Does This Place Exist?
August 12, 2022 11:10 AM Subscribe
I want the cliche Hallmark movie town but do these towns actually exist?
Cost of living does not need to be considered. Climate: nothing too hot.
I'm looking for quaint, small towns or downtown areas that have shops, bakeries, farmer's markets, cozy coffee shops - all walkable from a cute historic little bungalow type house that's just around the corner.
Said house has a nice little backyard for a garden and maybe a few chickens. Basically, I want most (if not all) of my needs met within easy walking distance from my home. Driving could be obsolete, essentially. Alternatively to this bungalow-type house, there's a lovely apartment above the bakery or some store, or perhaps a set of apartments nestled within the downtown area that offer balconies for plants and morning coffee.
This town is not crowded or exceptionally busy. It's quiet, cozy, simple, homey, and practical. It's easy to become a "regular" at the coffee shop or farmer's market. Nature-oriented, or nature scenes are a plus (mountain views, lots of trees, rolling hills, ocean, etc.).
What towns do you know of that meet as many of these attributes as possible?
Also, what are the downsides to such towns and this lifestyle?
Cost of living does not need to be considered. Climate: nothing too hot.
I'm looking for quaint, small towns or downtown areas that have shops, bakeries, farmer's markets, cozy coffee shops - all walkable from a cute historic little bungalow type house that's just around the corner.
Said house has a nice little backyard for a garden and maybe a few chickens. Basically, I want most (if not all) of my needs met within easy walking distance from my home. Driving could be obsolete, essentially. Alternatively to this bungalow-type house, there's a lovely apartment above the bakery or some store, or perhaps a set of apartments nestled within the downtown area that offer balconies for plants and morning coffee.
This town is not crowded or exceptionally busy. It's quiet, cozy, simple, homey, and practical. It's easy to become a "regular" at the coffee shop or farmer's market. Nature-oriented, or nature scenes are a plus (mountain views, lots of trees, rolling hills, ocean, etc.).
What towns do you know of that meet as many of these attributes as possible?
Also, what are the downsides to such towns and this lifestyle?
Astoria, Oregon?
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 11:20 AM on August 12, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 11:20 AM on August 12, 2022 [4 favorites]
These towns do exist! I live in Ontario and there are a number of places that Hallmark uses to film these movies. I'm guessing you could look into popular filming locations to identify small towns that have a little downtown.
They can skew a bit "gentrified". Retirees and tourists are catered to, so some shops can be high priced artisan stuff. I'm specifically thinking about Almonte, Ontario but also would list Port Hope, Carleton Place, Perth, and Paris, Ontario as all very cute.
Your hope of not driving is ambitious - Healthcare can be far away, as well as other amenities.
posted by Gor-ella at 11:21 AM on August 12, 2022 [6 favorites]
They can skew a bit "gentrified". Retirees and tourists are catered to, so some shops can be high priced artisan stuff. I'm specifically thinking about Almonte, Ontario but also would list Port Hope, Carleton Place, Perth, and Paris, Ontario as all very cute.
Your hope of not driving is ambitious - Healthcare can be far away, as well as other amenities.
posted by Gor-ella at 11:21 AM on August 12, 2022 [6 favorites]
I was home in Winnipeg this summer and they were filming in my mom's neighborhood, and the consensus was that it was probably a hallmark movie as that's quite common. So sometimes the "town" is just a small slice of a much bigger city.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 11:28 AM on August 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Lawn Beaver at 11:28 AM on August 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
You may be describing my hometown of East Aurora, New York, if you're okay with snow...
and yes, it was featured in at least 2 Hallmark-esque movies that I know about.
posted by Otter_Handler at 11:28 AM on August 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
and yes, it was featured in at least 2 Hallmark-esque movies that I know about.
posted by Otter_Handler at 11:28 AM on August 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
Rockport, MA
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 11:32 AM on August 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 11:32 AM on August 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
Maybe consider the village core of Hudson OH (where my inlaws live)? It really sounds pretty perfect for you! Everything is walkable, there are village events on a town green, pretty old houses and trees, good parks in the vicinity. Locals are welcoming. Feel free to ask all about it if you are interested.
