PETERBOROUGH – Folks who live in Peterborough know the town motto says it's "a good place to live." The editors of Budget Travel magazine agree and have named the Monadnock town one of the 10 Coolest Small Towns in America.

Budget Travel, which has a readership of 600,000 and is owned by Newsweek, announced earlier this week that Peterborough would join the ranks of 10 American towns considered to be at the height of coolness.

"Not too many small towns are home to two theater groups, or, for that matter, the MacDowell Colony, the country's oldest artists' retreat," wrote Melinda Page, a reporter for Budget Travel.

Page pointed to the strong arts community, the variety of activities for regular folks and the kayaks that adorn many of the cars in town as evidence of Peterborough's coolness.

Peterborough has been named one of the 10 Coolest Small Towns by Budget Travel magazine and will be featured in the September issue, which hit newsstands yesterday. (PAMELA GLEESON)

Music jams in the park, movies at the community pool and a strong community spirit also add to the town's cool factor, according to Page.

Joseph Paul, a bartender at the Pearl Restaurant and owner of Pine Street Painters, said he wasn't surprised at the town's coolness ranking.

"Peterborough's very artsy," he said. "And for the size of the town, there's a large selection of restaurants, a pretty active nightlife and plenty of things for kids to do."

Bridget Mohan, a waitress at Harlow's Pub in downtown Peterborough, agreed that her community is definitely cool.

"Peterborough is full of artistic intellectuals," she said. "It's such a great atmosphere."

"Anybody who lives here will tell you it's a cool place," said George Neal, owner of Twelve Pine Restaurant and Gourmet Food Shop.

Neal said the nod paid to Peterborough by Budget Travel would be a welcome boost for businesses in the area, though he said he hopes the magazine's readers won't come all at once.

"Peterborough's a small town. I don't think we could handle all 600,000 at one time," he joked.

The 10 Coolest Small Towns will be featured in the September issue of Budget Travel and can be seen online at Budgettravel.com.

The other nine are:

• Millerton, N.Y.
• Milford, Pa.
• Waitsburg, Wash.
• Paia, Hawaii.
• Parkville, Mo.
• Silver City, N.M.
• Tuscumbia, Ala.
• Collinsville, Conn.
• Yachats, Ore.