When I think of small towns, I think of everyone knowing everyone. I think of all of the things that are iconic in the small town. In mine, it was the movie theater, the iconic chocolate shop, attending every sporting event for my school, and pizza. When I also think of small towns, I think of safety.

I grew up in the town of Hamilton, the home of Colgate University, located about 30 miles from the Utica/Rome area. I lived there the majority of my life, went to all twelve years of school in the same building with (primarily) the same people, the same teachers, same families. I remember being able to walk around town not having to be worried about my safety, what time it was, where I was located. All because Hamilton, and the people in it, kept an eye out on each other.

That's why I was SO happy to read that Hamilton was deemed one of the top 100 safest small towns in America by Safewise. Even happier to read they made the top 50! Hamilton is listed at number 21 on the list!

According to Safewise, as part of their "never-ending quest to provide the most comprehensive and current safety-relad retesources," they expanded our Safest Cities in America series to examine safety in cities of differing sizes. In the past, they lumped smaller communities in with our overall 100 Safest Cities in America—but it was decided to pull them out this year and take a closer look at safety in cities with 2,500 to 15,000 residents."

They were named #21 based on statistics of violent and property crime rates.

THIS IS SO COOL - and so true. Hamilton always made me feel safe. Big congratulations to my hometown.

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