[JerJohn]

I'm doing a project in which I'm trying to gather information about the best 100 USA small towns which are worthy to visit by bigger city residents.
The list should cover all the 52 states.

My criteria for such town are:

- has a population between 1,500 - 15,000
- not a too well known and advertised tourist destination
- has to offer good enough places to sleep, to eat and of course enough things to see / to have some activities to attend which will make it worth to spend there 2-3 days and even to come back maybe each year
- to be situated relatively close to bigger cities of over 100,000 pop, if possible somewhere in a radius of 200 miles

Using online research in the last few weeks, at this point I have over 130 towns in my database, 1-4 from each state, all of which could make my list of 100.

Of course, such project is a lot easier said than done.
It's very hard to be as much objective as possible and to compile such a short list of best small towns to visit, because mostly all online sources are biased, or outdated, or represent just the opinion of the author...

And because of this I'm asking you a little help, with the hope that this thread will also be very useful for others:

Post in this thread about Alabama towns which you think should make such a list as above, and also why do you have this opinion.
No problem if you are resident of such town, just try to be objective please!

Thanks.

[humacaena]

youtube/smalltownflavor

It features Fairhope Alabama, one of the best small towns in the USA.

[Reactionary]

JerJohn = "The list should cover all the 52 states."

Y u no run for President?

[JerJohn]

Originally Posted by Reactionary

JerJohn = "The list should cover all the 52 states."

Y u no run for President?

lol

[cpg35223]

Mentone would work.

[harry chickpea]

Those two extra states are the state of shock and the state of denial...

Having grown up in a tourist area, no way would I rat out a sleepy small town for people to invade.

[jakabedy]

Guam and Puerto Rico?

Not states, but . . .

[Reactionary]

I'll go ahead and rat out Dauphin Island, if only because it does want to be a bigger tourist destination that it is.

https://www.city-data.com/city/Dauphi...d-Alabama.html

Population = 1,600.

Not too well known (except by some in the region) or advertised.

There is one hotel or you can rent condos. There are a couple of good local restaurants / bars plus Mary's at Coden is nearby. What really makes makes Dauphin Island stand out are the attractions; in addition to the beaches and fishing, there is the Dauphin Island Sea Lab (small museum / aquarium / research facility), Fort Gaines (of "damn the torpedoes" fame), and the Audubon Bird Sanctuary.

Dauphin Island is about 35 miles southwest of Mobile (population ~200,000).

Dauphin Island is somewhat secluded - it is an island after all, and the island didn't have road access to the mainland until the 1950s. There is an auto ferry to Fort Morgan / Gulf Shores.

[Reactionary]

jakabedy - if you include Guam and Puerto Rico, then you must add the Northern Mariana Islands and the US Virgin Islands, all of which are 'unincorporated organized territories'. American Samoa is a self-governing 'unincorporated unorganized' territory.

Other than being a typo, I'm not certain of why the OP counts 52 states, or why Obama counts 57...

[JerJohn]

Originally Posted by Reactionary

jakabedy - if you include Guam and Puerto Rico, then you must add the Northern Mariana Islands and the US Virgin Islands, all of which are 'unincorporated organized territories'. American Samoa is a self-governing 'unincorporated unorganized' territory.

Other than being a typo, I'm not certain of why the OP counts 52 states, or why Obama counts 57...

I made just a typo.