Best Cool Little Cities

[bagtagley]

Lexington is a cool little town, but I prefer downtown Staunton. If I could find a job there, I'd move to Staunton in a snap.

Charlottesville has a lot going for it. Countless good restaurants, really solid music scene, decent nightlife, good brew pubs and wineries, great mountain biking, and skiing...well, exists nearby. However, it's like every progressive Southern bubble. Everything is overpriced and it's overrun with New Yorkers.

I really enjoyed Portland, ME. Lewisburg, WV and Fayetteville, WV are cool little towns.

[ex-powderbroker]

Can Nashville go on this list? Always had a good time there.

[nihiles]

First of all, it's shrunk a lot since Katrina and kind of gotten a lot better, too.

its ok dude, this is the padded room. you dont have to be shy about your racism.

[ex-powderbroker]

I'm not racist. All of the poor white people moved to Houston and it's safe now.

[uglymoney]

Feel free to laugh me out of here, downhill skiing is non-existant, but Iowa City, IA is a great outdoor/active-friendly community, with lots of great food options, too. I wouldn't plan a weeklong getaway, but if you're traveling through, make a pit-stop.

Only because proximity to mountains wasn't a criteria.

It is a great town. My wife works down there. A nice lake and tons of public land north of town. You still around Iowa or have you moved on? You need to come up and take some runs with us at Chestnut.

[BackCountryNC]

Boone, NC. City, town, whatever...

[iceman]

Boone, NC. City, town, east bumfuck, whatever...

Is it true that place was named for Davy Crockett?

[ICEHOCEY77]

Athens, GA

too.

[Chugachjed]

3,000 people is a town, not a city.

It's all relative Hugh. The city of Seward would disagree with you. And the skiing is better there than anywhere in this thread. Nightlife? Bars can stay open til 5am that's nightliyfe.

[DirkaDirkaJack]

...........

haha...yeah you guys must not like skiing very much.

ashland is cool. but mt. A? that place makes baker look like whister. it takes about 6 second to get from the top to the bottom of that bowl....then 20 minutes later you get to do it again! haha...

(disclaimer: i lived in ashland for a little over a year a while ago)

[Alaskan Rover]

It's all relative Hugh. The city of Seward would disagree with you. And the skiing is better there than anywhere in this thread. Nightlife? Bars can stay open til 5am that's nightliyfe.

And then there's the City of Houston, Ak....population seven...as the road sign proudly used to exclaim.

Seward IS a nice town, though. Great access to Resurrection Bay and the glaciers of Kenai Fjords Nat Park. Everything within easy walking distance, including Mt. Marathon. I think won't succomb to the endless development "creep" that other same-size Ak towns like Wasilla and Soldotna because it is thankfully hemmed in by Kenai Fjords park on one side, the bay on another and the pass the other side. The only other 'developable' land is on the road to the state prison and most of that is state land...besides who wants to live near a prison?

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[buttahflake]

northampton MA, great food, live music abounds, hiking, boating, biking (road/mountain), skiing nearby (less than an hour to berkshire east, 2 hours from MRG)

portland me, portsmouth nh, kennebunk, so many cool seacoast spots

+1 on Northampton. excellent little city.
i'm heading down to see Mike Gordon Band at the Calvin in a couple of weeks.
see you there?

[liv2ski]

Cool thread. What I would like info on is places with decent winter weather, (cool, but little if any snow/rain) yet within an hour of the mountains and within an hour of a large city. If within an hour of surf too, that would be great.
My home town of Coronado is a great place for weather, proximity to downtown San Diego and surf. but Mammoth is 6.5 hours away. Someone mentioned Grass Valley and that seems pretty close to my ideal of within an hour +/- of everything. I love Victoria too, but the rain in the winter and likely more than an hour from a good mountain sucks. I likely have to research towns on a similar latitude as So Cal.

[Bobby Stainless]

+1 on Northampton. excellent little city.
i'm heading down to see Mike Gordon Band at the Calvin in a couple of weeks.
see you there?

