YOUR TOWN GOT YOU DOWN?WE’VE GOT YOUR ESCAPEPLAN. THESE 20 STARSOFAMERICA’S 21ST-CENTURYRENAISSANCE ARE RIDINGA WAVE OF CIVIC REINVEN-TION AND FRESH IDEAS.

CANDIDATESGRESSIVE

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Street in 2002. “Before that, itwas like ‘Where’s the creativi-ty?’” In the Capitol Riverfront’hood, along the AnacostiaRiver, the Nationals’ new base-ball stadium debuted this springas the first LEED-certified ball-park in the country. And thissummer, D.C. launched thecountry’s first bike-share pro-gram, with a fleet of 100 four-speed cruisers; $40 gets you ayear of access all over town. THE LIFE: Just ask young, ultra-fit D.C. mayor Adrian Fenty. Thethree-mile run along the Nation-al Mall, from Capitol Hill to theLincoln Memorial, is, um, monu-mental. Off-road, 1,754-acre

THE REVIVAL: High crime,buttoned-up Beltway vibe,sweltering summers, a coked-out mayor, taxation withoutrepresentation, and eight yearsof an unpopular administrationaren’t great for a city’s image,but don’t let all that stuff foolyou. D.C. has been busily work-ing for change lately.

After Marion Barry made amess of the mayor’s office, Con-gress exercised its right to rule

and took charge in 1995. Whenthe D.C. regained control, in2001, the money started pouringin, jump-starting a civic revivaloverdue since the race riots of1968. Run-down neighbor-hoods—northwest’s AdamsMorgan, U Street, and China-town—began attracting youngentrepreneurs. “D.C. has seen aninflux of independent businessowners,” says Warren Brown, alawyer turned baker who openedhugely popular CakeLove on U

Rock Creek Park offers 40 milesof urban trails, or ride or run theC&O Canal towpath in George-town. Upstream, Great Falls of-fers Class V rapids. On U Street,chill with some vino at Cork,then catch live jazz at BohemianCaverns. —KATIE ARNOLDTHE STATS:Pop. 581,500 Median age: 35Med. household income:$51,900Med. home value: $437,700 Avg. commute: 29 mins. Largest employers (metro):Federal government, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, SAIC,Inova Health, U. of Maryland

1. Washington, D.C.

Use Your Head OXFORD, MISSISSIPPI (POP. 14,100)In Oxford, bookish is beautiful. Despite Mississippi’s ranking last in high school graduationand among the highest in poverty, the town has developed into a cultural hub for the DeepSouth by taking full advantage of its local institution of higher education, Ole Miss, and bycelebrating its unique literary history—both William Faulkner and John Grisham have calledOxford home. The town taps into that history as much as possible, whether through themuseum at Rowan Oak, Faulkner’s home, or with its famous Double Decker Arts Festival,held each spring. Even the town’s mayor is in on the game—he’s the owner of the inde-pendent bookstore anchoring the town square. And this fall, the Mississippi hamlet will takea national spotlight as it hosts the first general-election presidential debate—expect anunfettered flow of ideas on the nation’s future. Just don’t be surprised if the best ones comefrom the Oxonians themselves. —RYAN KROGH

oBright Idea

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THE REVIVAL: Chattanooga’ssurrounded by mountains andrivers, but like so many manufac-turing towns, it turned its backon its natural assets. In the mid-’60s, the city went from industri-al boom to rusting bust whenlocal steelmakers and foundriesclosed their doors, leaving a de-crepit, nearly abandoned down-town and a community in direneed of an aesthetic and eco-nomic overhaul.

