The results of Reader's Digest's 2024 list of "Nicest Places in America" are in — and this year's top honor goes to Provo, Utah.
The annual list relies on a nationwide crowd-sourcing effort that asks residents of special places to share stories of how kindness, respect and community shine bright in their cities and towns.
TODAY's Al Roker helped judge the effort this year, assisting Reader's Digest editors as they sorted through thousands of nominations from readers across the country.
Read on to learn why Provo topped this year's list.
Provo, Utah
Provo, which has a population just shy of 115,000, stood out for its willingness to combat a mental health crisis affecting its youth. Since the 1990s, the city's young people had been dying by suicide at an alarming rate.
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"You don’t really think of Utah as a place that has to deal with the kinds of problems you see in more urban settings, especially with young people. But the (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) found there’s a 'suicide belt' in the western United States, including Utah," Al told Reader's Digest.
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Between 1998 and 2003, the Provo City School District averaged one or two suicides each year.
Around the same time, sociologists identified just what Al describes — a “suicide belt” that stretched across the Intermountain West from New Mexico to Montana, where suicides were happening at a rate twice the national average.
During one devastating three-year period, Provo's largest school, Timpview High School, saw four students die by suicide.
So in 2004, Greg Hudnall, the associate superintendent with the Provo City School District, and Cathy Bledsoe, the school system’s prevention officer, worked with dozens of caring students at Timpview High to establish Hope Squad, an evidence-based peer-to-peer youth suicide prevention program.
"Look, mental health is a huge issue in this country, and I think there’s still a stigma about it," said Al. "So in Provo, parents, teachers, social workers, faith leaders and folks got together to try and intercede. They trained peer groups to help."
Hope Squad sessions allow young people to talk about their lives with people their own age. The program's team of peer counselors are trained to recognize red flags and suicide warning signs.
Squad members know when and how to gently guide those in crisis to speak to adult counselors and social workers.
In the 20 years since Hope Squad's debut, not one student at Timpview High has died by suicide. The program has been such a success, it now exists in all 19 of the district’s schools.
The Utah legislature has approved funding for any school in the state that wants to start its own Hope Squad.
"I think the ultimate act of kindness is to reach out and try to help somebody who is suffering in silence because they’re so afraid to speak out," said Al. "It is the ultimate act of kindness to save a life."
While Provo tops the list of the 2024 Reader's Digest Nicest Places in America, several other U.S. locations earned raves for their community spirit.
Butte, Montana
Butte, Montana, made this year's list thanks to residents like Joyce O’Bill, a 90-year-old widow who drives twice a week to volunteer at the Butte Emergency Food Bank.
“I started 31 years ago, and kept going and going. I’m the old one there,” O'Bill told Reader's Digest. “When we started, it was only four of us. Now we have 60 or 70 volunteers.”
Horseshoe Beach, Florida
The tiny coastal town of Horseshoe Beach, Florida, was singled out for how its residents helped one another in the wake of Hurricane Idalia in 2023.
The Category 3 storm's 125-mph winds decimated many of the town's homes and buildings, making life difficult for its nearly 200 permanent residents.
Those who lived part-time in Horseshoe Beach opened their empty homes to neighbors, allowing them to stay while the community came together to rebuild.
One resident, 25-year-old Lacey Coe, a mom of three who was nearly six months pregnant with her fourth child at the time, drove 40 miles to a grocery store for food, then returned to her undamaged house and started cooking for everyone. She repeated the ritual every day, cooking from 6 a.m. until 11 p.m., for days.
“She became the captain of the ship,” said Bill Ordner, another of the town's residents.
Fort Greene, Brooklyn, New York
The folks in the hip Fort Greene neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, have made the Lay Out, an annual gathering at Fort Greene Park the Sunday before Juneteenth, a special event.
Attendees can shop for crafts and clothes or simply hang out together at the grass-roots celebration, the idea of which was born in a group chat during 2020’s Black Lives Matter marches.
In its pre-gentrification history, Fort Greene was a neighborhood where Black families were able to become first-time homeowners, living safely and comfortably among its scenic tree-lined streets.
While proceeds from ticket sales to the Lay Out help to put money into the pockets of local Black-owned business, Emily Anadu, one of the event's organizers, told Reader's Digest she thinks it's important to see Black people spending time together in Fort Green Park.
“It was about reclaiming space, reclaiming each other, and this idea that peace is a form of resistance,” said Anadu.
For more of the Nicest Places in America by Reader's Digest, visit rd.com.
This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.
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