North Carolina is home to one of the best small towns in the South, magazine says
An Eastern North Carolina destination is one of the best small towns in the South, a lifestyle magazine says.
Southern Living named New Bern among the region’s places where people should plan to visit. The list released this month includes cities that have a “strong sense of place and presence, no matter how little square footage they actually hold,” according to the magazine.
“The heart of the South can be found in these picturesque locales if only you’re paying close enough attention to what the storied streets, friendly locals, and lovable quirks are telling you,” Southern Living said.
New Bern is on the Neuse and Trent rivers, roughly 115 miles southeast of Raleigh. The city of about 30,000 people received nods for its historic sites.
“This waterfront getaway is best recognized for its two most legendary landmarks: Tryon Palace and gardens (North Carolina’s first permanent capitol) and Bradham’s Drug Store (the birthplace of the soda pop giant Pepsi-Cola),” Southern Living said in its report.
The city also got a tribute for its resilience after powerful storms hit the area.
In September 2018, Hurricane Florence pounded parts of North Carolina with more than 30 inches of rain and wind gusts topping 100 mph. After the storm, hundreds of people in the New Bern area were saved from floodwaters.
The next year, storm surge from Hurricane Dorian soaked pavement in New Bern, which experienced power outages but no major damage, the Sun Journal reported.
“Any place that can make it through two hurricanes hitting closely together — in this case, Hurricane Florence in 2018 and Hurricane Dorian just about a year later — surely deserves our respect,” Southern Living said.
It’s not the first time a smaller North Carolina city has gotten recognition.
In June, the mountain tourist spot Asheville ranked among the nation’s best places to live and visit. Resonance Consultancy said its study weighed metro areas of 100,000 to 500,000 people, McClatchy News reported.
And in October, vacation rental website Airbnb named Durham one of the trendiest U.S. destinations as people are drawn to smaller cities during the coronavirus pandemic. But health officials have warned that traveling can pose the risk of spreading COVID-19.
More recently, Southern Living named Wilmington and Winston-Salem cities that are “on the rise.”
On the latest list, New Bern was the only small town in North Carolina to earn a spot. The other cities were Bell Buckle, Tennessee; Boerne, Texas; Covington, Louisiana; Guthrie, Oklahoma; New Albany, Mississippi; Paducah, Kentucky, Wetumpka, Alabama; Wheeling, West Virginia; and Wilson, Arkansas.
Southern Living didn’t immediately respond on Monday to McClatchy News’ request for additional details about its report.
This story was originally published March 15, 2021 at 12:44 PM with the headline "North Carolina is home to one of the best small towns in the South, magazine says."
