Ruston, Washington is a city located in Pierce County. It had a population of 1,055 people in the 2020 Census. Ruston is surrounded on three sides by Tacoma and by Point Defiance Park and the Puget Sound on the other. The city is a rectangle measuring about a half mile by a half mile. When the city was incorporated, in 1906, it was the site of a smelting plant and was located some distance outside of Tacoma. Over the years, Tacoma has expanded, and Ruston is now surrounded on all sides by neighborhoods of Tacoma.
According to the city's own website:
The City of Ruston is a quaint and vibrant example of small town America.
Which to me, demonstrates just how much of a
shibboleth "
small town" can be, since what amounts to an urban neighborhood embedded in an urban area of anywhere from hundreds of thousands to millions of people is not really a "small town". Not that there is anything wrong with Ruston: it is an area with nice homes, nice shopping, and a nice park, and is also, as mentioned, close to the great Point Defiance Park.
Interestingly enough, while the Portland area has several microcities, including Johnson City and Rivergrove, Ruston is the only example of urban microcities I can find in the Seattle/Tacoma area. Whether this is a difference in state laws, or in the demographics and history of the area, I do not know.
https://www.rustonwa.org/living-in-ruston/
https://www.historylink.org/File/20738