Best Places to Live

Some towns have everything any family could want

When you're young, the big city is a great place to be. There comes a point, though, when you're ready to trade night life for shade trees, sushi for pizza and roommates for children.

It's time to find the place where you'll spend the better part of your adult life -- raising your kids, climbing the career ladder and building your family's future. For most folks who have the option, that means a place that's smaller, safer and greener.

But there's a big difference between a gated McMansion subdivision and a town where you can put down roots and participate in a community that has a broader list of concerns than the height of the hedges. The latter are the kinds of places MONEY looks for in naming America's Best Places to Live.

This year we focused on smaller places, between 7,500 and 50,000 in population, that offered the best combination of economic opportunity, good schools, safe streets, things to do and a real sense of community.

We made a few tweaks to our methodology adding a ranking for ethnic and racial diversity and -- with the cost of housing an issue for so many families - paying extra attention to home prices and property taxes. That meant a few expensive locales that have been on past lists slid in the rankings, while some more affordable places moved up. And the winner is...

1. Middleton, Wis.

100 Best American Towns

Population: 17,400
Typical single-family home: $325,000
Estimated property taxes: $6,200
Pros: Small-town charm; booming economy; extensive parks and bike trails
Cons: Do you like winter?

Troy and Sally Mayne liked Madison just fine, but they were looking for something more -- a tight-knit community where their two children could play with friends, go to school and bike to their heart's content. They found what they wanted seven miles away, in Middleton, this year's No. 1 spot. The Maynes bought a home in Middleton Hills, a nationally recognized "new urban" development with large swaths of open space and close proximity to the 520-acre Pheasant Branch conservancy.

Five years on, they feel they have the best of both worlds. They benefit from the economic and cultural advantages that come with Madison's status as home to the University of Wisconsin and as state capital. But the pace of life in Middleton is a little slower, the people friendlier. "In Madison you weren't tied in with the fabric of your community," says Troy, 43, a real estate attorney. "It's just the opposite here."

Many Middletonians, like the Maynes, commute to Madison, where Sally is a government lawyer. But Middleton proper has a strong pool of jobs too, mainly in the pharmaceutical, tech and medical industries. Dollmaker American Girl is one of the town's largest employers, and more outsiders commute to Middleton than residents leave for Madison.

After business hours Middleton has more going on than you might expect for a town of 17,000. The beer garden at the Capital Brewery is host to corporate mixers, and there are good restaurants downtown. But make no mistake: family life is what Middleton is about. In the summer you'll see parents and kids plying the bike trails of the conservancy, splashing in the town's waterslide-equipped pool or sailing on Lake Mendota.

On the downside, winter is tough, and there's not great ethnic diversity. But for Bronx natives Mary and Carmelo Saez, who settled here in 2005 after a long search for a safer community with better schools than they could find close to home, the positives easily outweigh the negatives. First, there's bang for the buck. "There are houses here that you can afford comfortably," says Mary, 35, who works in the district office of the elementary school her girls attend.

Second, there's a sense of tranquility they've longed for. "Out here it's more relaxed," says Carmelo, 37, who teaches adult education in Madison. "People are really comfortable around one another."

2. Hanover, N.H.

Best of the East
Population: 8,500
Typical single-family home: $385,000
Estimated property taxes: $6,000
Pros: Rich cultural and community opportunities; diversity
Cons: Winter isn't for wimps.

Don't be fooled by Hanover's mountain setting or its quiet charms. This isn't your typical New England college town: It's more an international city than a pastoral hideaway. About 20% of residents are nonwhite, and more than two dozen nationalities are represented.

That's partly what led Aharon Boghosian, 50, who left in 1981, to return with his wife and two kids to take over the family business. "We have friendships with people from all over the world and all different cultures," says Boghosian, who runs Gilberte Interiors, the company his Armenian mother started in 1967. Daughter Rachel's classmates hail from as far away as Ghana and Japan.

The world-class teaching hospital Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (just a stone's throw away in Lebanon), a smattering of environmental engineering and mid-size technology firms and, of course, Dartmouth itself all attract the cosmopolitan crowd. Add a downtown dotted with locally owned shops and restaurants and a fully stocked grocery cooperative, throw in a myriad of year-round activities sponsored by the college or the town, and it's easy to see why people love it here.

Being outdoors is simply a way of life in Hanover, says Jan Sayles, who arrived here two years ago with her husband Rick and their two kids, seeking refuge from the New Jersey suburbs. Jan, 42, now often walks a wooded and winding path along the Connecticut River near her home. Rick, an accountant and financial analyst, has joined a growing number of new arrivals who telecommute. "There's a real sense of community spirit and unbelievable cultural opportunities here," says Jan.

Hanover has drawbacks, certainly: It's out of the way -- two hours from Boston and 90 minutes from Manchester, N.H. -- and while you can get a four-bedroom house for less than $400,000, homes close to town can be pricey. The pressures of gentrification have reached the point that the town is developing moderate-income housing. And if you can't stand winter, you won't like Hanover. But if you're the adventurous sort, the skiing and skating are great.

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