#1 Ithaca, NY

This town in upstate New York ranked first for a number of reasons: Ithaca ranks number one in the academic areas of research capacity and degree attainment, while also having a high number of people in the creative class. Cornell University, located in this town of 30,000 (not including students), enriches the area with art collections, beautiful gardens, and vast natural areas of the Cornell Plantations. You can find more than 100 waterfalls, lakes, and gorges dotting the landscape within 10 miles of town. 

[Photo: Cornell University from McGraw Tower, Wikimedia Commons]

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