Smithsonian Magazine: New England Claims Three of Top 20 Small Towns

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

GoLocalWorcester Lifestyle Team

Great Barrington is ranked at the country's best small town.

Looking for a quick getaway in a great small town?

Check out these three New England towns, all ranked by Smithsonian Magazine in its list of the country’s Best Small Towns with cultural amenities as the yardstick.

Great Barrington, MA

Claiming the top honors as the Best Small Town in the country is Great Barrington, MA, located in the southwest corner of the state. This art-rich town, nestled in the Berkshires, is where Arlo Guthrie penned “Alice’s Restaurant Massacre,” and Alice’s former home, Trinity Church, now called the Guthrie Center, now a stage for folk music and place for interfaith spiritual exchange.

Using its own currency, BerkShares, as a way to support local businesses, Great Barrington is all about everything local and is devoted to its family farms, farmers markets and co-op.

The town is home to the Berkshire International Film Festival and the Aston Magna Festival at the Bard College Simon’s Rock campus. If those festivals aren’t enough, Tanglewood, Shakespeare & Company, the Norman Rockwell Museum and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival are all close by.

Brattleboro, VT

Brattleboro is home to the Strolling of the Heifers

Vermont’s oldest town, Brattleboro, claims the number 11 spot on the Smithsonian list.

From a downtown historic district, to its galleries, antique shops and theatres, Brattleboro prides itself as a hidden artistic haven.

Brattleboro is home to the Gallery Walk, which takes place on the first Friday of the month, features more than three dozen local artists, as galleries and museums exhibit new work and host performances.

Annual festivals abound, from the Womens’ Film Festival in March, the summer Brattleboro Literary Festival, and the Brattleboro Music Center’s Northern Roots Festival in January, which celebrates Northern music.

Brunswick, ME

Just up the road from L.L. Bean’s flagship store in Freeport, Brunswick, Maine is ranked 13th on the Smithsonian list.

The Bowdoin College Museum of Art features paintings and sketches by artist Winslow Homer, whose most famous seascapes were painted just a few miles away. The college is also home to the Pearcy-MacMillan Arctic Museum, and is also the summer home of the Maine State Music Theatre.

Brunswick's Outdoor Arts Festival is an Annual Event

Downtown there is the Frontier, a renovated mill space with locally grown organic food, live music, movies and local art, which is highlighted every summer at the Brunswick Outdoor Arts Festival, which awards prizes to the best local artists and craftspeople.

Headed outside of New England? Check out the entire list.