Also, Woodstock, VT. It felt just like you describe when I visited (though it's been a few years).
posted by quiet wanderer at 11:33 AM on August 12, 2022 [4 favorites]
Also, Woodstock, VT. It felt just like you describe when I visited (though it's been a few years).
posted by quiet wanderer at 11:33 AM on August 12, 2022 [4 favorites]
Maybe a place like Traverse City, MI? Or college towns...
Downsides: agree that there's probably not going to be a ton of healthcare options available in a lot of these towns, unless they're adjacent to a college. Internet coverage may not be great (again, barring a college town). Often not a ton of diversity. If you need to fly anywhere, you're probably a long way from an airport or paying really high prices for local-to-regional transfers.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 11:41 AM on August 12, 2022
Downsides: agree that there's probably not going to be a ton of healthcare options available in a lot of these towns, unless they're adjacent to a college. Internet coverage may not be great (again, barring a college town). Often not a ton of diversity. If you need to fly anywhere, you're probably a long way from an airport or paying really high prices for local-to-regional transfers.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 11:41 AM on August 12, 2022
Yes, I live in one. It's a town of 4500 people in Vermont specific location in my profile. I live walking distance from downtown which has restaurants, a movie theater, a music hall, a post office, a bagel/coffee place, a small hospital, a few drug stores, a few gas stations, a library, an art supply store, farmer's market on Saturdays in the summer. No real department stores (we had one, it closed) and the supermarket is a little outside of downtown (still walkable but the sidewalk ends) but there's a healthy food store type place right in the village. There are big and small houses within walking distance from the downtown area. Many people have chickens. The apartments above the downtown area are mostly senior housing. We're about three miles from a major highway exit. I love it here, am an elected justice of the peace in the town and work in the library.
Some of the downsides
- While we do have a nice community hospital (and had relatively low COVID rates this whole time) you'll have to drive a ways to get to see a specialist. The dentists are all booked up. The mental health care workers are all booked up. There's a lot of job turnover both because the jobs here don't pay that well and also because people can't afford to live here.
- While the housing market has finally gotten less bonkers--houses stay on the market now and are not terribly overpriced but they were for a while--there's still a terrible market for rentals (i.e. not much vacancy, rents are terrible). And because a LOT of people moved here in the COVID era, it can be hard to track down contractors to do work. Which is maybe less of a deal for a kitchen reno but a big deal if your roof is leaking.
- 1/3-ish of my neighbors are Trumpers. This is a rural issue generally but I think a lot of people think "Certainly not in New England" but yes, also in New England. There is a lot of general poverty and ignorance that can sometimes cause various culture clashes. Not a deal breaker for me, but it would be for many people. People are better versed on GLBTQ issues, including trans issues, than they seem to be about racial injustice issues (Vermont outside of Chittenden County is very white and it's a problem) and there's a streak of neoliberalism that is... not liberation focused.
- If you want to go elsewhere, it's a schlep to get to an airport, though Amtrak goes right through the town (you can be in NYC in... eight hours!)
- We have real winter and it's no joke
It works for me, I'm a middle aged white woman who mostly works from home, but there are definitely people who live here (both born here and who moved here) who it does NOT work for. Some of them stay and work to make it better. Some of them stay here and complain loudly about whatever their issues are. Some of them leave.
posted by jessamyn at 11:43 AM on August 12, 2022 [19 favorites]
Some of the downsides
- While we do have a nice community hospital (and had relatively low COVID rates this whole time) you'll have to drive a ways to get to see a specialist. The dentists are all booked up. The mental health care workers are all booked up. There's a lot of job turnover both because the jobs here don't pay that well and also because people can't afford to live here.
