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Milford, PA was recently named one of the ten coolest small towns in America by a major travel publication. It is home to quite a bit of artisans and artists. The town is the seat of Pike County, the fastest-growing county in Pennsylvania, and is located about 90 minutes northwest of NYC and 45 minutes east of Scranton, PA. Here is a photo tour of the town:
Further northwest are the communities of Honesdale and Hawley, PA, both of which also have growing art communities. Honesdale is the largest of these three communities, with a population of about 6,000, and it has a nostalgic Main Street atmosphere with a lot of sidewalk sales and annual festivals. Hawley is a tiny hamlet that packs quite a bit of punch in its small boundaries. It is also the gateway community to popular Lake Wallenpaupack.
Here are my photo tours of Honesdale and Hawley respectively:
If you wanted a more medium-sized city, both Scranton and Bethlehem, PA are reinventing themselves as former gritty blue-collar industrial communities into trendy areas with a lot of galleries, lofts, studios, etc., and both have about 75,000 residents. Bethlehem is further ahead on its urban renaissance than Scranton is, but Scranton's crime level and cost-of-living have remained much more reasonable than Bethlehem's, so be sure to weigh all of your options in that category. Bethlehem is about 90-minutes from either Philly or NYC, and Scranton is about 2-hours from either city. There have been rumors going around that both Bethlehem and Scranton will someday be linked via commuter rail to NYC, but I've yet to see progress on either city's front in that respect. Here are photo tours I have done of each city:
Another vote for Santa Fe. Or Scottsdale, AZ too (if you can handle the weather). When I visit Door County, WI, I see several galleries around too. Figured that might be worth mentioning.
Asheville, NC is supposed to have a very nice arts community (never been, but I heard about it).
There are probably also lots of other small towns that have strong artistic communities. There are probably towns/small cities in New England that have a lot of artists and creative people. I was in Provincetown, RI some time ago and it seemed to have a very artistic type of community.
Eugene, Oregon and the Oregon coast are very art oriented. Also the little town of Madrid, New Mexico is basically an artist commune that functions as a town. Santa Fe a few miles to the north is also known for its art community and numerous galleries.
I was in Provincetown, RI some time ago and it seemed to have a very artistic type of community.
that doesn't exist. you mean either providence, RI (the city & capital of RI); or provincetown, MA (the last town on the tip of cape cod). i guess both could fit the qualifications, but providence more so since it's a huge college town and pretty artsy.
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Arts community
you mean either providence, RI (the city & capital of RI); or provincetown, MA (the last town on the tip of cape cod). i guess both could fit the qualifications, but providence more so since it's a huge college town and pretty artsy.