The Tennessee River flowsthrough town, and urban renew-al in the ’90s centered on a totaldo-over of the nearly nonexist-ent waterfront, including con-struction of an aquarium andten-mile river walk; 2002 saw$120 million invested in, amongother things, a pedestrian pier,free public boat slips, and thenew Renaissance Park, on theNorth Shore. “That’s the Chat-tanooga way,” says forester GeneHyde of the community-drivenoverhaul. The Greenspaces pro-gram will invest $2 million overthree years to transform down-town condos, offices, and shopsinto LEED-certified buildings;

the Take Rootproject recruitslocals to plantsome 2,000 treesin the urban for-est; and there areplans to develop100 miles of sin-gletrack withinten miles ofChattanooga by2010. All of whichhas remade

2. Chattanooga,Tennessee

THE WORD ON THE STREET: D.C.“Don’t think D.C. is all about politics; it’s full of diversity,and practically any adventure you want is within a three-hour radius of the city.” —SARAH WHITING, SUBSCRIBER

Adams Morgan

Georgetown

Faulkner ‘s Rowan Oak

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by the mayor’s rebuilding commis-sion. The breeze is thick with the smellof fresh paint. The street is nearlyshadowless, the Louisiana sun unbro-ken. This pronounced absence, opensky where the crowns of trees former-ly reigned, is the

oBright Idea

Do It Yourself NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA (POP. 327,000)You say you want a reconstruction? In the Big Easy, it’s the regular folks, with help from a host of smart non-profits, who are resurrecting the city. BY WELLS TOWER

downtown into a live/work/playcrossroads with half a dozenparks, a new organic grocer, andthe annual Riverbend music fes-tival, which spans nine days andsix stages.THE LIFE: The much-reveredTennessee Wall serves up year-round trad climbing, and moun-tain bikers flock to RaccoonMountain—both just a few min-utes from downtown. Chatta -nooga’s best carbo load comescompliments of Aretha Frank -ensteins, an all-day pancake

joint in the up-and-comingNorth Shore district. —K.A.THE STATS:Pop. 151,900Median age: 38Med. household income:$37,000 Med. home value: $119,900Avg. commute: 19 mins.Largest employers: BlueCrossBlueShield of Tennessee, HamiltonCo. Dept. of Education, ErlangerHealth, Tennessee Valley Authority,McKee Foods

THE WORD ON THE STREET: CHATTANOOGA“A very scenic, very happening, and very easy place tolive, with unlimited options for climbing, caving, biking,hiking, and paddling.” —PATRICK JOHNSON, SUBSCRIBER

BEST TOWNS 2008

Rocheblave Street, in New Orleans’sBroadmoor district, resounds withthe squabbling of wild parakeetsand the whine of power tools. It’s aMonday morning in late April in thisrecovering 2,400-home neighbor-hood, initially marked for demolition continued on page 113

Georgia’s Rock CityGardens,

outside Chattanooga

Rock ’n’ Bowl Mid City Lanes

Mardi Gras 2008

BEST TOWNS continued inside foldout

OUTSIDE: How did the Musi-cians’ Village come about? CONNICK: Branford Marsalis and Iwere driving from New Orleans tothe Houston Astrodome to visitsome of the people there, and westarted talking about what wecould do. It’s turned out to be agreat success, thankfully.

New Orleans musicians tend tobe a pretty freewheeling, inde-pendent tribe. Why was it im-portant to build a place for themto live together? To have a home.Most of these people were rentingbefore. Now they own their ownhomes. It’s an incredible feeling. It’sa great place to be, so they’repretty excited.

When you talk to folks in NewOrleans about who’s rebuildingthe city, they talk about you,Brad Pitt—entertainers, not thegovernment. Katrina literally blew

the lid off of a lot of problems, astragic as it was. Not only the classand race issues but governmentalissues. But it’s over. Enough already.People are constantly talking,blaming, and—you know, be quietand do the work. The city itself isjust an incredible place, and peoplewant to be a part of it, people wholive here and people who visit. Wedon’t want that to go away, and Ithink folks are going to keep onmoving ahead.

What else are you up to these days? The Village is still kick-ing, and we’re just keeping going. I’malso doing a movie down here calledLiving Proof. It’s the true story of adoctor who came up with a suc-cessful treatment for breast cancer.[What Connick doesn’t mention isthat he managed to get the studio tomove the entire production to NewOrleans, providing a huge boost tothe local economy. —Ed.]

Q&A

Hometown HeroHarry Connick Jr. on the new New Orleans BY WELLS TOWER

Connick at his Habitat forHumanity–sponsored Musicians’ Village, one ofthe many philanthropic endeavors born in thewake of Hurricane Katrina

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THE REVIVAL: A hundred yearsago, this Utah outpost—45minutes north of Salt Lake, inthe foothills of the Wasatch—was a hopping railroad junc-tion. But after the diesel engineand I-15 came through, in the’50s and ’60s, Ogden faded intoanonymity as a blue-collarmanufacturing burg with gobsof overlooked natural assets.