- While the housing market has finally gotten less bonkers--houses stay on the market now and are not terribly overpriced but they were for a while--there's still a terrible market for rentals (i.e. not much vacancy, rents are terrible). And because a LOT of people moved here in the COVID era, it can be hard to track down contractors to do work. Which is maybe less of a deal for a kitchen reno but a big deal if your roof is leaking.
- 1/3-ish of my neighbors are Trumpers. This is a rural issue generally but I think a lot of people think "Certainly not in New England" but yes, also in New England. There is a lot of general poverty and ignorance that can sometimes cause various culture clashes. Not a deal breaker for me, but it would be for many people. People are better versed on GLBTQ issues, including trans issues, than they seem to be about racial injustice issues (Vermont outside of Chittenden County is very white and it's a problem) and there's a streak of neoliberalism that is... not liberation focused.
- If you want to go elsewhere, it's a schlep to get to an airport, though Amtrak goes right through the town (you can be in NYC in... eight hours!)
- We have real winter and it's no joke
It works for me, I'm a middle aged white woman who mostly works from home, but there are definitely people who live here (both born here and who moved here) who it does NOT work for. Some of them stay and work to make it better. Some of them stay here and complain loudly about whatever their issues are. Some of them leave.
posted by jessamyn at 11:43 AM on August 12, 2022 [19 favorites]
Northfield, Minnesota not only fits this description, but some Hallmark movies were filmed there! Lovely little town, but one drawback is the lack of diversity in population, and as a follow on, access to globally diverse foods.
I think small college towns would be great places to look. Northhampton, MA, Hamilton, NY, and Decorah, IA are another three great college towns that fit.
posted by advicepig at 11:51 AM on August 12, 2022 [3 favorites]
I think small college towns would be great places to look. Northhampton, MA, Hamilton, NY, and Decorah, IA are another three great college towns that fit.
posted by advicepig at 11:51 AM on August 12, 2022 [3 favorites]
Mankato Minnesota meets all of these and is also a university town
posted by ockmockbock at 11:54 AM on August 12, 2022
posted by ockmockbock at 11:54 AM on August 12, 2022
Seconding Woodstock VT.
posted by shadygrove at 11:56 AM on August 12, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by shadygrove at 11:56 AM on August 12, 2022 [2 favorites]
+1 college towns are where to look for this sort of "main street" lifestyle. Even cities with colleges often have a cute little downtown district where you can walk to things.
posted by potrzebie at 11:58 AM on August 12, 2022
posted by potrzebie at 11:58 AM on August 12, 2022
Some of them are shot in Port Perry, Ontario.
Port Perry is well situated if you are a Nazi with a meth habit.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 12:19 PM on August 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
Port Perry is well situated if you are a Nazi with a meth habit.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 12:19 PM on August 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
My city is pretty close to this, if skewing on the slightly larger side, and there are quite a few like this in Northern New England, as jessamyn notes. We did have a Hallmark movie set in our town (but it wasn't filmed here. Fun fact, they gave us an airport which does not in fact exist.)
Pros: Really, ridiculously easy to get involved in civil life. You can get to know the major business and political actors very easily. The shops are lovely; I got a real nice kick this morning going to do some work in a coffee shop and running some errands and getting to spend all my money locally, and I've got my choice of like, five neighbors to buy eggs from within walking distance. Fall is everything it's cracked up to be and more.
Cons: Winter, as noted above. Considerable lack of diversity, see e.g., here. Things are improving, but I also know people who have moved closer in to Boston because of this. There can be some suspicion of folks "from away"--I hear lots of comments about people bringing "Massachusetts values"--but even without that, there can sometimes be a sense that you're missing things because you don't know that X is Y's father, who did Z back in 1970. Housing market is bonkers; population also skews older, which means a smaller workforce which can mean just lots of issues hiring people (teachers, daycare workers, contractors, etc.) Creeping threat of gentrification: yes, I've got the coffee shop and the yarn store and the grocery store and some restaurants, but the targeted income bracket for all of these in clearly inching up. The opioid epidemic is also still going strong around here, with associated issues: homelessness, problems with needles being found in the local parks and library bathrooms, etc.
posted by damayanti at 12:20 PM on August 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
Pros: Really, ridiculously easy to get involved in civil life. You can get to know the major business and political actors very easily. The shops are lovely; I got a real nice kick this morning going to do some work in a coffee shop and running some errands and getting to spend all my money locally, and I've got my choice of like, five neighbors to buy eggs from within walking distance. Fall is everything it's cracked up to be and more.
