Mackinac Island city (village?) isn’t anyone’s idea of a “actual” small town. Fudge shops, bike rental businesses and…?
I just feel like there’s a big difference between a town that’s primarily a tourist attraction and one that has a full-time community of people who aren’t just there to service the tourists (or live in their second homes). If have a hard time coming up with a definitive list of attributes, but I’ve been to Waterford, PA and Chariton, IA, and those towns don’t have the model village feel of the tourist towns.
I’ve been right by Roslyn, Washington a number of times and I’ve been scratching my head as to what you mean by the WDC sprawl until the penny dropped. I mean, nowadays Cle Elum is a big town and all, but sprawl, really? Also there is no Iwo Jima memorial that I know about. 
Oh, hell, I was reading it as being Rosslyn, VA. Color my face red.
I thought it was a woosh based on “Washington” and DCnDC. Perhaps it was a reverse woosh or a hsoow?
Another vote for Mackinac Island’s village isn’t really a small town. I mean, yeah, people live there. Most of them don’t live in the village. A few very wealthy people have houses near town, but most of these are just B&B (but not AirBnB, which seems to be illegal, I think). There are several houses that serve as dormitories for the hundreds of summer employees, but they’re not residents, and they’re only there for the season.
The permanent residents live inland in more humble homes. They’re not poor, but they have lifestyle limitations from living on an island without a major grocery store or Home Depot, on a lake with a frozen solid surface in the winter.
It’s a charming tourist town, and it’s worth a visit. It’s worth many visits. If I were wealthy enough to have a super expensive summer-only house with hired help to fetch groceries, then I’d be one of those rich summer-home-owning folks (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
It’s small, it’s nice, it’s a Michigan village, but putting all of those together does NOT make it one of America’s best small towns.
I’m a big fan of Brattleboro, Vermont (pop. about 12,000). It’s one of the few remaining New England towns with a thriving downtown consisting of independent businesses. With breathtaking scenery all around. Plus, great people-watching, if you want to know where all the old hippies went.
I live about three hours drive from Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It’s nice to visit. It does draw tourists and Branson is an hour away. The traffic may be a concern if you lived there.
I prefer Hot Springs AR. There’s 9 recreational lakes near by. My cousin’s condo has a great view of Lake Hamilton. It was inherited from her husband’s parents. I’d love to retire and own a lake front home.
Everything you stated sound exactly what I want. After living in the Tacoma, Kent and Auburn areas the past 50 years, I want out. My wife and I have friends that have lived there for over 30 years, that is the lifestyle that I want. This afternoon I spent over an hour on southbound 167 stuck in a traffic jam. A traffic jam in Port Townsend stopping so the local deer can cross the road.
There are quite a few small towns in western Massachusetts and Vermont that I think would qualify for a list of best small towns. There are no exurbias, exactly one interstate, politics are typically of the liberal-libertarian variety, education is honored, community spirit is high, small-scale agriculture is a strong value, and if you enjoy the outdoors, or American history, well, there it is.
There’s a great deal of culture all over the place. I live fifteen minutes from a world-class theater group, 20 minutes from several interesting art museums, and less than two hours from MassMOCA and Tanglewood. Three hours to Boston. And if your taste runs to country fairs, there’s one every weekend in summer, somewhere.
I’d be wary of moving to places that make “best small towns” lists, particularly those selected because they’re “trendy” and have drawn a lot of interest from people seeking second or retirement homes.
Commonly there’s strain on local resources (including water supplies), housing developments proliferate, scenic beauty is eroded, taxes go up, and a lot of what attracted new residents begins to disappear. Hardships on existing residents increase, for example what’s been happening in Marfa, Texas (one of the towns on the OP’s “best of” list).
Agree. The island may be the country’s largest tourist trap.
Agree.
Disagree. Unless you have unlimited funds. I took my family (6 adults, 1 kid) there two years ago in September. I spent several hundred bucks that day.
Yup. Breckenridge Colorado used to be a cute small town. It’s still a cute small town but is inundated with tourists and second home owners now. Locals are pretty much priced out of the real estate market.
Many homes/condos used to be rented out by the owners. But now that many people can work from anywhere that rental market has dried up. We have designated areas now set up with port-a-potties where those that cannot find housing can live out of their cars while they search.
I grew up in a very small town - the population now is about 1,000 people. When I was growing up, I’d say it was closer to 1,500. I both loved and hated living there. They were the type of people that would help you up with one hand while talking about you behind your back. But most of my family still lives there, and it is great to visit.