Soon after 38-year-oldmayor Matthew Godfrey tookoffice, in 2000, he hatched amad plan: Transform Ogdeninto the adventure-sports capi-tal of America. “Boulder palesin comparison to what we have,”says Godfrey, who took an “Ifyou build it, they will come” ap-proach and green-lighted theconstruction of two kayak parks(the Class III–IV Ogden andWeber rivers flow throughtown); a paved trail network;and a rec center complete withclimbing wall, vertical windtunnel, and standing surf wave.Soon after, ski-brand giantAmer moved its HQ to town,along with 20 other outdoor-gear makers. Next up: a year-round, holographic ice tower

3. Ogden, Utah

(the brainchild of climbing leg-end and Ogden native JeffLowe), aquatic centers, and avelodrome. For now, Ogden isunpretentious and adrenalin-ized. And, unlike in Boulder, youcan still nab a midcentury brickbungalow right in town for lessthan 200 grand. THE LIFE: When more thannine inches of snow hits the

mountains, Ogden rings the“powder bell” and locals hightailit to uncrowded Snowbasin, 20minutes away. Come summer,mountain bikers hammer theShoreline Trail’s 20 miles offoothill singletrack. The Bing-ham Cyclery’s café/bakery, onthe Ogden River, is the ren-dezvous point for A.M. caffeineand weekend rides. —K.A.THE STATS: Pop. 81,000Median age: 29Med. household income:$36,500Med. home value: $114,700Avg. commute: 22 mins.Largest employers: IRS,McKay-Dee Hospital, WeberSchool District, Autoliv, WeberState U.

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NISTHE WORD ON THE STREET: OGDEN

“Don’t tell too many people about it.” —JERYL DETMER, SUBSCRIBER

Find Your CenterOAKLAND, CALIFORNIA (POP. 397,000)Want to curb urban sprawl, boost the economy, and reduce inner-citycrime? Get people to move downtown. It worked for Jerry Brown. In1999, Oakland’s then-mayor decided to direct more of the city’s focuson downtown Oakland through his 10K Housing Initiative, a plan to at-tract 10,000 new residents to the city center by streamlining the per-mit process and creating economic incentives for developers. Theresult? More than 10,000 housing units are in various stages of plan-ning or completion—far surpassing the original goal—and the area ishome to some 40 new restaurants, 15 new art galleries, and 18 newnightclubs. Even the skyline is different, thanks to a 20-story condocomplex on Lake Merritt and a nearly completed 22-story high-rise onGrand Avenue. All this in a town that, according to Rand McNally, hasthe best weather in the country. —R.K.

Antelope Island, inthe Great Salt Lake

oBright Idea

The 25th Street Carand Motorcycle Show

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artists—with eight indie theaters, including the renovat-ed Music Hall (circa 1878), half adozen galleries, a film fest, aslow-food movement, and livemusic seven nights a week at thePress Room and other hole-in-the-wall clubs. (When the alter-native newsweekly invited localbands to record albums, it got165 submissions.) Homegrowncreative startups like Hatchling,a boutique animation firm, andthe Button Factory, a warren ofartists’ studios, have taken overdowntown’s brick warehouses.And, thanks to the Smuttynoseand Redhook microbreweries,even the beer is locally crafted. THE LIFE: In June, New Hamp-shire became the first state tomark its (admittedly small) por-tion of the East Coast Green-way, a 3,000-mile multi-use

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THE REVIVAL: A shipbuildingcenter in the 18th century, thisPiscataqua River town, just up -stream from the coast, lost itsbest customer (the British) afterthe War of 1812, and its historicwaterfront quickly turned SkidRow. In the ’70s, urban plannersthreatened to raze the place, butpreservationists blocked thewrecking ball.