Cons: Winter, as noted above. Considerable lack of diversity, see e.g., here. Things are improving, but I also know people who have moved closer in to Boston because of this. There can be some suspicion of folks "from away"--I hear lots of comments about people bringing "Massachusetts values"--but even without that, there can sometimes be a sense that you're missing things because you don't know that X is Y's father, who did Z back in 1970. Housing market is bonkers; population also skews older, which means a smaller workforce which can mean just lots of issues hiring people (teachers, daycare workers, contractors, etc.) Creeping threat of gentrification: yes, I've got the coffee shop and the yarn store and the grocery store and some restaurants, but the targeted income bracket for all of these in clearly inching up. The opioid epidemic is also still going strong around here, with associated issues: homelessness, problems with needles being found in the local parks and library bathrooms, etc.
posted by damayanti at 12:20 PM on August 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
Point Reyes Station, California
posted by armoir from antproof case at 12:23 PM on August 12, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by armoir from antproof case at 12:23 PM on August 12, 2022 [4 favorites]
If you can find a place to buy/rent, Honoka'a, HI has this. My life is almost nauseatingly adorable and within a half mile, including work, my kid's preschool and an only-slightly-overpriced grocery. There is nowhere to buy underwear, though. I find it claustrophobic, but, with reasonably regular busses going to Hilo and less regular to Waimea, it's...technically possible to successfully carless.
posted by DebetEsse at 12:31 PM on August 12, 2022
posted by DebetEsse at 12:31 PM on August 12, 2022
Having a small town with all these amenities typically means it's an expensive place and/or a college town. It'll likely be busy with tourists or have some sort of seasonal swings. You'll likely have to drive for medical specialties.
A small city might have more of what you want without driving -- including the house with the small backyard. I'd say try to think about neighborhoods within smaller cities. So, for example, I live in a city of 650,000, in a metro area of 2.5 million, and I can think of several neighborhoods (including mine) where it would be easy to live this lifestyle, and then you can take the bus or lightrail or ride your bike to a medical facility if you need. My city is dotted with different neighborhoods (we call these 20-minute neighborhoods, where you can get to everything within a 20-minute walk) where you could buy a house a block or two from the main commercial section and have a pretty quiet street.
posted by bluedaisy at 12:33 PM on August 12, 2022 [4 favorites]
A small city might have more of what you want without driving -- including the house with the small backyard. I'd say try to think about neighborhoods within smaller cities. So, for example, I live in a city of 650,000, in a metro area of 2.5 million, and I can think of several neighborhoods (including mine) where it would be easy to live this lifestyle, and then you can take the bus or lightrail or ride your bike to a medical facility if you need. My city is dotted with different neighborhoods (we call these 20-minute neighborhoods, where you can get to everything within a 20-minute walk) where you could buy a house a block or two from the main commercial section and have a pretty quiet street.
posted by bluedaisy at 12:33 PM on August 12, 2022 [4 favorites]
When I lived for a short time in Brunswick, Maine, the downtown area reminded me of Stars Hollow, but I'm not sure that the in-town chickens part would fly.
posted by umbú at 12:44 PM on August 12, 2022
posted by umbú at 12:44 PM on August 12, 2022
Oneonta, New York, but it has real winter, too.
Friday Harbor, Washington, but it is gentrifying rapidly.
