. “In high school, I couldn’t get away from here fast enough,” says fifth-generation resident Sara Gagnon, owner of Harbinger Winery. “But once I got out and saw the world, I couldn’t wait to get back.” —Kate Siber
1. Chattanooga, Tennessee
16. Lake Placid, New York
Site of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Games, Lake Placid still feels like an Olympic village. It’s tiny—population 2,500—but it’s an amazing place for all kinds of athletes to call home. Just ask 29-year-old U.S. Ski Team member and two-time Olympian Andrew Weibrecht, a Lake Placid native. He walked us through his favorite spots. —Megan MichelsonMorning: My day starts with coffee and breakfast at the Olympic Training Center, then a workout. I train in the basement of the former Olympic ice rink, which has everything I need, from free weights to physio balls. If I’ve got a day off, I get eggs Benedict at the Breakfast Club on Main Street.
Midday: On Saturdays, I’ll go out on my mountain bike. I can put together a two-hour ride on Logger’s Loop right in town, or I’ll head to Whiteface Mountain for something longer. For lunch I’ll grab a Buffalo chicken sandwich from Saranac Sourdough.
Afternoon: I like to spend the day on my boat, fishing for bass or pike on Saranac Lake. You’re never that far from town, but you feel like you’re deep in the wilderness.
Evening: In the summer, I’ll hit up the free concerts on the bandstand on Main Street. I’ll end the day at the Cottage, a lakeside restaurant that’s part of the Mirror Lake Inn, which my parents have owned since the 1970s. I’ll sit on the deck with tacos and a beer while the sun sets over the Adirondacks’ Great Range.
15. Bar Harbor, Maine
Bar Harbor’s vacation status does have its downsides. Home prices are about 70 percent higher than elsewhere in Maine—$292,000, with plenty of listings cracking seven figures—and many of the jobs are seasonal, like working on lobster boats or for the National Park Service. Local Eli Simon, who owns Bar Harbor’s Atlantic Climbing School, says sticking it out full-time is worth it. He starts his day at Morning Glory Bakery, and in a matter of minutes he’s in Acadia, climbing cliffs hanging over the ocean. For Simon’s 31st birthday, he planned a multi-sport expedition that involved loading bikes onto a canoe, paddling down a creek, then biking to a three-pitch climb. After lunch on a clifftop, he continued with a trail run and an ocean paddle, ending eight hours later at a potluck dinner with friends. “Few places on the planet offer as many activities in such a small area,” he says. “The people who live here year-round know it’s a gift.” —M.M.
14. Rochester, Minnesota
1. Silver Lake: Home to the Rochester Rowing Club—and thousands of Canada geese.
2. Quarry Hill Nature Center: A 320-acre preserve with five miles of hiking trails through woods and meadows.
3. Mayo Civic Center: Bands play all summer long in the green space along the Zumbro River out back.
4. Mayowood Mansion: The former home of a Mayo Clinic cofounder is open for tours four days a week.
5. Zzest Café and Bar: A neighborhood bistro with a patio on the Zumbro River.
13. Annapolis, Maryland
While it’s not cheap, you can buy a home with bay views for under $400,000, and jobs—many in tourism and the military—are plentiful. It can get touristy on peak weekends, but locals know to head for Wild Country Seafood, in an alley behind a maritime museum. They’ll share picnic tables and tuck into platters of Maryland blue crab, freshly caught that morning by the father-son duo who run the joint. —M.M.
12. Spearfish, South Dakota
The Black Hills around this town of 11,000 are the exception in pancake-flat South Dakota—there are cliff walls for cragging and streams teeming with fat browns just down the road. In town there’s an Old West vibe, but bikes are the preferred steeds. Locals can roll to the Cycle Farm for vegetables, partake in the bar-hopping Poker Ride, or saddle up for one of these three awesome annual events. —S.P.September 6, 2015: Dakota Five-O
A 48-mile, mostly singletrack jaunt that starts downtown on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. Look for the bacon and PBR station around mile 35.
March 19, 2016: 28 Below Fat Bike Race
Each March, come rain, snow, or mud, this 28-mile lollypop loop climbs 2,700 feet toward the Cement Ridge Fire Lookout on a groomed snowmobile trail.