Are cobblestone streets andtchotchkes still de rigueur? Sure,but Portsmouth is now an unex-pectedly hip town with a decid-edly DIY vibe. “Some thingshave stayed the same, but plentyhas changed,” says historian J. Dennis Robinson of the city’sold-and-new vibe. These days,this compact, walkable city anhour from both Boston andPortland has become a magnetfor emerging musicians and

4. Portsmouth, New Hampshire

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THE WORD ON THE STREET: PORTSMOUTH“We have the best of both worlds, no matter the season.Enjoy the water, or drive an hour to the White Mountainsor Boston.” —RHONDA STACY-COYLE, SUBSCRIBER

THE REVIVAL: Except for abrief heyday in the 1880s, whenthe Northern Pacific Railroadwas completed and “the City ofDestiny” became its westernterminus, this Puget Sound porthas been overshadowed by Seat-tle, 30 miles north. In the 1980s,trains stopped running to UnionStation, and Tacoma’s businessdistrict became a dead zone.

But nothing breathes new lifeinto an inner-city ghost townlike a couple thousand collegekids. In 1990, the University of

5. Tacoma, Washington

Think BigSACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA (POP. 453,800)Why transform only a section of the city when you can transform theentire region? That’s what Sac ra mento is hoping to do with its Railyardsproject, one of the largest urban-restoration initiatives in U.S. history.Once the terminus of the 1869 Transcontinental Railroad, downtownSacramento has more recently been known as a terminal wasteland.Now the Railyards is offering the city a 240-acre blank slate of real es-tate to reenvision its future on. The plan calls for some 12,000 housingunits, more than half a million square feet of retail space, a museum,plazas, a marketplace, and even a new rail center. It will take 20 yearsto complete, but when it’s finished it will nearly double the size of thedowntown business district, bringing in an estimated $2.7 billion ofbusiness per year. Some of which has already arrived: Since 2007, 23restaurants have opened downtown, along with 37 retail stores and anumber of new hotels, including the Citizen, a 197-room boutique hotel,opening this fall, whose name was chosen by . . . the citizens. —R.K.

oBright Idea

trail that runs parallel to thecoast from Maine to Florida. Forpretty reliable waves, try thesandy beach breaks at JennessBeach or the Wall, about fivemiles south of town on Route1A. For the best fresh seafood,head to Pesce Blue. —K.A.THE STATS:Pop. 20,600Median age: 38.5Med. household income:$45,200Med. home value: $318,000Avg. commute: 22 mins.Largest employers: LibertyMutual, Portsmouth Regional Hos-pital, City of Portsmouth, LonzaBiologics, Demoulas Market Basket

BEST TOWNS 2008

The California StateRailroad Museum

The South End

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Washington opened its Tacomacampus, on Pacific Avenue, andUnion Station was resurrectedas a federal courthouse. Plus,

Refurb SuburbiaLEVITTOWN, NEW YORK (POP. 44,000)American suburbs have always lacked originality, but the country’sfirst suburb, Levittown, 20 miles east of New York City, is breakingthe mold. Green Levittown, a unique partnership that exemplifiesthe best kind of civic harmony, has brought together the city gov-ernment, a regional nonprofit, and local businesses to send can-vassers door to door, explaining the benefits of going green (e.g.,saving money) and then helping them do it. The changes rangefrom simple—like converting to compact fluorescent lightbulbs,12,000 of which were given away—to more ambitious, like replacinginefficient heating boilers. Homeowners are offered special low-interest loans to help pay for the upgrades, and businesses—froma solar-panel manufacturer to a local appliance store—offer theirservices at reduced rates. So far, more than 1,800 homeownershave signed on, and the goal is to reduce the city’s carbon emis-sions by 10 percent this year alone. It’s heartening proof that resi-dents, businesses, and the environment can all win. —R.K.

THE WORD ON THE STREET: TACOMA“Mount Rainier, a mild climate, Point Defiance Park,scuba diving, clean air, Commencement Bay, no stateincome tax ...” —LUCINDA WEDDLE, SUBSCRIBER

6. Ithaca, New York

THE REVIVAL: It’s not toohard to shine when you boastmore than a little Ivy Leagueintellect, but even this progres-sive, two-college town at thefoot of upstate New York’s Fin-ger Lakes has had a run of badluck. In the ’60s, the loss ofsmall-scale manufacturingalong the city’s Cayuga Lakewaterfront sent Ithaca into prolonged stagnation.

