Name recognition in 2021 (small cities and towns) (state, places, population)

[ParaguaneroSwag]

What are some of the more national and international recognized small cities and towns?

Criteria being cities that have less than 150K in population that are the main city within their metro.

Some I can think of

Atlantic City, NJ
Fargo, ND
Aspen, CO
Niagara Falls, NY

[The_Quiet_One]

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

What are some of the more national and international recognized small cities and towns?

Criteria being cities that have less than 150K in population that are the main city within their metro.

Some I can think of

Atlantic City, NJ
Fargo, ND
Aspen, CO
Niagara Falls, NY

Isn't Buffalo the main city in the metro where Niagara Falls is?

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by The_Quiet_One

Isn't Buffalo the main city in the metro where Niagara Falls is?

I stand corrected

[atadytic19]

How about Asheville? Waco was famous in the 90s because of that Cult. Sturgis has an oversized brand. Oh and Green Bay

[FL_Expert]

Here are a few I can think of:

Key West
Maui (if that counts)
Juneau
Jackson, WY
Telluride, CO
Roswell, NM

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by atadytic19

How about Asheville? Waco was famous in the 90s because of that Cult. Sturgis has an oversized brand. Oh and Green Bay

That’s funny. Half the people in the Texas thread were just swearing that no one associates Waco with that anymore.

Good additions on Waco and Green Bay

[MarketStEl]

I'd say that a lot of non-metropolitan beach towns could also fit within this category.

But I think that Palm Beach, Fla., also fits and is a metropolitan core city.

Others that might be on the bubble:

Carmel(-by-the-Sea), Calif.
Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Rehoboth Beach, Del.
Provincetown, Mass.

Galveston, Texas, would fit if it weren't part of Metro Houston already.

Fire Island would fit if Maui fits, but both islands consist of multiple communities, a few of them incorporated cities or villages unto themselves.

[SonySegaTendo617]

Panama City, FL (aka 'redneck riviera') and Fort Lauderdale, FL were famous in the past, for being college spring break party towns. True story, btw: a former aunt of mine was ACTUALLY one of numerous extra actresses from what I was once told, in the 1980s movie Spring Break (yep, about college partying in Fort Lauderdale). I get the sense somehow this might not be as true today about these beach towns, as it used to be like say in the 70s to 90s? I think South Padre Island was a little like this (had that college party town reputation), for south Texas just north of the US/Mexico border.

Asheville, NC is pretty well known (as another hinted at) because of the Biltmore estate, and because it has attracted a lot of new beer microbreweries and transplants. In western states, Bend, OR is similar.

Clarksdale, MS might have a little bit of national and international recognition, because of all its blues bars. Famous actor Morgan Freeman even owns a blues bar there, called Ground Zero.

Rehoboth Beach, might be debatable. It's cool Dogfish Head Brewery is based specifically there IIRC, and has a taproom there. I love their beer, btw. I just can't think if it has much of a famous reputation, beyond that. Maybe I'm not realizing some famous things about Rehoboth, that make it famous?

For Alaska besides Juneau, I'd add Sitka, Nome, and Homer are famous smaller towns there that seem to be popular with tourists. Also Skagway is famous, as well. And I can't forget Ketchikan, that small town is well known too!

[Koji7]

Of places not mentioned yet I think nationally maybe Myrtle Beach, Kalamazoo, Branson, Flagstaff, Walla Walla and Truth or Consequences. I’m stretching it here!

[SonnyDaze]

Santa Fe, NM
Cooperstown, NY
Selma, AL
Branson, MO
Gatlinburg, TN