Cazenovia was named to the list of the 50 best small towns in America recently, as compiled and ranked by Best Choice Reviews at bestchoicereviews.org.
This is the third time in less than a year that Cazenovia has been included on a list of being the “coolest” or “best” small town in America.
“Small towns have become the central gathering places for residents and visitors of the many small towns and cities across the country. Many of these downtowns have rich history and culture attached to them,” wrote BCR in the introduction to its top 50 list. “In addition to their history, many of these small downtowns are now places to shop, unwind, dine attend festivals, hear music and much more.”
BCR ranked Cazenovia at no. 21 in its top 50 towns, stating, “Cazenovia, New York is a perfect getaway when you need an escape from big city living. The downtown area, known as Albany Street, is like taking a trip back in time. The street has plenty of shopping, dining and historic offerings, including the Scottish-themed Brae Loch Inn. Albany Street looks and feels like it might have 100 years ago. Despite the old-world charm, the town offers all of the modern luxuries and accommodations you are looking for. Nestled into the shores of the lake, Cazenovia is a quaint village that offers visitors many ways to rest and relax.”
In its rankings, BCR defined a small town or city as one with full-time residency of 15,000 or fewer residents as calculated from the 2013 U.S. census. Consideration was given to median age of residents, town income and home prices; and “close attention” was paid to the general appeal of the downtown area, including such things as general appearance, festivals or special events, dining, shopping, entertainment, arts and culture, parks, proximity to airports and hotel amenities available.
According to BCR, attention was “specifically paid” to towns that have been named on a respected ranking list for best small town, best main street or best downtown. These respected ranking bodies include Parade Magazine, Smithsonian magazine, Fox News Travel, Travel and Leisure, Livability or Huffington Post Travel.
“The goal of this ranking is to find the best small town downtown areas for both residents as well as visitors to the area,” according to the website.
BCR’s top three towns in the list were: Traverse City, Mich., at no. 3; Healdsburg, Calif., at no. 2; and Montpelier, Vt., at no. 1.
Cazenovia once again ranked behind no. 17 Berlin, Md. — the town that beat out Cazenovia in last year’s “Coolest Small Towns in America” contest by Budget Travel in February.
In that contest, which was decided by popular voting, Cazenovia rocketed from the bottom of the list to second place in short order, where it and Berlin quickly ran away from the competition. For weeks the two villages were locked in a voting battle, but in the end Berlin, bolstered by a huge public get-out-the-vote campaign, won by seven percentage points; but Cazenovia did retain second place by a large margin.
Cazenovia was also listed in the Huffington Post Travel section list of 15 of America’s Coolest Small Towns at the end of 2014.
To see the full BCR list of its top 50 best towns, visit bestchoicereviews.org/50-best-small-town-downtowns-in-america.
Jason Emerson is editor of the Cazenovia Republican. He can be reached at [email protected].