Thankfully, with CornellUniversity and Ithaca Collegefacing off above town, localsdidn’t have to look far for cre-ative solutions. Phase one:transforming two and a halfblocks of down town into theCommons, a mid-’70s versionof Burlington’s and Boulder’strendy walking malls. Thingsgot crunchier in 1996, whenthe country’s largest EcoVil-lage, a 60-home sustainablecommunity with two organicfarms, opened outside of

70 Outside

acre Point Defiance. With 15miles of trails, a kayak launch,and squid jigging off TacomaNarrows, it’s one of the largestcity parks in the country. THE LIFE: On a clear day,Rainier’s snow cone looms,just 40 miles away, and it’sjust 60 to the slopes of CrystalMountain. Divers take theSouth Sound plunge at TitlowBeach, but kayaking Com-mencement Bay is the after-work adventure du jour. OnSixth Avenue, locals enjoyfresh oysters at Asado and livemusic at Jazzbones. —K.A.THE STATS: Pop. 199,700Median age: 36Med. household income:$44,300Med. home value: $228,300Avg. commute: 24 mins.Largest employers (county): Fort Lewis, Tacoma Public Schools, McChord AirForce Base, State of Washington, MultiCare Health

The Sound to Narrows 12K

Enfield Glen gorge, in Robert H. Treman

State Park,outside Ithaca

oBright Idea

with the renovation of anumber of 1920s-era vaude-ville theaters and the con-struction of several newmuseums, Tacoma’s nowknown as a vibrant arts cen-ter. The city’s 2006 cleanupof the Thea Foss Waterway, once a toxic Superfund site,prompted a major rethink ofthe languishing Commence-ment Bay waterfront. “Ourvision is to increase urbandensity while respecting thenatural space,” says the citycouncil’s Marilyn Strickland.“We’ve tapped only about

one-tenth of its potential.” An$84 million initiative will ex-pand an already extensive parkssystem, which includes 702-

Commencement Bay and Rainier

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town. The pace of change hasonly escalated in the past tenyears, with a much-neededspiffing up along Cayuga’sshores. Two miles of pavedwaterfront trail have alreadybeen finished, with four more to go, and local visionary MackTravis and his son, Frost, arecleaning up and transforming theIthaca Gun factory (a crumblingbrick structure with a lead-contaminated field next to 150-foot Ithaca Falls) into condos.Downtown, the old Woolworthbuilding is now the library, anabandoned printing plant is nowlive/work, and the EcoVillage isadding another 30 homes.

THE LIFE: Locals cycle centuriesaround Cayuga, trail-run por-tions of the 562-mile FingerLakes Trail, and hike to LuciferFalls, in nearby Robert H.Treman State Park. The legen-darily veggie MoosewoodRestaurant has been a SenecaStreet landmark since 1973. —K.A.THE STATS: Pop. 30,000Median age: 22Med. household income:$21,400Med. home value: $183,500Avg. commute: 14 mins.Largest employers: Cornell U.,Ithaca College, BorgWarner, IthacaCity School District, Cayuga Medical

THE WORD ON THE STREET: ITHACA“Where else in the U.S. does the Dalai Lama have a residence?”—JENESS RUHANEN, SUBSCRIBER

Make the SwitchCORVALLIS, OREGON (POP. 49,800)Corvallis is far from the undiscovered jewel it once was—it’s within 90 minutes of world-class skiing, the Ore-gon coast, and blue-ribbon salmon fishing—but in recent years the city has picked up verve from a new prom-enade on the Willamette River and a steady transition to renewable energy. In 2006, Corvallis became thesecond U.S. city (after Moab) to be named an EPA Green Power Community. Thanks in part to Pacific Power’sBlue Sky Program, 15 percent of power users—from the city government to businesses to residences—are par-ticipating in the purchase of renewables like wind and geothermal power. The green push began in 1997 as partof the town’s 20/20 Vision Statement, a blueprint guiding all aspects of the town’s growth until 2020. The newriverfront park, completed in 2002 as part of the vision statement, has helped attract more than a dozen newcafés, restaurants, and spas, proving that being farsighted isn’t so bad after all. —R.K.