I used to go to school in MA, and I have spent a bunch of time in Northampton.

Great places to eat, like Sylvester's and the East Side Grill.

[iceman]

...and all the lesbians you can eat.

[MMP]

Mike Gordon Band at the Calvin in a couple of weeks.
see you there?

as of today, yes with the boys. (powder rule in effect)

I used to go to school in MA, and I have spent a bunch of time in Northampton.

Great places to eat, like Sylvester's and the East Side Grill.

there is no place better to crawl out of bed, have strong coffee, a bloody mary, and a killer breakfast than sylvesters

east side is maybe #8 on the list of places i would eat. they still do a hell of a business afaik. Next time you're in town I'll buy you a steak. bring supplies

...and all the lesbians you can eat.

Lulz, & QFT

[4matic]

Cool thread. What I would like info on is places with decent winter weather, (cool, but little if any snow/rain) yet within an hour of the mountains and within an hour of a large city. If within an hour of surf too, that would be great.
My home town of Coronado is a great place for weather, proximity to downtown San Diego and surf. but Mammoth is 6.5 hours away. Someone mentioned Grass Valley and that seems pretty close to my ideal of within an hour +/- of everything. I love Victoria too, but the rain in the winter and likely more than an hour from a good mountain sucks. I likely have to research towns on a similar latitude as So Cal.

Pleasanton or Danville California. Not cheap by any means but both are very nice small cities. An hour from Santa Cruz and 2 hours to Tahoe.

[4matic]

haha...yeah you guys must not like skiing very much.

ashland is cool. but mt. A? that place makes baker look like whister. it takes about 6 second to get from the top to the bottom of that bowl....then 20 minutes later you get to do it again! haha...

(disclaimer: i lived in ashland for a little over a year a while ago)

True, but the fact that you have MA along with the other amenities of Ashland make it a cool small town.

[skinnyskier]

To the list I would add:

Bellinzona, for grotti, palm trees, lots of granite and big lakes
Brig, for access to the Valais alps AND the Oberland

[boarddad]

I nominate Nevada City/Grass Valley.

Glad you like it Lexi-Bell, I grew up there and will second that motion. When I was in HS we'd play teams from around Sacramento. If we got beat our attitude was always that's OK, they may have won, but they have to go back to that hell-hole and we got to live in GV. I miss it terribly and it never quite feels like Christmas until I make the trip back every year.

Really bad proximity to skiing, but I'd be remis if I didn't nominate the Cities on the Central Coast. Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, even Ventura, you can't go wrong. Every time I go up there I get in a funk when I go back to So Cal and obsess about finding a way to move up there. Of course, if it was that easy we'd all be there and it wouldn't be so special.

[boarddad]

One more to add that I am amazed has not yet been mentioned; Davis CA! It's really flat and gets really hot during the summer, but it's a couple of hours from San Francisco and skiing and is a kick-ass place to live. Really nice people (second only to Mainers in my book) and it's easier to get around on a bike than it is to drive there. The job market is decent too because it's a quick drive over the Yolo Causeway to Downtown Sacto.

[QuikR12]

Second Davis, CA, and have to add that it´s a great college town who´s university hosts both a law and a med school.

I´ll add a few international destinations I´ve just discovered; Manizales and Guatape´ Colombia. Both are absolutely beautiful, for much different reasons. Manizales is a tropical mountain town that is also directly beneath several 17k + peaks, where self-guided skiing is possible.

[powski3]

Hood River OR (close to a city)
Stanley ID (ok not a city)
Victor ID (ok not a city)
Rapid City SD
Joseph OR (ok not a city)
Eugene

[Chugachjed]

that's seward down there, well a little part of it. What you got sucka?

[Hugh Conway]

Huaraz


Grenoble


IBK


Unlike my visit to seward, there are women in the above. well, except huaraz maybe, the locals would give the seward walruses a tussle