America's Coolest Small Towns

After a poll of 100,000 residents of such places, Budget Travel magazine today revealed America’s coolest small towns. The likes of Owego, NY, make residents who strike out for the big city immediately realize their mistake and return. The list:

• Owego, NY: It’s not Oswego, for one thing; its historic buildings “repurposed in cool ways,” like a jail-turned-restaurant, help seal the deal.
• Rockland, Maine: “Quintessential Northeastern harbor town” on the sunny side of a renaissance.

• Grinnell, Iowa: “Blends the charm of a rural community with the quirkiness of a college town.”
• Vevay, Ind.: “Quintessential Midwestern one-stoplight town” is a wine hotspot. Really.
• Huntingdon, Pa.: Appalachian town benefits from artists attracted to local college.
• Onancock, Va.: “Old-school fishing village” with a great wharf.
• Jim Thorpe, Pa.: Artists flock from big cities to this mountain-biking haven.
• Mineral Point, Wis.: Another artists’ colony, with organic produce.
• Silverton, Ore.: “Mural City” nickname stems from town’s 14, including a Rockwell.
• Port Royal, SC: All about the Southern charm.

(More cool towns stories.)