Culpeper, Virginia, is very cute and has an Amtrak station steps from downtown.
posted by jgirl at 12:46 PM on August 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
Friday Harbor, Washington, but it is gentrifying rapidly.
Culpeper, Virginia, is very cute and has an Amtrak station steps from downtown.
posted by jgirl at 12:46 PM on August 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
I've been through what seem to be any number of these places on the backroads of Northern California. And speaking of Amtrak, Truckee even has a train station.
posted by Rash at 12:58 PM on August 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Rash at 12:58 PM on August 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
Staunton, VA and Lewisburg, WV. And yes, both are college towns.
posted by capricorn at 1:30 PM on August 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by capricorn at 1:30 PM on August 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
Westfield, NJ. The downside is that everyone is white and the people who are not are regularly stopped for DWB.
posted by DarlingBri at 1:39 PM on August 12, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by DarlingBri at 1:39 PM on August 12, 2022 [2 favorites]
More generally, I think you might want to consider towns that are on on a commuter rail line to NYC (alternatively on the commuter rail lines for Boston/ Philly). A town supported by folks working "in the city" can support itself without necessarily being a tourist destination, college town, or dominated by a single employer.
Something to consider is that the nature of downtowns can change a lot over a relatively short period of time. For instance, anecdotally, I think the retail establishments of many small towns in New England survived the great recession, but weren't able to survive covid.
posted by oceano at 2:18 PM on August 12, 2022 [3 favorites]
Something to consider is that the nature of downtowns can change a lot over a relatively short period of time. For instance, anecdotally, I think the retail establishments of many small towns in New England survived the great recession, but weren't able to survive covid.
posted by oceano at 2:18 PM on August 12, 2022 [3 favorites]
Certainly some aspects of this in the west side of Petaluma California, and we're working on bringing more of it. And as others have noted, there are a lot of smaller cities in Northern California which fill some or most of your wants. Petaluma:
posted by straw at 2:43 PM on August 12, 2022 [2 favorites]
- Downtown area with walkable specialty retail, bakeries, farmer's markets (in season). Groceries in the downtown area include Jupiter Foods for specialty locally grown produce, Petaluma Market as a basic higher-end grocery store, and a Grocery Outlet (I do a lot of shopping there, but I've also referred to it as "the used food store", lots of remaindered items at a discount)
- The town is a little big for "quaint", 58k people and growing, but there are bungalows available nestled in amongst the Victorians. There's only so much we could afford when we moved here, so our small 1942 bungalow is about a mile from downtown, I walk to work just past downtown, and do a lot of our grocery shopping on foot or bicycle.
- Assorted coffee shops. I'm a regular at Aqus Cafe, in a mixed semi-industrial area, but there are numerous coffee options throughout the city. We have a tourist trade, but it's easy to be a regular. Aqus in particular is run with the deliberate goal of being a community hub. COVID has mucked with activities, but we have a lot of community organizing, with groups focusing on everything from the river to traffic safety to municipal finance and development issues.
- Petaluma was, at one point, "the egg basket of the world", so hell yeah we have backard chickens.
- So many movies shot here. If your favorite Hallmark movie wasn't, there's undoubtedly one like it that was. If you want treacly, Ali Afshar shot the 2020 Netflix hit A California Christmas here, and was recently seen shooting a newer one.
- Climate. Yeah, we do tend to get a little smug about that.
- Social consciousness: The town is pretty white, and we're working on that, and we've also had some high profile Confederate flag yahoos crash our Veteran's Day Parade, but Petaluma banned new gas stations, and though there are a lot of struggles with achieving all of them, the city has set some pretty lofty climate change goals, and lots of folks are working towards some aspect or another of them.
posted by straw at 2:43 PM on August 12, 2022 [2 favorites]
Hello, straw! We're neighbors! Wanna get a beer sometime?