7. Louisville,Kentucky

THE REVIVAL: Louisville, a hubfor higher education, horse cul-ture, and bourbon distillationsince the 19th century, neverquite hit bottom. But this inde-pendent-minded, even-keeledcity on the Ohio River—it’s notquite the South, not quite theNorth, and not quite the Mid-west—took a turn for the worsein the ’70s and ’80s, when localsfled town for the ’burbs andurban rot set in.

Return to Your RootsWILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA(POP. 95,900)A famed railroad town and ship-building port during WWII, Wil-mington suffered mightily afterthe war effort ended. But PortCity recaptured its past glory byturning to . . . its port. The state’sports authority purchased sky-scraper-size cranes to handlecargo containers, and the city invested millions to preserve his-toric buildings along the water-front. The efforts helped attractnew businesses, diversify theeconomy, and make Wilmingtonone of America’s fastest-grow-ing cities in the nineties. Withnearby beaches along the CapeFear coast, an ever-expandingRiverwalk, a National Registerhistoric district comprising morethan 230 blocks, and a renewedeconomy that has been fueledpartly by an active filmmakingsector, “Wilmywood” has becomemuch more than a shadow of itsformer self. –R.K.

oBright Idea As luck would have it, though,back in the 1890s prescient cityfathers hired landscape guru Fred-erick Law Olmsted’s firm to de-sign more than 1,500 acres’ worthof urban parks. In 2005, longtimemayor Jerry Abramson announcedambitious plans to create 4,000acres of new greenspace and linkall city parks with a 100-milewalk-and-bike trail. To date, 23miles of the Louisville Loop havebeen completed, winding throughwoodsy, historic neighborhoodsdating back 150 years. The cyclistmayor has also added 40 miles ofbike lanes to city streets and re-quired that all new roads be builtwith designated lanes. Downtownis rebounding with a vengeance,fueled by a surge in the local logis-tics business—UPS moved some

THE WORD ON THE STREET:LOUISVILLE“Big-city action, small-cityprice, hometown feel.” —ANDREA HIGGINS, SUBSCRIBER

BEST TOWNS 2008Cornell University

The Kentucky Derby;above, cult music shop Ear X-tacy

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THE REVIVAL: Four hours northof San Francisco, HumboldtCounty is home to half theworld’s old-growth redwoods,so for much of its 155-year histo-ry, timber was king. With theremaining trees mostly off-lim-its, Eureka’s economy has beenin dire need of diversificationthese past few decades.

Counterculture roots (way-ward San Fran hippies have longfound refuge here) and prime realestate on Humboldt Bay, howev-er, have helped make Eureka anemerging NoCal arts capital. Lastyear saw the reopening of the1920 Sweasey Theatre, in OldTown, a historic district dottedwith hundred-year-old Victori-ans. Small independent busi-nesses and boutiques that hadfled for the malls in the seventies,depressing downtown in theprocess, are moving back. Long a haven for more traditionalpainters, Eureka’s gone mod inthe past few years, with the FR

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8. Eureka, Californiaopening of contemporary-artspaces like Accident Gallery, in anold warehouse/roller rink. A five-block boardwalk has breathednew life into the waterfront alongHumboldt Bay, which still gener-ates about two-thirds of thestate’s oyster harvest and is keptclean by Humboldt Baykeeper. THE LIFE: A bridge connects OldTown Eureka to Woodley Island,which shelters an egret rookeryand has a marina that rents seakayaks. When the harvests arebountiful, crabbers sell their catchright off the boat for $4 a pound.Head south 30 minutes to Hum-boldt Redwoods State Park tomountain-bike or 20 minutesnorth to Trinidad to surf. —K.A.THE STATS: Pop. 27,000Median age: 37Med. household income:$29,600Med. home value: $262,250Avg. commute: 15 mins.Largest employers: City of Eureka, Schmidbauer Building Supply, SN Servicing, Costco, the Times-Standard

