Southern Tier City One Of The Best Christmas Towns In America

I've always been proud of my hometown. I grew up in the Corning, New York area, and even though it's considered a small city, it boasts more great things about the area than many in the country.

A few years ago, according to the Corning Finger Lakes website, the city was honored in the past with the title of one of America's most beautiful town squares by the American Planning Association, and the historic Market Street was one of the top 10 great streets of the year by Travel & Leisure magazine.

When you walk down Market Street, you will see so many amazing shops to visit, along with pubs, places to eat, and even a movie theatre. Where many small-town main streets dried up over the years, Corning has continued to thrive.

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Corning is the home of Corning, Inc., formerly Corning Glass Works. The city is known as the Crystal City of the World, and you can see what it's all about throughout the town and in its museums, like the amazing Corning Museum of Glass. They have a ton of holiday events and specials throughout December, like the make-your-own-glass experience, and a cool gift shop to browse through.

Also, a few years ago, Country Living published a list of the 55 best Christmas Towns in the USA, with three located in the State of New York, including Corning, coming in at #52. New York City, of course, is on the list (#22), as is Dyker Heights, Brooklyn (#55).

Why is Corning so amazing during the Christmas season? Well, just walk down historic Market Street, and you will feel the spirit of Christmas everywhere with the tree-lined sidewalk all sparkling, plus a huge lighted tree in Centerway Square.

Every year, the city hosts a Parade of Lights with floats, vehicles, and everything else all lit up in color. And on the first Saturday of December, it's the annual Sparkle. This will be the 50th year of Sparkle, which features pipe & drums, sing-a-longs, caroling, carriage rides, food and drink, and live music on the Centerway stage, along with all the shops staying open late.

And there's no way you can miss just how much Corning gets into the holiday spirit when you reach the city and see the 9-story Corning Inc. building spelling out the word 'NOEL' by leaving lights on in certain offices. I've never seen anything as fun and in the holiday spirit as Corning, so congrats to my hometown. The city makes the holiday season come alive.

via Corning Finger Lakes, Country Living