posted by Dr. Wu at 2:53 PM on August 12, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Dr. Wu at 2:53 PM on August 12, 2022 [3 favorites]
If you want to live in a Norman Rockwell painting, you could move to Stockbridge, Massachusetts. (At this point there are lots of tourists, but still is a small picturesque town with the attributes you've listed.)
posted by Winnie the Proust at 2:54 PM on August 12, 2022
posted by Winnie the Proust at 2:54 PM on August 12, 2022
Cloverdale BC is a lot like that in the old downtown area. I grew up in Cloverdale. Tons of Hallmark movies and even Smallville and other shows were/are shot there. There are lots of locally-owned businesses on the main street, many of which seem to be owned by former classmates of mine or people in other grades. You could pretty easily live there without a car if you lived in that downtown area (there are some new townhouses there, but also some older 70s era house). There will soon be a Skytrain line to Vancouver that you could easily catch a bus to. It's surrounded by mountains. There's a rodeo and fair every May long weekend.
I hated growing up there because we lived in an area where we did need a car to get around and there wasn't much for a teenager to do, but it's a lot better now, as are a lot of these smaller towns that people have started to go back to or have moved to anew because the cities are getting so expensive and these people are opening up interesting shops and restaurants in them.
It's also like 10km from the ocean but there is no transit to the beach unless you go a super roundabout route and that's ridiculous. Plus, the Clova Cinema, a great little one-screen second-run movie theatre that served as the Talon coffee shop in Smallville, got sold to a they closed the theatre and opened a church, so that sucks. That place was a great alibi for going out with my friends and getting into trouble when I was in high school.
posted by urbanlenny at 2:58 PM on August 12, 2022
I hated growing up there because we lived in an area where we did need a car to get around and there wasn't much for a teenager to do, but it's a lot better now, as are a lot of these smaller towns that people have started to go back to or have moved to anew because the cities are getting so expensive and these people are opening up interesting shops and restaurants in them.
It's also like 10km from the ocean but there is no transit to the beach unless you go a super roundabout route and that's ridiculous. Plus, the Clova Cinema, a great little one-screen second-run movie theatre that served as the Talon coffee shop in Smallville, got sold to a they closed the theatre and opened a church, so that sucks. That place was a great alibi for going out with my friends and getting into trouble when I was in high school.
posted by urbanlenny at 2:58 PM on August 12, 2022
College towns:
San Lois Obispo, CA
Flagstaff, AZ (in the mountains, so it's cooler)
Touristy:
Monterey, CA
Santa Fe, AZ (hot)
posted by jpeacock at 3:05 PM on August 12, 2022
San Lois Obispo, CA
Flagstaff, AZ (in the mountains, so it's cooler)
Touristy:
Monterey, CA
Santa Fe, AZ (hot)
posted by jpeacock at 3:05 PM on August 12, 2022
Rockland, ME! Adorable little downtown, cute houses. It is, indeed, touristy, but not unpleasantly so IMO.
posted by mskyle at 3:45 PM on August 12, 2022
posted by mskyle at 3:45 PM on August 12, 2022
My town of Portsmouth, NH has all this and is lovely. It is insanely expensive (thank goodness my landlady hasn’t upped her prices to the going rate) and July/August are a little too touristy for some. Other than that: perfection!
posted by Isingthebodyelectric at 4:09 PM on August 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Isingthebodyelectric at 4:09 PM on August 12, 2022 [1 favorite]
I feel like many New England towns that aren’t too close to metro centers are like this. The « downtown » bit is typically compact enough to walk and to walk to and from, from nearby houses, but there’s typically also a busy road going through the middle so not sure if that disqualifies things.
