They’re charming, safe, affordable, and chockfull of historical buildings and farmers’ markets, but you may have never heard of some of these locations throughout the United States: Marquette, Michigan; Zanesville, Ohio; Elmira, New York; and North Platte, Nebraska are just a few of America’s Top 50 best small towns and cities named on a recent survey.
Company spokesperson Emily Thornton told The Epoch Times they used metrics including safety, affordability, historical buildings, farmers markets, and even high school football winning percentages. “We thought about things that people value in small communities, and a lot of them do value those Friday night high school football games,” she explained. “These communities may not have professional sports teams close by, so the high school teams are really a big deal.”
The other Top 10 U.S. hometowns include Hattiesburg and Greenwood, Mississippi; Bowling Green, Kentucky; Hannibal, Missouri; and Charlottesville, Virginia.
Ms. Thornton said it came as no surprise that New York had five locations on the Top 10 list. “When people think about New York, it’s always New York City,” she said. “But this is a great reminder that there are so many places in that state that offer great communities. After all, not everyone is drawn to the big cities.”
Pamela Pariso, a salesperson with Keller Williams Realty in Elmira, grew up in that city and was not surprised that it got the top spot for America’s smallest cities. “Elmira is a well-kept secret,” she told The Epoch Times. “It’s at the base of the Finger Lakes, has very stable weather, and it’s a great community with fairly stable home prices.”
A typical three-bedroom, two-bath, single-family home can be snatched up for about $160,000, and there are very few bidding wars. “That price is a steal for people coming from downstate New York,” she added. Buyers have their choice of Victorians, Colonials, and Federal-style homes, many of which are over 100 years old and have already been restored.
Elmira College and the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in nearby Pennsylvania are also drawing young people to the area. “Many parents have actually started buying properties for their children who attend these colleges to help them start building equity,” Ms. Pariso explained. “We’re also starting to see a revival of coffee shops and other stores in the downtown area.”
Elmira is considered a very safe place to live and is in close proximity to destination locations such as Watkins Glen, Ithica, Corning, and a plethora of activities like hiking and wineries in the Finger Lakes. In addition to new younger residents, Ms. Pariso is also seeing seniors moving back into the area. “We call them ‘boomerangers’ because they go to Florida to retire and then end up moving back because they miss their families and grandchildren,” she said.
Marquette actually ranked first in terms of safety, followed by Weston, West Virginia, and Montrose, Colorado. Data pulled from the FBI crime reports was used to help determine America’s safest locations. “We also utilized crime reports from local police departments, looking at the crime average in the 10-year period from 2011 to 2021,” added Ms. Thornton. Alpena, Michigan, and Oak Hill, West Virginia, completed the Top 5 safest communities.
For affordable living, Greenville, Mississippi, took the winning spot with an average home value of just $69,470. Keokuk, Iowa, was a close second with an $83,601 home value, followed by Greenwood, Mississippi, at $93,069. Bluefield, West Virginia, and Sweetwater, Texas, rounded up the Top 5 with home values of $96,121 and $103,105, respectively.
Charlottesville was one of the highest-ranking cities when it came to its overall community score. It also placed first for historical buildings, with 99 places registered as historic spots. Two U.S. presidents—Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe—called Charlottesville home at one time.
Denise Ramey, a realtor with Long & Foster in Charlottesville and last year’s president of the Virginia Association of Realtors, told The Epoch Times she almost expected her city to make the Top 10 list. “This area has been often recognized as one of the best places to live and to retire,” she noted. “We have a good climate, lots of events and venues, great medical care, and we’re at the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains with some amazing views.”
The University of Virginia is also a huge attraction, with alumni or parents of graduates deciding to relocate there. Charlottesville is also just an hour from Richmond, Virginia, and two hours from Washington, D.C.
While pricing has escalated there more than in other areas of the state, Charlottesville continues to attract people looking to escape skyrocketing home prices and taxes in other areas of the country. “The number-one place I see people moving from is the Northeast, followed by California,” said Ramey. “They’re surprised that $1 million here will get them a 4,000-square-foot home on an acre, as opposed to a much smaller home or maybe only a condo in New York City or California cities.”
Currently, the median sales price of a single-family home in Charlottesville is $464,773, according to Zillow. While the area remains very popular for potential homebuyers, the market has slowed down quite a bit due to rising mortgage interest rates. “Two years ago, we’d see seven to 10 offers on a home, but now it’s down to two or three,” added Ramey.
Bowling Green, Kentucky, and Bozeman, Montana, took the second and third spots for the best overall communities. “A lot of the older cities are along the East Coast, so they’ll often tend to have more historical sites,” said Thornton.
In addition, the East Coast scored high for farmers’ markets, with Harrisonburg, Virginia, in the lead, followed by Saint Joseph, Missouri, and Utica, New York. “Farmers’ markets go hand-in-hand with those high school football games,” said Ms. Thornton. “They’re very important to people and add a sense of value to the community. They represent a quality of life that people are drawn to, and those living there like to support locally grown products as well as local businesses.”
