On Friday, San Luis Obispo was again featured as America’s happiest town, but this time in one of America’s favorite newspapers – USA Today.

San Luis Obispo, or SLO to locals, was featured in the Life and Travel section of USA Today's April 8 issue and can also be seen on the publication’s website, complete with colorful photos and a fun video of Farmers’ Market and Bubblegum Alley.

The extensive USA Today article features several San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce members, including popular downtown restaurant Novo and local-favorite Apple Farm Inn, as well as Smiling Dog Yoga, EcoBambino, Sweet Earth Chocolate, and Wolff Vineyards Winery.

“It looks like our happy secret is out now,” jokes Lindsey Miller, director of marketing for the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce. “We’re so excited about all of the good press SLO has been getting. But, really, it’s no secret to the people who live in SLO that it’s the happiest place in the nation. We’ve known it all along. It just took the rest of the nation a while to catch on.”

Miller was instrumental in helping San Luis Obispo gain the title of “Happiest City in America.” She worked with best-selling National Geographic author Dan Buettner and the National Geographic team to give them the inside scoop about San Luis Obispo. After 28 months of connecting the team with important community leaders who call San Luis Obispo home, their book “Thrive” featuring SLO as the happiest city in America was released in bookstores nationwide.

She connected Buettner and Steve Marsh, a collaborator on the book, with important community leaders who call San Luis Obispo home. She also delved into researching the area to ensure the authors painted an accurate picture of San Luis Obispo and its residents.

Miller has been working tirelessly with travel writers and production crews ever since. She even helped the Oprah Winfrey Show the entire weekend it took to shoot a three-minute spot featuring San Luis Obispo, which aired in January.

To read the recent USA Today article, click here.