With all the hustle, bustle, glitz and glamour you could ever want, urban centers are hard to pass up. But for the 1.5 million readers who casted their bracket-style votes inOUTSIDE magazine's Best Towns Competition, that's certainly not the case.
Between their "delectable dining scenes, friendly, walkable neighborhoods and unparalleled access to outdoor adventure," the top spots included in the publication's annual ranking are proudly showing what quality access to healthy eating options and green, open spaces looks like -- all while making the case for banishing the big city life.
Check out how the pre-selected towns ranked this year (on a scale of 0 to 100), and see for yourself why you don't need a major metro to live large...
16
Louisville, Kentucky
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Final Score: 73
Median Household Income: $44,111 Median Home Price: $139,400
15
La Crosse, Wisconsin
Flickr / sleepycat5
Final Score: 74
Median Household Income: $39,014 Median Home Price: $129,100
14
Montpelier, Vermont
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Final Score: 74
Median Household Income: $60,587 Median Home Price: $208,300
13
Houghton, Michigan
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Final Score: 76
Median Household Income: $23,912 Median Home Price: $130,000
12
Nashville, Tennessee
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Final Score: 77
Median Household Income: $45,982 Median Home Price: $165,00
11
Asheville, North Carolina
Flickr / Frank Swift
Final Score: 80
Median Household Income: $42,333 Median Home Price: $195,500
10
Provo, Utah
Flickr / ebairdâ¢
Final Score: 80
Median Household Income: $40,288 Median Home Price: $210,300
9
Minneapolis, Minnesota
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Final Score: 81
Median Household Income: $48,881 Median Home Price: $216,800
8
Missoula, Montana
Flickr / Jack Crossen
Final Score: 82
Median Household Income: $39,076 Median Home Price: $238,300
7
Burlington, Vermont
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Final Score: 83
Median Household Income: $43,135 Median Home Price: $259,500
6
Anchorage, Alaska
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Final Score: 83
Median Household Income: $76,495 Median Home Price: $277,100
5
Charleston, South Carolina
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Final Score: 84
Median Household Income: $76,495 Median Home Price: $225,000
4
Portland, Maine
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Final Score: 88
Median Household Income: $44,487 Median Home Price: $241,700
3
Duluth, Minnesota
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Final Score: 88
Median Household Income: $41,311 Median Home Price: $148,600
2
Ithaca, New York
Flickr / James Willamor
Final Score: 89
Median Household Income: $29,230 Median Home Price: $184,400
1
Boulder, Colorado
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Final Score: 91
Median Household Income: $56,206 Median Home Price: $489,500
OUTSIDE worked with a rocket scientist to combine factors including access to outdoor adventure, healthy eating options, green, open spaces, unemployment rates, median incomes and an editor's choice variable to summarize how livable a place is, with 100 being the outdoorsman's perfect paradise.
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