Specifically I’ve spent time in
Sturbridge MA
Southbridge MA
Stow MA
Hudson MA
Bolton MA
West Concord MA
Maynard MA
And they were all like this. Personally I would get bored with the selection of the various shops and such but it’s nice to have it all there.
posted by Tandem Affinity at 5:37 PM on August 12, 2022 [2 favorites]
Specifically I’ve spent time in
Sturbridge MA
Southbridge MA
Stow MA
Hudson MA
Bolton MA
West Concord MA
Maynard MA
And they were all like this. Personally I would get bored with the selection of the various shops and such but it’s nice to have it all there.
posted by Tandem Affinity at 5:37 PM on August 12, 2022 [2 favorites]
So, the reality is that a lot, the majority, of small towns have some charm to them. Literally every town I’ve ever been to has cute houses near a downtown with at least a couple shops and a place to get coffee and breakfast. (And, to establish my credibility, I used to travel for work to places like Center Point, Iowa, Kingsley, Michigan, Edmonton, Kentucky, and Yoakum, Texas, so I know a lot about small towns around the country.) The problem with small towns isn’t that they lack a charming place or two. The problem is that they only have a charming place or two. So you become a regular at the cute diner downtown. What happens when you want to eat somewhere else? What happens when you need to go to the dentist? Where are you going to buy clothes? Where are your children going to go to high school? (School consolidation - a lot of small towns don’t have schools anymore, and the kids will have to commute to another nearby town.)
These are not unsolvable problems, and I would argue that most small towns (especially mid-sized small towns, around 25k-60k) have more amenities than most city dwellers would expect. But there’s a reason why small towns are small and big cities are big. Cities weren’t always so big, and over the course of the twentieth century, people voted with their feet.
posted by kevinbelt at 6:37 PM on August 12, 2022
These are not unsolvable problems, and I would argue that most small towns (especially mid-sized small towns, around 25k-60k) have more amenities than most city dwellers would expect. But there’s a reason why small towns are small and big cities are big. Cities weren’t always so big, and over the course of the twentieth century, people voted with their feet.
posted by kevinbelt at 6:37 PM on August 12, 2022
Waldport, Oregon, maybe? Although it does have a running through the middle of it.
posted by The corpse in the library at 6:52 PM on August 12, 2022
posted by The corpse in the library at 6:52 PM on August 12, 2022
I'm familiar with one of the towns mentioned above. Downsides: everything is expensive and people who work there can't afford to live there. More than half the houses are second homes, so it's hard to get people to volunteer or be civic minded. Strict zoning laws about what you can do to your house in the village center, down to what color Christmas lights you can hang up outside. The downtown drugstores went out of business. Groceries are expensive and might not have the variety you're used to.
posted by The corpse in the library at 7:00 PM on August 12, 2022
posted by The corpse in the library at 7:00 PM on August 12, 2022
If cost of living is truly not a factor, Fairfax California. Definitely too many aging hippies to be the set of a hallmark movie, but it has pretty much everything else you’re asking about. Except it can get quite warm. Lots of redwoods around for shade though.
posted by imalaowai at 7:03 PM on August 12, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by imalaowai at 7:03 PM on August 12, 2022 [2 favorites]
I live in this Town in Ontario. Nice waterfront, the town hospital is walking distance from downtown, govt services downtown, Farmers markets AND grocery shop downtown, drug shop and smallish sept shops, weekly night market for artisans, about 20 international cusines represented downtown, primary schools, secondary schools, a college, airport, railway connections to major cities, somewhat reasonable house prices (Ontario real estate is nuts), lots of community minded people. Downtown tends to roll up the sidewalks at 5pm. I’m new here and in my first week I met the mayor and a lot of local big wigs. Employment seems to be either basic retail/food service or very specialized requiring specific post secondary education. Old stone buildings from the 1800s along Main Street looks cute ans a fair amount of greens, parks and forested trails through the town.
posted by saucysault at 12:07 AM on August 13, 2022
posted by saucysault at 12:07 AM on August 13, 2022
One thing you did not mention is politics. Having recently been to Hudson, OH, yes - it is charming as hell and seems to meets all your needs BUT it's in Ohio, where rural-adjacent charming little towns can be full of Republicans, or at least, surrounded by them. Ohio has a lot of blue islands in a red sea. YMMV!
