Dog Friendly Annapolis Makes List Of Best Small Cities

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Dog-friendly Annapolis has landed on a list of Small U.S. Cities On the Rise as selected by the editors at National Geographic Traveler magazine. Writers said this week that they looked at 10 "superlatives" and picked 29 cities which were tops in these 10 categories, which includes Annapolis.

You would think that other characteristics would earn Annapolis praise. Maybe its great restaurants serving Maryland blue crab, or the picturesque harbor and summer sailing festivals, or even the Eastport Yacht Club Lights Parade, which was named USA Today's Best Holiday Parade of 2016. That's not the case with the Traveler list, which has a different kind of criteria.

Some cities on the list are tagged as "Trending," like Annapolis. According to the press release,"through Resonance Consultancy's algorithm, Traveler surfaced the cities that ranked the highest for each population size and identified 'trending' cities that didn't top the list this year, but look to be climbing their way up. The Small Cities Index is based on Resonance Consultancy's World's Best Cities program, which is housed on BestCities.org" and features a 'Choose Your Perfect City' tool based on this data, as well as extensive city profiles on their top 100 cities."

Here is the list:

• Anchorage, Alaska (Trending- Most Caffeinated)
• Ann Arbor, Michigan (Greenest)
• Annapolis, Maryland (Trending- Dog Friendly)
• Asheville, North Carolina (Most Artsy, Sudsiest)
• Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Best Groomed)
• Boulder, Colorado (Hipster Friendly, Musically Grooviest, Most Caffeinated, Sudsiest)
• Charleston, South Carolina (Most Instagrammed, Most Artsy)
• Columbia, South Carolina (Best Groomed, Meatiest)
• Greenville, South Carolina (Meatiest)
• Hagerstown, Maryland (Best Groomed)
• Healdsburg, California (Trending- Greenest)
• Hickory, North Carolina (Hipster Friendly)
• Honolulu, Hawaii (Musically Grooviest, Most Instagrammed, Most Artsy)
• Kansas City, Missouri (Trending- Most Artsy)
• Lakeland, Florida (Most Dog Friendly)
• Louisville, Kentucky (Trending- Meatiest)
• Madison, Wisconsin (Greenest)
• New Orleans, Louisiana (Trending- Hipster Friendly)
• Newport, Rhode Island (Trending- Best Groomed)
• Olympia, Washington (Most Caffeinated, Greenest)
• Omaha, Nebraska (Trending- Musically Grooviest)
• Pensacola, Florida (Most Dog Friendly)
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Trending- Sudsiest)
• Portland, Maine (Most Instagrammed)
• Rapid City, South Dakota (Trending- Most Instagrammed)
• Reno, Nevada (Meatiest, Most Dog Friendly)
• Santa Cruz, California (Musically Grooviest)
• Spokane, Washington (Hipster Friendly, Most Caffeinated)

SEE ALSO:

• Annapolis Among 20 Best Coastal Places To Live: Magazine
• Annapolis Ranks On Top 100 Best Places To Live

The algorithm looked at these 10 categories:

• Most Hipster Friendly (coffee shops, tattoo parlors, record shops, vintage stores)
• Musically Grooviest (music venues, live music, instrument stores)
• Most Instagrammed (hashtags)
• Most Artsy (art galleries, art supply stores, art schools)
• Best Groomed (barber shops, hair salons, hair removal services, cosmetic dentists)
• Meatiest (butchers, delis, steakhouses)
• Most Dog Friendly (pet sitting, pet stores, pet groomers, dog friendly restaurants)
• Sudsiest (breweries)
• Most Caffeinated (coffee shops)
• Greenest (parks)

The results are in the February/March 2018 issue of Traveler magazine, available now on newsstands and online at www.natgeo.com/bestsmallcities.

“At Traveler 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. In this article, we report on authentic small cities that each embody a surprising superlative,” says George Stone, National Geographic Traveler editor in chief in a news release. “Happy places for locals are also rewarding places for travelers. Our index of small cities on the rise is based on unconventional metrics that we think produce happiness: green spaces, coffee shops, breweries, music venues, Instagrammable moments and puppies!”

Patch Editor Margo Sullivan contributed reporting to this story.

Annapolis photo by Fox Entertainment Group