Ellicott City Up for Title of America's Best Main Street

Does Ellicott City have the best Main Street in the USA?

From thousands of submissions, Parade magazine identified 16 downtowns that readers said were America's best. The only one in Maryland to make it was Ellicott City.

Through an online contest, Parade will identify the top downtown, which will land the Main Street a spot on the magazine's cover. Vote here.

Parade described Ellicott City as having an "enchanting downtown Main Street [that] winds and slopes with the valley that shaped it," where small businesses contribute to the fabric of the community.

What's your favorite part of downtown Ellicott City'? Tell us in the comments!

To narrow the field for its competition, Parade is pitting each of the 16 contestants against one other town. (See the brackets here.) Ellicott City is facing off against Ridgefield, CT, which the magazine reported was a "classic New England town reminiscent of a Norman Rockwell painting."

Is Ellicott City better than Ridgefield, CT? Vote in the Parade contest! People can vote until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, June 29.

As of 1 p.m. on Sunday, Ellicott City was in the lead with 58 percent of the votes, while Ridgefield had 42 percent.

Ellicott City recently won another online contest, sponsored by Benjamin Moore. As a result, 40 businesses on Main Street are getting a free paint job through Benjamin Moore's "Main Street Matters" program. Benjamin Moore's spokesman said Ellicott City was the "most zealous and most enthusiastic" of the 20 towns that won the contest across the country.