Friday, October 2, 2009

Best Shopping Towns

It's so much fun to discover the ins and outs of a new town. Or to return to a favorite place and see what shops and restaurants are still there, new, or gone.
Way before the age of the blog, I've kept personal visual journals in my head of my favorite towns. What makes them the best? For me, it's walkability, beautiful surroundings, interesting unique local businesses, and the friends I make along the way.

Each one has become a sort of "home" town for me, and I look forward to adding new ones to the list.
For instance, Westhampton Beach, on the South Shore of Long Island, NY, is a Hampton that's often overlooked when people think of The Hamptons.

But it's long combined upscale shopping and dining with a simple, everyday life kind of atmosphere, and hosts one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. It's also the closest Hampton to NYC, so the train or car commute gets you there much quicker.

Westfield, NJ , is considered one of the Best Towns to live in the U.S.



It artfully combines unique local shops and restaurants with upscale mall stores, which makes it a destination shopping and dining town for out-of-town visitors as well as locals. The street layout breaks out of the grid by featuring streets that open out on a diagonal, adding to the breezy feel of downtown.


Nestled along the east bank of the majestic Hudson River, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY , is one of the Rivertowns of lower Westchester County, NY.


It's a little village that time forgot, in terms of its quaint, walkable charm. Yet it's filled with commuters at the top levels of every profession, along with a large population of artists, writers, and musicians, who bring the sophistication and savvy of Manhattan to Hastings' cultural life. Along with the riverfront and its iconic views of the Palisades cliffs, Hastings-on-Hudson preserves a beautiful forest, called Hillside Woods, and the Old Croton Aqueduct, a linear park that runs through the town as it winds towards Croton-on-Hudson.


Sarasota, FL , is a cultural and geographical gem, curving graciously along the Gulf Coast of southwest Florida.

With over 7 live theaters, the world-class Ringling Museum of Art, several colleges, beaches famous for their crystalline sands and nightly sunsets, international dining, and dedication to providing a beautiful setting for every park, mall, and downtown street, Sarasota feels like a small town that calls itself a city.
In order to make some visual sense out of these wonderful towns, I've created a Blog for each one of them. If you want to see the updates as they happen, sign up to "follow" the towns you like the best. It's fun and it's free. Just go to Best Places to Shop & Walk to see the current list.
If you'd like to suggest a town for the Blog series, please enter it in the "comments" box to the right, and I'll add it to my list. Thanks!

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