This SLO County spot is one of the most Instagrammable towns in America, new list says

A small coastal town in San Luis Obispo County has once again been included on a “best of” list, according to 3,000 travelers sharing their faves with the TemporaryDumpster.com website.

Cambria was tapped as the 16 ^th most Instagrammable town in America on the site’s recent list of 100.

Some iconic cities “are celebrated worldwide for their unique features that draw people in and inspire countless social media posts,” TemporaryDumpster wrote in the posting. Those cities were not included on this list. “However, the U.S. is also home to lesser-known towns that are equally captivating and photogenic, yet remain off the beaten path.”

“The beauty of these towns isn’t just in their historic architecture or scenic landscapes, but also in the pride they take in maintaining their streets and public spaces,” a spokesperson said. “Our survey highlights that travelers are increasingly seeking out these off-the-beaten-path destinations to capture moments that are both stunning and authentically American.”

Cambria’s description was filled with superlatives.

“Located along California’s Central Coast , Cambria is a charming seaside town known for its rugged coastline, quaint downtown, and nearby elephant seal rookery ,” the site said. “The town’s enchanting landscapes, with dramatic ocean views and serene pine forests, provide a perfect setting for capturing picturesque moments.”

Communities in the survey’s top 10, starting with No. 1, were:

1. Cold Spring, New York
2. Micanopy, Florida
3. Aurora, New York
4. Apalachicola, Florida
5. Creede, Florida
6. Port Townsend, Washington
7. Paia, Hawaii
8. Red Lodge, Montana
9. Concord, Massachusetts
10. Nevada City, California

How did a Dumpster company get into the city-rating business?

The Temporary Dumpster firm based in Atlanta, Georgia, bills itself as “your go-to provider for roll-off Dumpster rentals,” and it wasn’t immediate obvious how they got into the list-making gig.

It’s all in the name of marketing, according to company vice president Ben Reed.

“Our marketing team does things like this for fun little articles to get our name out there,” Reed said by phone Thursday.

That team’s methodology, according to the website, was based on an “Online panel survey of 3,000 respondents based on age, gender and geography. Internal data sources are used to obtain population data sets. We used a two-step process to ensure ‘representativeness’ through stratified sampling and post-stratification weighting.”

Key takeaways the team found in survey results were a shift toward travelers seeking small town charm, the power of natural beauty, preserving history in a picture-perfect way, the role of community in creating Instagrammable spaces and the quiet rise of off-the-beaten-path locations and rural Instagram aesthetics, the survey report said.