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 4:02 AM on August 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 4:02 AM on August 13, 2022 [1 favorite]
Yellow Springs, OH and
Asheville, NC are two liberal small towns kind of like this.
There's also suburbs of Philadelphia, where I live, which are small town/main street-y; examples include Ardmore, PA , Narberth, PA, and Jenkintown/Glenside, which are all located right outside the city but have that small town feel you describe. (And are fairly progressive politically if that's a concern)
(Gets hot in the summer though)
posted by bearette at 4:33 AM on August 13, 2022
Asheville, NC are two liberal small towns kind of like this.
There's also suburbs of Philadelphia, where I live, which are small town/main street-y; examples include Ardmore, PA , Narberth, PA, and Jenkintown/Glenside, which are all located right outside the city but have that small town feel you describe. (And are fairly progressive politically if that's a concern)
(Gets hot in the summer though)
posted by bearette at 4:33 AM on August 13, 2022
You want Chagrin Falls, OH.
It's an outer suburb of Cleveland. It has a charming downtown with independent bookstores, shops, and an excellent grocery store, coffee shops, restaurants, farmers market, a riverfront park, and namesake falls. You could easily live there without a car, provided you could afford a house in the village. You'd need to drive for medical care but Cleveland is renown for health care.
This Victorian is somewhat typical of the close-in architecture of the town - lots of charming homes. There are less expensive options as you get further away from the village center.
This is a 4 season climate, so you will have cold winters, but Chagrin Falls is absolutely beautiful when it's snowing. And in the summer.
posted by Kangaroo at 8:41 AM on August 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
It's an outer suburb of Cleveland. It has a charming downtown with independent bookstores, shops, and an excellent grocery store, coffee shops, restaurants, farmers market, a riverfront park, and namesake falls. You could easily live there without a car, provided you could afford a house in the village. You'd need to drive for medical care but Cleveland is renown for health care.
This Victorian is somewhat typical of the close-in architecture of the town - lots of charming homes. There are less expensive options as you get further away from the village center.
This is a 4 season climate, so you will have cold winters, but Chagrin Falls is absolutely beautiful when it's snowing. And in the summer.
posted by Kangaroo at 8:41 AM on August 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
Check out Roros, Norway .
It's the setting of a Netflix Christmas movie, and I had to look it up to see if it was real.
posted by Acari at 12:34 PM on August 13, 2022
It's the setting of a Netflix Christmas movie, and I had to look it up to see if it was real.
posted by Acari at 12:34 PM on August 13, 2022
Lawrence, KS.
The town sprawls, but if you live downtown it’s almost exactly like what you described. Restaurants, coffee shops, bars, ice cream, a soda shop, two bookstores, even a dang old fashioned record store. The only thing not downtown is a grocery store - you’ll need a car (or take the bus) for that.
Sadly, many of the downtown institutions closed during COVID (including my favorite coffee shop and second favorite bar). But the town seems to be rebounding; hopefully the few-too-many empty storefronts will fill back up in the next couple years.
posted by dorothy hawk at 9:16 PM on August 13, 2022
The town sprawls, but if you live downtown it’s almost exactly like what you described. Restaurants, coffee shops, bars, ice cream, a soda shop, two bookstores, even a dang old fashioned record store. The only thing not downtown is a grocery store - you’ll need a car (or take the bus) for that.
Sadly, many of the downtown institutions closed during COVID (including my favorite coffee shop and second favorite bar). But the town seems to be rebounding; hopefully the few-too-many empty storefronts will fill back up in the next couple years.
posted by dorothy hawk at 9:16 PM on August 13, 2022
Cooperstown, New York, but it also has real winter plus summer tourists.
Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, has an Amtrak station, but also has tourists.
posted by jgirl at 8:58 AM on August 18, 2022
Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, has an Amtrak station, but also has tourists.
posted by jgirl at 8:58 AM on August 18, 2022
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by pinochiette at 11:16 AM on August 12, 2022 [4 favorites]