June 11, 2016: Gold Rush Gravel Grinder
What’s better than a long ride through the Black Hills? An even longer one. Organizers say the 210-mile option takes you “deeper into the darkness.”
11. Middlebury, Vermont
You can get a three-bedroom house, complete with a chicken coop out back, for under $300,000, and jobs are relatively abundant. Woodchuck Hard Cider, for example, recently opened a new $30 million headquarters. Yet it remains very much a rural town—the closest city, Burlington, is an hour to the north—which means you’re never farther than a couple of blocks from your next adventure. So pluck trout from the New Haven River, or take a road ride over Middlebury Gap, a legs-shredding mountain pass that gains 1,800 feet right out of downtown. In the summer, row Lake Dunmore or run the Trail Around Middlebury, 16 miles of singletrack that loop the town. In the winter, catch the bus to the college-owned Middlebury Snow Bowl to race in Friday afternoon’s Ski Bum League.
The college kids graduate and move away, but a surprising number of them boomerang. “When I graduated, I never expected to come back,” says Garrott Kuzzy, a 32-year-old grad and 2010 Olympian in nordic skiing. “But where else can you go log rolling, play pond hockey in the back of a maple farm, and then hear the Dalai Lama speak?” —M.M.
10. Boone, North Carolina
The challenge is piecing together a sustainable life here: high-paying jobs are scarce. (The largest employer is Appalachian State University.) Meanwhile, the popularity of vacation homes drives the median house price up to $281,000. This is probably one reason Boone trends so young, with a median age of just 22. The population is dominated by students and other young people making the most of the lifestyle. “People here are getting into something rad every single day,” Thomas says. Afterward, many of them opt for a Long Leaf IPA at Appalachian Mountain Brewery, one of the fastest-growing breweries in the South. —Graham Averill
9. Pagosa Springs, Colorado
The namesake springs—the deepest in the world—attract 500,000 annual visitors to this remote corner of the state. The springs aren’t just for soaking: hot water runs beneath sidewalks, melting snow in the winter. Most residents live outside town, which has a population of just 1,700. (The county is home to 12,000.) “You have to be OK with that low-key rural aspect,” says Sandy Kobrock, owner of the Pass Creek Yurt and Wolf Creek Avalanche School. “Don’t come here if you want nightlife.”
Jobs are concentrated in tourism, but home prices are reasonable, with a median of $227,000, and the recreation opportunities are unparalleled. You can backpack, hike, and fish in the 500,000-acre Weminuche Wilderness, kayak on the San Juan River, or ski at nearby powder destination Wolf Creek, all with the confidence that you’ll never have to battle crowds. —K.S.
8. Beaufort, South Carolina
As for the city itself, think of a coastal Gone with the Wind. Giant live oaks, thick with Spanish moss, surround antebellum homes. Consider it a smaller, less expensive Charleston, with the same historic charm but a tenth of the population and slightly more affordable digs. (The median home value in Beaufort is $253,000.) Locals and visitors alike eat plenty of seafood, either fresh catch from markets like the Gay Fish Company or in the form of a shrimp burger from the Shrimp Shack. The oyster industry is picking up, too; get some of the super-briny gems from Lady’s Island Oyster Company. —G.A.
7. Flagstaff, Arizona
The high desert is prized by athletes, including marathoners Ryan and Sara Hall and ultrarunner Rob Krar, who come for the combination of sunny but cool weather, elevation, and a strong community of professional coaches. “At any given time in Buffalo Park”—a scenic mesa with a two-mile running loop—“super tall skinny people are blowing by you at a million miles a minute,” says Allie Stender, a program manager for the county public-health district. The climate also benefits the fat-tire set, which has built an impressive array of trails. “We have the best mountain biking imaginable,” says Robert Hamilton, inventory manager for Absolute Bikes, “and you can access dirt in ten minutes from anywhere in town.” Trails range from the mellow, flowing singletrack of the Schultz Creek Trail to the technical rock gardens on Secret and Upper Moto. There’s skiing outside town, and the Grand Canyon is just 90 miles away.
