Bainbridge Island named one of the top small towns in the West

Staff report
·2 min read

Bainbridge Island has been named one of the best small towns in the West in USA Today’s 10Best Readers' Choice Awards.

USA Today 10Best, the go-to site for reader-voted and editor-recommended travel guides, solicits nominations from an expert panel to highlight the best small towns across the U.S., then readers vote for their favorites.

Myriah Riedel makes her way along the sidewalk of Bainbridge Island's Winslow Way on a very rainy Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020.
Myriah Riedel makes her way along the sidewalk of Bainbridge Island's Winslow Way on a very rainy Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020.

Bainbridge Island, at No. 7, was joined by nearby neighbor to the south, Gig Harbor, at No. 6, on the top ten list announced in April.

The island was noted for its small-town feel within proximity of Seattle, and the nomination pointed out several Bainbridge museums and parks as attractions, including the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, KiDiMu children's museum, and the Bloedel Reserve. The community is also well known for its main street, Winslow Way, bustling with small shops and local restaurants just blocks from the ferry terminal to Seattle and a waterfront public park. Popular local events dot the calendar through the year, including the Grand Old Fourth array of festivities for July 4, a weekly farmers market and art walk, and the annual Mochi Tsuki festival that honors the community's Japanese American heritage each winter.

The steamed sweet rice sticks to 10-year-old Luke Meidell’s cherry wood mallet as he and Alayna Hatch, 11, help pound the rice in the granite bowl to make mochi during Mochi Tsuki at Bainbridge Island’s Woodward Middle School on Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024.
The steamed sweet rice sticks to 10-year-old Luke Meidell’s cherry wood mallet as he and Alayna Hatch, 11, help pound the rice in the granite bowl to make mochi during Mochi Tsuki at Bainbridge Island’s Woodward Middle School on Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024.

The top choice on the 10Best list for small towns in the West was the popular tourist spot of Seward, Alaska, known as the gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park and nearby glaciers and more.

Here's the full list of places that made the top 10:

  1. Seward, Alaska

  2. Solvang, California

  3. Grants, New Mexico

  4. Cody, Wyoming

  5. Manitou Springs, Colorado

  6. Gig Harbor, Washington

  7. Bainbridge Island, Washington

  8. Williams, Arizona

  9. Durango, Colorado

  10. Ashland, Oregon

For more information on the USA Today 10Best Readers' Choice Awards, and to see the rest of the best small towns in the U.S. — from west coast to east coast — visit 10best.usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Bainbridge Island named No. 7 small town in the West by USA Today