When we undertook this piece, we had a simple goal. Tell someone moving out of a particular city the coolest potential smaller community to live in nearby. In doing so, we weighed three major factors:
1) A good (or at least respectable) food/drink scene, with enough places to go close to home to not always have to trudge back into the city.
2) Not so far away from the city that the commute is awful
3) A place with a history or its own unique elements that separate it from just planned suburban sprawl
FLORIDA CITIES
Miami, FL: Coral Gables
Population: 49,630
Where to eat/drink: Uvaggio Wine Bar, The Local, La Casita, Ortanique on the Mile
There is nothing that infuriates Coral Gables more than being called a suburb of Miami. “We’re our own city,” they cry, as they pedal by in their Hurricanes tank tops holding a takeout bags filled with pollo asado from La Casita. But considering it’s less than seven miles to Downtown Miami, has beautiful Mediterranean architecture designed by George Merrick in the mid-1920s during the “City Beautiful” movement in America (history!), its own fantastic Downtown with a slew of restaurants that can go toe-to-toe with those in Miami proper, the added benefit of being able to take your kids to a bunch of UM sports, and, unlike Miami Beach, will not be underwater in 20 years, there is really no better option. — KA
Orlando, FL: Winter Garden
Population: 34,568
Where to eat/drink: alFresco, Moon Cricket Grille, Crooked Can Brewing Company, Taquitos Jalisco
I’m not going to lie. I wanted this to be Dr. Phillips, mostly because I couldn’t believe there was a town called Dr. Phillips, and I had a lot of jokes surrounding this premise. But unfortunately, actual research prohibited that pick and left us with Winter Garden, aka “a charming little city with a juicy past” that sits right on Lake Apopka. What separates out WG from most of the frankly bland Orlando suburbs is its historic Downtown with a row of solid restaurants, and the Plant St Market, which basically functions as a totally refurbished indoor marketplace featuring a brewery, a European bakery, a juice bar, a specialty butcher shop, a whole-bean coffee shop, coal-fired pizza, and a freaking oxygen bar. — KA
Tampa Bay/St. Petersburg, FL: Dunedin
Population: 35,321
Where to eat/drink: Eli’s Bar-B-Que, Kelly’s, Bon Appetit
Dunedin was one of the easiest picks on this list. Of course you’re going to pick a place that has one of the best beaches in the world (on Caladesi Island State Park), clear views of the Gulf of Mexico, spring-training baseball from the Toronto Blue Jays to bring your kids to, a huge fine-arts center, a public library with a damn delivery service, many breweries, arguably the best BBQ in Florida at Eli’s (get the chopped pork), and a cool Scottish history dating back to the 19th century and involving pigs running rampant. Also: do you think there are other places outside of Florida that could have restaurants named “Kelly’s, For Just About… Anything” that actually really work well? — KA