The median home price is reasonable— $266,000—and there are plenty of jobs in tourism, higher education, and manufacturing. Nestlé Purina PetCare has a plant here, and W. L. Gore has major offices. And it’s not like you have to be an elite athlete to enjoy cool, sunny days, as everyone from weathered Grand Canyon guides to fresh-faced Northern Arizona University students will tell you. —K.S.
6. Athens, Georgia
Breakfast: Down a fluffy, buttery biscuit from the Bread Basket, hidden in a gas station off Boulevard. This may be the world’s best hangover cure.
Lunch: Cali-N-Tito’s is a Peruvian joint with an infusion of Caribbean flair. Bring your own beer and order the arroz chaufa, stir-fried rice with plantains and hot sauce.
Happy hour: Local brewery Creature Comforts offers a huge range of beers in an airy space downtown. Try an Athena, a Berliner Weisse that’s slightly sour and incredibly refreshing.
Dinner: You can find a grown-up meal at the the National. It’s Mediterranean-inspired cuisine with lots of tapas and a great steak.
Cocktails: The Old Pal has a bunch of signature drinks, but I love a simple Bulleit bourbon with Blenheim’s ginger ale. Bourbon and ginger is kind of a thing in Athens.
Late night: The Hi-Lo Lounge has great late-night food. Get the salchipapas—French fries with sliced fried hot dogs, topped with salsa.
5. Glenwood Springs, Colorado
A laid-back outpost of 10,000 some 160 miles west of Denver along I-70, downvalley from pricier burgs Aspen and Carbondale, Glenwood’s claim to fame has always been water: its hot springs have attracted visitors for over a century. But it has the chops of any Colorado adventure capital. Trails for running and biking lead to Glenwood Canyon and up Lookout Mountain, and in winter, skiers choose from five resorts, including Aspen and Snowmass. A downside to the tourist economy is that rents are on the high side—as much as $1,000 for a one-bedroom apartment. But the median home price of $396,000 is much gentler than Aspen’s half a million.
The upside to the strong tourism: new restaurants keep popping up in the historic downtown, which boasts a thriving patio scene. And there’s a notable lack of jadedness and hostility toward newcomers that can plague other outdoor meccas. “People become a part of the community right away.” says Annie Rector, a property manager. “There is truly no attitude here.” —K.S.
*A previous version of this article showed someone walking across the log at Hanging Lake. That's against the rules—don't do it!
4. Eau Claire, Wisconsin
OUTSIDE: What’s your favorite local activity?
VERNON: Canoeing the Flambeau River and jumping in the lakes up by New Auburn. No question.
Did the town play a role in your musical education, or are you just a talented guy who happened to grow up there?
The public-education system in our great state was really and truly unmatched when I was in high school. I honestly feel as if I was receiving master’s-level music education.
Is the festival your way of giving back?
It isn’t just me. It’s the whole squad, from the sheriff’s department to town hall to the security guards keeping us safe. It’s a gift, but everyone’s giving it to each other.
I read that you moved to North Carolina for a while but returned to Eau Claire. How come?
The way the water tastes. The way the spring thaws and smells. The fact that it gets so cold in the winter. I was homesick.
3. Iowa City, Iowa
With no mountain climbs, cyclists here have turned to the state’s tens of thousands of miles of unpaved roads. “Iowa is ground zero for gravel riding,” says Steve McGuire, the director of the university’s School of Art and Art History, who’s been riding here for 34 years. Since there’s almost no traffic once you leave the tarmac, the only real obstacle is the occasional farm dog. But don’t be fooled into thinking it’s flat. The original grinder, the Trans Iowa, climbs 10,000 feet over 320 miles. “It makes the Dirty Kanza”—a notorious Kansas gravel ride—“look like a pussycat,” says McGuire. To support the obsession, the city has six bike shops, including a bicycle “library” that fixes old clunkers, and a bar called Ride, which has a dish named after Gary Fisher on the breakfast menu (scrambled eggs with ham and sausage, topped with gravy). For competitive types, there’s even a gravel time-trial state championship. Being that this is Iowa, there’s also a friendly ride every Thursday night. —Stephanie Pearson
2. Port Angeles, Washington
The message was clear. “We love this town, and this community can really pull together,” says Jacob Oppelt, owner of Next Door Gastropub.
