Michigan Captures 3 Spots In Top 100 Best Towns

Livability.com recently ranked the top 100 small towns in America, 3 Michigan towns made the list!

Creating the list was more than just randomly picking 100 of the best small towns. Livability studied "more than 40 data point each for more than 12,000 towns with populations between 1,000 and 20,000." Some points include education, infrastructure, and economy.

Towns that  made the list are considered tight-knit communities with amenities one would expect in a large city.

So who scored?

Traverse City, Petoskey, and Houghton!

Traverse City scored the highest at number 11. Livability notes the beaches, the views, vineyards, small town shops, unique restaurants, events like the National Cherry Festival, and options for higher education.

I can speak personally for how amazing Traverse City is, though I worked in Petoskey prior to coming to Grand Rapids, I spent a lot of time in Traverse City. One of my favorite attractions is the Nauticat evening cruise on Grand Traverse Bay during the summer. You can't beat this view.

Next up, Petoskey! Roughly 60 to 90 minutes northeast of Traverse City sits Petoskey, Livability ranked P-Town 54 out of 100. The blog credits 8 miles of shoreline, Petoskey State Park, schools which earn high marks, and quality healthcare.

Not only is Petoskey a great place to visit, it's an amazing place to live! I had the pleasure of living in Petoskey for roughly 5 years and took advantage of just about every inch of the excellent trail system that outlines the shore of Little Traverse Bay.

In my opinion, the Petoskey area ranks right up there with Traverse City when it comes to food. Thankfully their trails have amazing views, which makes it much easier to clock miles.

Finally, Houghton grabs spot number 96! If you can stomach the 5 mile ride over the Mackinac Bridge and the ever long highway, this is THEE place in the Upper Peninsula.

Livability credits both cold and warm weather outdoor activities, such as outdoor hockey, alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, mountain biking, hiking, camping and kayaking. Higher marks come when Michigan Technological University is brought into the mix. That, along with Portage Health Hospital, are the two largest employers in the entire region making Houghton not only a great place to visit, but to live as well.

No matter the ranking, Michigan has so many amazing places to visit this summer. Tell your boss you want some days off, grabs some friends, fill up the tank, and head north for a road trip!

While you're up there, say hey to greeter Richard at the Petoskey Meijer for me!

Also, don't forget to have a beer with Hemingway at the City Park Grill.