Woman Shares Life in America’s Cutest Town: ‘Real Life Stars Hollow’

A video showcasing an idyllic storybook town in New Jersey has gone viral on TikTok.
The clip was shared by Nicole Rochelle (@nicolerochellle) and has garnered over 246,000 views since it was first posted on August 26. The town featured is Smithville, according to a hashtag shared with the post. The woman in the clip says: “I’m just walking home right now but I just have to say something. I think I live in the cutest town in America.”
In a caption shared with the video, the poster said: “My real life Stars Hollow.” This is the fictional Connecticut town that forms the backdrop of the television series Gilmore Girls. The footage goes on to show the storefronts of small buildings decorated with flowers and other plants, set against pavements lined by trees and bushes.
The clip later shows a view of a waterfront with geese, as the camera crosses a footbridge to reveal more small shops and other venues adorned by fairy lights, with various craft items and other merchandise on display.
Spanning just about 5.6 square miles, Smithville is home to around 9,135 people, according to data compiled by the Census Reporter, a website presenting data from the American Community Survey of the U.S. Census Bureau.
If the viral TikTok clip has convinced you to pack it all in and move to Smithville or another small town, you are not alone.
A Gallup poll found at the end of 2020—the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic—that 48 percent of Americans said that, if they were able to live anywhere they wished, they would prefer to live in a town or rural area.
The survey, conducted in December 2020, found that 17 percent prefer to live in a town, while 31 percent would choose a rural area over a city or a suburb. The figures marked a shift from 2018, when 39 percent of Americans thought a town or rural area would be ideal.
Viewers on TikTok swooned over the small-town charms of Smithville highlighted in the viral clip.
User leahmariebs said, “It looks like a movie set,” and shezley417 agreed, saying: “Is this an actual real place? It’s like a film set (watching from the uk).”
User @book.lovin.brandy posted, “Hallmark needs to film a movie here for sure!!” and Idk noted: “I could fall in love here.”
Amelia commented: “An absolute dream. Can you just take us on walks with you all the time.”
Keely Moore985 wrote: “I’m from England and this has been my dream since I was a little girl.”
Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via TikTok and email. This video has not been independently verified.
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