VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Liverpool faithful chime in on why the village is Reader’s Digest’s “Nicest Place in America”
John Fahey: Friendly.
Tom McLaughlin: Welcoming.
Melissa Woods: I’d probably say community.
Greg Carlton: Those are only a few reasons why Liverpool is the nicest place in America. Reader’s Digest published an article just a few days ago giving the tiny village the honors, noting the tree-lined streets, beautiful Onondaga Lake Park and the good grub at Heid’s of Liverpool. Those factors are definitely part of it, but Liverpool’s people give the credit back to themselves.
McLaughlin: I’ve lived up here a long time, and the people in Liverpool are fantastic. They’re very generous with their time as far as helping everybody else.
Woods: You know, as somebody who frequents coffee shops and other local businesses here, it’s really nice to sort of get to know people and everyone’s usually really friendly and it’s a nice place to go. And again, having the lake here is really nice, too.
Carlton: It sounds like the people do make the place, but in Liverpool, they take care of each other so much so that they aren’t even a little worried about crime.
Dee Creller: If you move a little closer into the city, maybe not quite so safe feeling, but I’ve never had a feeling where I wasn’t safe here.
Stacy Finney: The amount of keys I have to neighbors homes in case they need me to go in and maybe turn up their heat before they come home from a vacation in the winter or things like that is surprising. And they all have, you know, the code to my door. I don’t have a key.
Carlton: The village is only a square mile and has only 2,600 people, but Mayor Finney says it’s more than just Liverpool that should be proud of the honors.
Finney: The truth is, I’m happy that we’re finally nationally recognized for all of the great work that the people of not just Liverpool, but all of Central New York do for our community.
Carlton: Mayor Finney told me at the end of our conversation that she’s moving just down the road in Liverpool. She told the people buying her home that although they’re not from the area, they should take great pride in being from Liverpool and showed them the article. So now, they too know that Liverpool is a small village with a lot of kindness. Live from Syracuse, Greg Carlton, NCC News.
LIVERPOOL, N.Y. (NCC News) — “Friendly,” “community,” and “welcoming” were just a few of the words the people of Liverpool used to describe their little village after they heard it was named the “Nicest Place in America” by Reader’s Digest.
The article, published Sep. 25, gave Liverpool the honors thanks to its charity work, tree-lined streets, parks and staple restaurants like Heid’s of Liverpool.
However, for the people living there, the 1-square-mile village is much more than that.
“I’ve lived up here a long time, and the people in Liverpool are fantastic,” said Tom McLaughlin, who frequents Onondaga Lake Park. “They’re very generous with their time as far as helping everybody else.”
“The amount of keys I have to neighbors’ homes in case they need me to go in and maybe turn up their heat before they come home from a vacation in the winter or things like that is surprising,” said Liverpool Mayor Stacy Finney. “And they all have, you know, the code to my door. I don’t have a key.”
Luckily for Liverpool, the 2,600 great people that make their town so welcoming make it just as safe, according to Dee Creller, who walks through Onondaga Lake Park every day.
“If you move a little closer into the city, maybe not quite so safe feeling, but I’ve never had a never had a feeling where I wasn’t safe here,” said Creller, standing by the water.
Creller lives in Baldwinsville, but she said she frequents the park because of its safety, serenity and the good-natured people she sees every day.
Those factors are what Mayor Finney thought should make more than just Liverpool proud.
“The truth is, I’m happy that we’re finally nationally recognized for all of the great work that the people of not just Liverpool, but all of Central New York do for our community,” Finney said.
Finney told NCC News she is moving down the road from where she lives in Liverpool.
As an introduction to the community, Finney showed the family moving into her old home the Reader’s Digest article.