Situated on the northern shore of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, Port Angeles is a gateway to Olympic National Park. Because of the dramatic relief—the peaks rise to over 5,000 feet within a few miles of the coast—the area hosts diverse ecosystems, including alpine environments studded with lakes, ultragreen old-growth forests threaded with whitewater rivers, and bays that harbor orcas and steelhead. “I call it the holy land,” says John Gussman, a local photographer. “We don’t have smog or traffic, and we have this beautiful million-acre wilderness in the backyard.”
Not surprisingly, the local culture is built on an appreciation of the outdoors, and the economy is boosted by adventure travelers. It’s not uncommon to see surfers toting boards through town or cars stuffed with gear for forays into the park. More recently, mountain bikers have arrived to ride the burly downhill trails in the 600,000-acre national forest.
But Port Angeles isn’t your typical bro experience. There’s a healthy population of retirees—the town’s average age is 42—and a strong blue-collar flavor. The town lumberyard sits near the sea-kayak put-in, there’s an active boat-building industry, and commercial fishing for halibut and Dungeness crab is a mainstay. These industries infuse the town with a grittier feel than artsy neighbor Port Townsend and sleepy nearby retirement community Sequim. But they also help keep home prices reasonable—the median is $201,000—and engender a live-and-let-live ethos. Longtime residents and progressive newcomers manage not only to get along, but also to come together. Take the recent Elwha River restoration: the largest dam removal in the country’s history took place just upstream from town and gained strong local support. Now, for the first time in 100 years, trout and salmon are migrating past old dam sites, and greenery is sprouting in empty reservoirs.
Port Angeles isn’t big, but as this year’s Best Towns showing demonstrates, it can compete with just about anyplace. “In high school, I couldn’t get away from here fast enough,” says fifth-generation resident Sara Gagnon, owner of Harbinger Winery. “But once I got out and saw the world, I couldn’t wait to get back.” —Kate Siber
1. Chattanooga, Tennessee
The city of 173,000, built in the belly of the rocky Tennessee River Gorge, always had the potential to be a great adventure town. Climbers have been sending routes on the nearby sandstone cliffs for more than 30 years. A decade ago, the local mountain-bike club set out to build 100 miles of singletrack within ten miles of the city. They’re up to 120 miles, and there’s a midweek enduro series where you can rip dirt after work and be home in time for dinner. Competition is fierce, and the winner takes a growler of home brew.
So Chattanooga’s outdoor cred isn’t really news. The quantity and quality of adventure playgrounds—including the Tennessee River, which wraps around the city, and a bevy of Class IV–V rapids on the nearby Ocoee—helped it win our Best Towns contest four years ago. But now the city itself has caught up with the surrounding action. Neighborhoods are filling up with record stores, coffeehouses, and restaurants, and breweries are opening that offer the perfect nightcaps to days spent on the trails, creeks, and crags.
Here's your 48-hour plan to get the perfect taste of Chattanooga.
Locals tell me that the transformation started in 2010, when Chattanooga got the Gig—one-gigabit-per-second fiber-optic Internet service that’s tax-payer owned and available to every home and business at affordable rates. That’s around 50 times faster than most of the rest of the Western Hemisphere. (A feature-length movie downloads in about 30 seconds.) But it’s not just for surfing. “The Gig showed that Chattanooga was committed to developing business,” says Joda Thongnopnua, communications director of Lamp Post, a venture fund that invests in local startups. He estimates that some $50 million has been pumped into new businesses over the past five years, funding companies like Roots Rated, which developed an app that recommends adventures.
It might be too early to start calling it Silicon Gorge, but people are relocating to Chattanooga because it has something that many other recreation meccas don’t: opportunity. Take brothers Kelsey and Conner Scott, who moved down from Nashville two years ago to climb and to grow Granola, their small backpack company. “There’s a huge startup scene and a great outdoor community,” Kelsey says. Add to the mix reasonably priced homes—the median price is $138,000—and you get a uniquely diverse adventure hub where you can have a rising career and a comfortable, balanced life. “We were already driving down here every weekend to climb,” says Kelsey. “Moving to Chattanooga just made sense.” —G.A.
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