a bridge in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Boulder from the First Flatiron in Colorado
the Liberty Bridge at Falls Park, Greenville, South Carolina
the Northern Lights over Lake Hood, Anchorage, Alaska
a boat sailing past a lighthouse in Annapolis, Maryland
Street Musicians in New Orleans, Louisiana
Madison, Wisconsin
a cook-off competition in Reno, Nevada
sunset at a winery in Healdsburg, California
a giant swing in Santa Cruz, California
Charleston, South Carolina
downtown Olympia, Washington at night.
the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia
Spokane Falls at sunset, in Spokane, Washington
a diner and a Cadillac on Route 66 in Albuquerque, New Mexico
South Dakota, Rapid City
a park bridge in Ann Arbor, Michigan
the Social Lounge in Asheville, North Carolina
the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge
hula dancers performing at Waikiki Beach in Honolulu
Kansas City, Missouri
a promenade around a lake, Lake Mirror, Lakeland, Florida, USA
downtown Newport, Rhode Island
Portland Head Lighthouse, Portland, Maine
Louisville, Kentucky, USA skyline on the river.
Potomac Street, Hagerstown, Maryland
Pensacola, Florida
the historic Old Market district, Omaha, Nebraska
Finlay Park Fountain, Columbia, South Carolina
Union Square in Hickory, North Carolina
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PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIAThough Pittsburgh’s iconic Iron City Ale is now produced an hour away in Latrobe, the Burgh is home to more than 30 craft breweries. Many of the suds are made and poured in rehabbed historic buildings, such as a decommissioned 1902 Catholic church (Church Brew Works) and a 19th-century school (11th Hour Brewing Co.). In the pipeline: a 50,000-square-foot brewpub/museum.
Photograph by John Barbiaux

The Best Cities in the United States

Ratings reveal unexpected travel surprises in 30 smaller cities.

ByGeorge W. Stone and Amy Alipio
Reported byJennifer Barger
January 15, 2018
2 min read

The most exciting travel story in America right now? The resurgence of cities large and small.

At Nat Geo Travel, we’re passionate about tales of urban renewal, about communities that have collaborated to improve their Main Streets, about smart cities that have pursued development policies that produce happiness.

For this story, we partnered with Resonance Consultancy, a global destination branding advisor, to identify the top U.S. small cities based on unconventional metrics that we think lead to happiness: green spaces, galleries, coffee shops, breweries, music venues, Instagrammable moments, and more.

Next we sorted U.S. cities into three groups based on their population: 40K-100K, 100K-200K, and 200K-600K.

Resonance combined core statistics with social media data (from Yelp, Instagram, and other sources) on nightlife, culture, restaurants, and the like to determine the city leaders for each population group in categories from meatiest (lots of steakhouses and delis) to greenest (most parkland), based on per capita results.

Finally, Traveler editors added in trending cities—towns that didn’t make Resonance’s final cut this year but look as if they could in 2019. Keep your eye on them.

Six places on our list (Boulder, Colorado; Honolulu, Hawaii; Charlottesville, Virginia; Santa Cruz, California; Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Portland, Maine) also appear on a National Geographic list of the happiest cities in America. Happy places for locals are also rewarding places for travelers.

We hope our list of 30 cities inspires enlightening discoveries. 

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