Reader’s Digest includes Kent among most beautiful American main streets

Reader’s Digest includes Kent among most beautiful American main streets

Main Street in Kent offers quaint village vibes with a range of shopping and eatery options. It had been compared to Star Hollow in “Gilmore Girls” and has even hosted fan fests for the show.

Theo Maniatis

KENT — The June issue of Reader’s Digest selected Main Street in Kent as one of the “20 Most Beautiful” in America.

“Main streets have character,” the Digest article states. “At one time, you could walk down the main street in your town and stop at the grocery store, the hardware store and the library all on the same block.”

While many small American towns have given way to suburban malls, oversized parking lots and huge thruways, Kent is a reminder of a bygone time.

Kent First Selectman Marty Lindenmayer said, “The variety of stores we have, the restaurants we have, candy shops and ice cream stores. There’s something for everybody.”

Many local businesses operate out of century-old buildings along the tree-lined Main Street (Route 7).

The Digest describes Kent as “one of the many towns that has been compared to Stars Hollow, from the ‘Gilmore Girls’…It has the same charming, small-town appeal, including locally owned stores and town events and festivals.”

In fact, the town has hosted the “Gilmore Girls” fan fest twice, in 2017 and 2019, with about 1,500 fans showing up each time.

Reflecting on the recognition, Lindenmayer highlighted other worthwhile aspects of the town aside from the main street. “We have had a tremendous increase in people visiting because it is just a beautiful place. We have a gorgeous river. At our border, we have beautiful mountains. We have great trails to hike on.”

Kent was one of four Northeast towns to make the Digest’s List. Bath, Maine, Provincetown, Massachusetts, and Woodstock, New York, also earned recognition.

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