Start at the TopSEATTLE (POP. 582,500)Want a green city? Elect a green mayor. Want a green planet? ElectSeattle’s mayor, Greg Nickels. Since taking office in 2001, Nickels hasbeen at the forefront of fighting global warming, convincing more than850 U.S. cities to sign on to his U.S. Conference of Mayors ClimateProtection Agreement, which aims to meet or beat Kyoto Protocoltargets. Not surprisingly, Nickels is just as devoted to his own con-stituents, doing everything from installing hundreds of bike racksaround the city to backing a $75 million renovation of iconic Pike PlaceMarket. As with his national agenda, it’s his green initiatives here thatget the most attention, like bringing the city’s fleet of hybrid vehiclesto 330 (plus the one Nickels traded his Town Car for), and his newestplanet-saving brainstorm: placing a 20-cent “green fee” on all paperand plastic shopping bags, with the city providing free reusable bagsfor residents. For Seattleites, grassroots are great, but it also helps tohave a good head on your shoulders. —R.K.

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of its operations here in the early’80s, and in the past decade morethan 100 other companies havefollowed—and over $2.5 billion innew construction. THE LIFE: Proof on Main, in thenew 21c Museum Hotel, is thecity’s hippest address, with con-temporary art on the walls and50 Kentucky-made bourbons on the menu. Located almost entirely within city limits—whoknew?—6,200-acre Jefferson

THE WORD ON THE STREET: EUREKA“Great atmosphere, and you can travel from five to 30 min-utes and be completely surrounded by wilderness.” —CINDY SHERER-HORN, SUBSCRIBER

Memorial Forest offers easy-access hiking, fishing, camping,and horseback trails. —K.A.THE STATS: Pop. 701,500Median age: 39Med. household income:$43,400Med. home value: $141,600Avg. commute: 21 mins.Largest employers: UPS, Ford, Norton Healthcare, Humana, JewishHospital & St. Mary’s Healthcare, GE

BEST TOWNS 2008

The mouth of the Mattole River,

on the Lost Coastoutside Eureka

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triggered a real estate feedingfrenzy, with dilapidated Victoriansand miners’ shacks alike startingbidding wars. Now, with long-awaited upgrades under way at theski area—including a totally re-vamped base area, swank lodges,and the possible, controversial ex-pansion to adjacent SnodgrassMountain—“Colorado’s last greatski town” is all abuzz. Once theholdout of elite athletes, formerhippies, and powder dropouts,

down-to-earth CB is at-tracting a new crop of youngfamilies and telecommuterslooking for a laid-back andaffordable alternative toglitzier counterparts likeTelluride and Aspen. There’sa boutique bookbinder on Second Street, a newfarmers’ market every Sun-day in summer and fall, anda steady stream of locals oncruiser bikes. THE LIFE: The ’80s saw aslow and steady prolifera-tion of singletrack outsidetown, making the Butte a

Seek BalanceCHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA (POP. 40,300)Back in the ’70s, when Charlottesville’s now iconic downtown pedestrianmall was being constructed, three dozen willow oak and ash trees wereplanted along the central walkway. By the ’90s, the mature trees were pay-ing off, drawing people downtown to the shady sidewalks. C-ville took no-tice and kicked off a management plan for its urban forests. This year thecity is using GPS and satellite imagery to inventory the trees on all its pub-lic land and analyze the city’s tree canopy. The information will be used tobalance out the natural environment within the urban surroundings, bothfor environmental benefits, like air quality and carbon sequestration, andfor aesthetic appeal. To offset the urban-heat-island effect, the city hasinstalled green roofs on city hall and the police station, with a goal of cov-ering 40 percent of the city in green. Charlottesville is finally reaping therewards of having planted a few key seeds. —R.K.

74 Outside

THE STATS: Pop. 1,600Median age: 31Med. household income:$41,250Med. home value: $301,100Avg. commute: 10 mins.Largest employer: Crested ButteMountain Resort

THE REVIVAL: Crested Buttemade its name as a coal town inthe 1880s, then relaunched 80years later as a ski bum’s nirvana.But thanks to inconsistent snow-fall and a remote, road’s-end location at the foot of the WestElk Mountains, hard times camecalling in the late ’80s.

