Michigan Home To The #1 Public Square In America

If you build it, they will come, and boy will they love it. Although the term "Public Square" may seem a little dated, the whole idea is still alive and well across America. From coast to coast, communities gather to enjoy parks, concerts, outdoor activities, and more in public squares across the country the best of the best is right here in Michigan.

USA Today recently released the results of its yearly USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards. Each year readers weigh in on their top picks for the "best" in various categories. In the category of "Best Public Square", a popular Detroit spot took home the top honors, and we completely understand why.

For the second year in a row, Campus Martius Park in downtown Detroit, Michigan is officially home to the Best Public Square in the U.S. Located in the heart of the city, Campus Martius Park offers four seasons of fun from ice skating to even an urban beach, and its Christmas tree rivals Rockefeller Center in NYC. Here's what USA Today had to say about the popular spot;

"Campus Martius Park serves as Detroit’s gathering place, where locals and visitors alike can come to take in the skyline views, people-watch around the Woodward Fountain, grab a meal from a food truck, or go ice skating in winter".

Get our free mobile app

The famous Campus Martius Park was created in 2003 at the site of Detroit’s point of origin located at 0 miles, where the vision for the city’s plan was originally laid out by Augustus Woodward in 1805. The history alone is worth a visit if you haven't had the chance to discover it yet.

The Detroit park beat out locations in Tennessee, Utah, and Colorado. You can view the full list here.

RANKED: Here are the most popular national parks

To determine the most popular national parks in the United States, Stacker compiled data from the National Park Service on the number of recreational visits each site had in 2020. Keep reading to discover the 50 most popular national parks in the United States, in reverse order from #50 to #1. And be sure to check with individuals parks before you visit to find out about ongoing, pandemic-related safety precautions at www.nps.gov/coronavirus.

Gallery Credit: Hannah Lang

LOOK: See America's 50 Best Beach Towns

Every beach town has its share of pluses and minuses, which got us thinking about what makes a beach town the best one to live in. To find out, Stacker consulted data from WalletHub, released June 17, 2020, that compares U.S. beach towns. Ratings are based on six categories: affordability, weather, safety, economy, education and health, and quality of life. The cities ranged in population from 10,000 to 150,000, but they had to have at least one local beach listed on TripAdvisor. Read the full methodology here. From those rankings, we selected the top 50. Readers who live in California and Florida will be unsurprised to learn that many of towns featured here are in one of those two states.

Keep reading to see if your favorite beach town made the cut.

Gallery Credit: Keri Wiginton