EDITOR’S NOTE — To vote, go to http://tinyurl.com/pdn-best. Online voting between Port Angeles and Flagstaff runs until 8:59 p.m. Saturday, May 23.
PORT ANGELES — It’s a bit of March Madness in May, with Port Angeles the come-from-behind star with lots of fans.
In a contest to find the “Best Town Ever,” set up with brackets modeled on the NCAA basketball tournament, Port Angeles so far has beaten Santa Barbara, Calif., Kitsap County’s Bainbridge Island and the Colorado resort town of Glenwood Springs.
Now it faces Flagstaff, Ariz. The two cities are among the “elite 8” towns still in competition.
The online contest, sponsored by Outside, a nationally recognized outdoor and adventure magazine, began with a field of 64 cities and towns, which now has been pared down to 8 in five-day voting rounds.
Port Angeles was a last-minute addition.
Outside’s editors first chose 60 of the communities, including Flagstaff.
Among the factors used to select them: restaurants, neighborhoods, bike shops, access to trails and public lands and — “of course,” as the magazine noted — the local beer scene.
Then, via Instagram, Outside readers were asked to nominate their favorite towns, which resulted in Port Angeles, New York City, Roanoke, Va., and Saugatuck, Mich., being added as wild-card entries.
Port Angeles is the only one of the four still in the running — New York, Roanoke and Saugatuck were destroyed in the first round of voting — and it is also the last West Coast town in the contest.
Urged on by enthusiastic members of Revitalize Port Angeles, a Facebook group, online voters locally and across the nation gave Port Angeles a 488-vote victory over Glenwood Springs to send it into the fourth of the five rounds before the final showdown.
When voting closed at 8:59 p.m. Monday, 28,080 votes had been cast — and the count was 14,284 for Port Angeles, or 50.87 percent, to 13,796, or 49.13 percent, for Glenwood Springs.
Flagstaff bested Pagosa Springs, Colo., to advance into the fourth round.
Voting now
The contest began May 4, and the Best Town Ever will be announced June 5.
There are no prizes in any of the brackets for the winning towns — but plenty of bragging rights. Plus a splashy, tourist-drawing profile for the winner in September’s edition of Outside.
‘The other 15 finalists will be featured on the magazine’s website. One voter will win a trip to No. 1 town.
Online voting now underway between Port Angeles and Flagstaff runs until 8:59 p.m. Saturday, May 23.
To vote, go to http://tinyurl.com/pdn-best.
The victor will wear the contest’s West Division crown — then face either Spearfish, S.D., or Eau Claire, Wis., which are now battling to be the Midwest champ.
People supposedly can vote only once per round per matchup — but many voters use Internet tricks that allow them to vote at least several times.
Port Angeles partisans and Flagstaff supporters are lobbying on social media.
“TrapperDaniels” wrote: “Flagstaff inspires me, every day!”
“TabbyWhitaker” responded: “Let’s not forget about the Hoh Rain Forest! [located west of Port Angeles].”
The Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce wrote: “Flagstaff Art scene is alive and thriving, boasting new building murals each year.”
“PACabaret” shot back:
“One of Port Angeles’s hidden treasures is our Fine Art Center’s outdoor park, check it out @ http://www.pafac.org/ . . . Hurricane Ridge, why you should vote Port Angeles & plan your trip now!”
‘Community spirit’
“This contest has given us a great opportunity to demonstrate our pride and our love for Port Angeles,” says the founder of Revitalize Port Angeles, Leslie Kidwell Robertson.
“It is so gratifying to see so many people coming together to focus on how much we have to offer, and how very special this place is.
“The community spirit that has been generated by this contest is invaluable, and I truly believe that we have what it takes to go all the way.
“It’s like our own personal Super Bowl! Go Port Angeles!”
And, she adds:
“Flagstaff doesn’t have anything on us. Port Angeles has everything they do, plus a whole lot more.
“We can go from ski to sea in less than an hour. We have surfing and sailing, clamming and crabbing, scuba diving and ocean fishing, to name just a few.
“Oh, and we have a ferry that goes to Canada. No other place can compare to Port Angeles as an outdoor Paradise.
“Watch out, Flagstaff!”
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Publisher-Editor John Brewer can be reached at 360-417-3500 or jbrewer@peninsuladailynews.com.