The energy returned when thetown’s eponymous ski resortchanged hands in 2004. News of its imminent modernization

9. Crested Butte, Colorado

true trail-riding mecca. Even on asleety night, you’ll see locals tak-ing to the Lower Loop with snow-suited toddlers strapped in back,and half the town volunteers tomaintain their beloved trails, likethe legendary 401. Fly-fishing,hiking, and skiing are literally justout the back door. —K.A.

THE WORD ON THE STREET: CRESTED BUTTE“It’s a beautiful place, the skiing is sick, and the bike trailsare sublime. A quirky community of wonderful people.”—J.C. LEACOCK, SUBSCRIBER

BEST TOWNS 2008

At the Blue Hole, outside Charlottesville

The Third Bowl,Crested Butte Mountain oBright Idea

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town Columbia with the KatyTrail, a 225-mile rails-to-trailstraverse that follows Lewis andClark’s route along the MissouriRiver. Nearby Easley Hill is cen-tral Missouri’s toughest bike climb, and boaters float themighty Missouri from Catfish

Katy’s to Cooper’sLanding, 90 min-utes downstream.Back in town,fresh-obsessedSycamore sourcesits ingredients fromlocal farms andgrowers, andShakespeare’s is thelocals’ pick forpizza. —K.A.THE STATS: Pop. 92,900Median age: 28Med. household

income: $38,300 Med. home value: $164,700Avg. commute: 15 mins.Largest employers: U. of Missouri, Columbia Public Schools, Boone Hospital, City of Columbia, MBS Textbook Exchange C

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Grow Your OwnBRATTLEBORO, VERMONT (POP. 11,700)Even for dedicated locavores, the100-mile diet is mostly an idealisticnotion. But for the residents of Brat-tleboro, buying local is a way of life.The small town hosts one of thelargest farmers’ markets in New Eng-land, with 50-odd regional vendors;is home to more than half a dozenCommunity Supported Agriculture,or CSA, farms, selling shares of every-thing from apples to pork; and has alocal-food co-op that boasts morethan 4,500 members, almost half the population. Nearly every storeon Main Street is locally owned, stocks local products, or markets it-self as fair trade. Brattleboro nonprofit Post Oil Solutions promotescommunity gardens for residents and organizes weeklong locavorechallenges in which participants source all of their food from within thestate. Farms sell starter kits for the event, restaurants serve special en-trées, and residents even hold nightly potluck dinners. In Brattleboro,the best stuff is always just around the corner. —R.K.

THE REVIVAL: Before the Uni-versity of Missouri was estab-lished, in 1839, Columbia—in therolling foothills of the Ozarks—was just a stagecoach stop enroute to California. As it grew, itbecame a hub for higher educa-tion (downtown boasts threecolleges) and insurance firms butgained a rep as a staid, boring,and straitlaced community inneed of a makeover.

Done. CoMo is swinging thesedays. In 2000, local filmmakerDavid Wilson, 33, helped openthe Ragtag Cinema, a smallindie-film house downtown.Four years later, he co-foundedTrue/False, an annual documen-tary-film festival that draws in-ternational raves and is at theforefront of Columbia’s creativerevival. Developers have retrofit-ted old meatpacking warehousesinto SoHo-style lofts and artspaces. Nearby, you’ll find “theDiaper Factory,” which houses adance troupe, artists’ studios,and a café. This summer, the1928 Tiger Hotel will get a bou-tique facelift, complete with req-uisite mod eatery. Columbiarecently scored a $22.5 million

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THE WORD ON THE STREET: COLUMBIA“My stress level is half what it was on the East Coast, and sois my rent. Heaven for cyclists.” —EMMA MARRIS, SUBSCRIBER

10. Columbia,Missouri

READERS’ CHOICE

Survey Says. . .What U.S. city do our subscriberslust to live in the most? Whatmakes or breaks a place? Checkout the results of our dream-towns recon at outsideonline.com/ townssurvey2008.

federal grant to develop a city-wide trail system to add to its 65urban parks, including 32-acreCapen Park, with its limestonetop-rope routes. THE LIFE: The nine-mile, run-or-ride MKT spur links down-

BEST TOWNS 2008

The 63 Diner

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The ColumbiaFestival of the Arts

Goofing at the U of M

The Twilight Festival

Nearby Shelburne Farms

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