Best Local Interior Design Celebrity: Peter Bowman: Local designer Peter Bowman was singled out by the prestigious Architectural Digest as one of this year’s top 100 designers in their January 2010 issue.

Best Way to Paint Our City: 5000 Bouganvillea: Sometimes the best ideas blossom slowly. But when they do, they glow and inspire. In the case of the 5000 bouganvillea specimens recently bestowed on our city by the Puerto Vallarta Botanical Gardens, it is finally happening.

Best New Place to Lose a Few Pounds: Vallarta Fitness: Exceptional customer service, professional analysis and state-of-the-art equipment make the new Vallarta Fitness the ideal place to get in shape.

Best Idea to Combat Flu Scare Economic Damage: Vallarta en Vivo: About 40,000 spectators, including tourists and residents of Puerto Vallarta, enjoyed the “Vallarta en Vivo” concert held June 20, 2009.

Worst Of: Billboards Revisited: In our Spring-Summer 2008 issue, we investigated the number of billboards between Puerto Vallarta’s Maritime Terminal and Punta de Mita Exit 447.

Best Kudos Abroad for a Local Marina: Paradise Village: Two important US boating publications have favored Paradise Village Marina in the recent months.

Best Dream Come True: The entreAmigos Community Center: In last year’s “Best Of” issue, we highlighted the fact that entreAmigos had just received official authorization from Nayarit’s government to move into an unoccupied warehouse at the entrance to San Pancho in Riviera Nayarit.

Best New Place for Jogging: Parque Lineal de la Ribera del Río Pitillal: There is a new place in Puerto Vallarta for outdoor recreational activities: Parque Lineal de la Ribera del Río Pitillal.

Best Purposeful Vacation: Destination:PEACE: Enjoying luxurious accommodations during your Puerto Vallarta vacation while getting your hands dirty (and we mean that literally!) is now possible, thanks to the newly created organization Destination:PEACE.

Best Highway Cleanup Initiative: Punta de Mita Foundation: Starting in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, 20 km of Carr. 200 Norte to Punta de Mita are free of litter, thanks to the cleanup efforts of the Punta de Mita Foundation.

Most Unusual Event: The Waterspout: Not so much a best-of, per-se, but people sure kept talking about this one for a few days! January 15, 2010 began like a normal day throughout Banderas Bay, although the weather had been unusually cold in the previous days, with strong winds and heavy rains.

New Stairways in Gringo Gulch: Now, there’s a new reason to visit Gringo Gulch! And a new attraction for those who love walking.

Best Downtown Remodel: Rio Cuale Municipal Market: In an attempt to beautify and improve the facilities of the Rio Cuale Municipal Market, aka the “Flea Market,” the Jalisco secretary of tourism and the municipal tourism board invested $1.2 million pesos to renovate the façade, which was accomplished in a surprisingly short period of time.

Best Display of Confident Expertise in the Face of Disaster: Eugenie Russell: Eugenie Russell, a sailing instructor for J World Sailing School in Nuevo Vallarta, never thought she’d have to draw on her vast knowledge of marine emergency procedures.

Best Ambassadorial Event: Nautical Extravaganza: Supported and organized by the federal, Nayarit state and Bahía de Banderas governments, Nautical Extravaganza 2010 was a first-class event for water lovers of all stripes, offering a month of events related to water sports and marine culture in Riviera Nayarit.

Best Way to Get Your Feet Wet: Sayulita Beach Clean-Up Days: It was a year ago, on May 16, 2009, that Punta Sayulita development director Brett Ellsworth decided to take matters into his own hands by organizing a beach clean-up day in this popular surfing destination an hour north of Puerto Vallarta.

Best Students: Xiutla Dancers: Siblings Carina, age 26, and Luis Enrique Mendoza Rodriguez, 20, are two of the most outstanding alumni of the Xiutla municipal folkloric ballet directed by Professor Enrique Barrios Limón.

Best Reason to Pull Out your Camera: Banderas Bay Under Construction: From overpasses in Riviera Nayarit to the ongoing Downtown Puerto Vallarta facelift, it is good to see that funds at federal, state and municipal levels are being allocated to enhance our destination’s appearance and improve traffic flow throughout the city.

Best Reason for US Folks to Bring their Sniffles Across the Border: Americans for Medicare in Mexico: Americans for Medicare in Mexico, A.C. (AMMAC) was created to bring together the people, organizations, expertise and resources necessary to attain US Congressional authorization for a pilot project for Medicare in Mexico.

Best Brotherly Love: Puerto Vallarta and Bahia de Banderas: After years of failed attempts, an agreement has been signed between Puerto Vallarta and Bahia de Banderas that will benefit both municipalities’ tourism, economic, cultural and social situations.