Where Is Mayberry? - The Best Places to Live in the United States

Where is Mayberry? Where can I find a town like the one where Andy Griffith was sheriff, Barney Fife would nip problems in the bud and Ope Taylor grew up with good Christian values and where you could take evening walks without fear? This was the question I asked myself when a new shopping center was built against the back fence in our town and we couldn't do anything about it. Is there a town like Mayberry, NC? I would like to move there!

Where Is Mayberry BLOG

Articles

Big Cities, Low Rents

Best Places to Get Ahead

Many large metro areas have lots of jobs and a vibrant cultural scene -- and it won't cost you half your paycheck to rent an apartment. In a Manhattan apartment that costs $1,600 a month or more to rent, you'd be lucky to have a separate bedroom, a dishwasher and a living room that fits a full couch. 15 Mar

Areas that boast some of the country’s richest people may not be the best places for the average Joe looking for a good job with a good paycheck. Those folks should be on the lookout for places where median incomes are rising quickly and job growth is strong. 15 Mar

Where rents are Rising Fastest

College Towns: Still a Smart Investment

Think you pay a lot for your rental apartment? Here are the 10 cities where rents have skyrocketed. As would-be homeowners delay buying and others are unable to qualify for mortgages, rental vacancy rates are falling and rents are up. 7 Jul

Property values in college towns are holding strong and can make a good investment whether you're a parent, an investor, or just looking to relocate. Enrollments—especially at large public universities—are growing as more children of baby boomers (so-called echo boomers) graduate from high school. 13 Mar

Ten Cities with the Most Homes for Sale

America's Most Cleaned-Up Metro Areas

It's a buyer's market in these 10 cities, where demand is weak and homes for sale are plentiful. The Price Reduction Index (PRI) captures the percentage of homes currently listed on the market that feature a reduced listing price as of Sept. 30, 2007 (regardless of how long they have been on the market). 10 Sep

They might not all have clean air yet, but these 15 metros saw the steepest declines in ground-level ozone pollution — the primary constituent of smog — between 1990 and 2005. Top 15 of 197 total studied metropolitan statistical areas that had the highest percent decrease in ground-level ozone between 1990 and 2005. 3 Jul

Cities with the Best Abs, Worst Flab

The Ten Greenest Cities in America

Like college kids on a coast-to-coast bender, we searched the nation for six-packs. Is your town ab-dominant, or abominable? 3 Jul

American cities aren’t just starting to blossom in the green arena, they’re fighting to see which can bloom the brightest. The following list is a quick hybrid cab ride through 10 cities doing the most to realize a sustainable metropolis. 11 Jun

Funniest Town in the US

Best Cities for Young Singles

LWhat’s the funniest city in the U.S.? We evaluate the Big Three, then go roaming for small-town humor (though we might be pulling your leg). 2 Jun

For young singles, two factors can be crucial to choosing where to live: Can I afford the rents? And what can I do there? Finding an apartment that fits a starting-out budget is key. And whatever money is left over often goes to meals out, concert tickets and bar tabs. Our top five picks all scored well on rental affordability and have a high number of restaurants and night spots per capita. Each area also scored highly on our bohemian index -- a measure of the city's diversity and cultural amenities. 2 Jun

The Priciest Homes in America

America's Wettest Cities

Wealthy globetrotters looking for a second, third or fourth home are helping to raise prices at the very top end worldwide. And it's not just Americans, Arabs and Europeans hunting for unique properties. They're being joined by rich buyers from China, India and Russia. 29 May

America's rainiest city Mobile, Ala., has an average rainfall total of 66 inches, or 5 feet, which gives the port city the rank of No. 1. WPMI's Tessa Savoy reports. 22 May

Foreclosures - Where Does Your City Rank?

B&B Recreates Andy Griffith's Mayberry

Foreclosures nationwide were up 43% from a year ago in the third quarter of 2006. Here are the rankings for the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas. 5 Dec

On a different topic, at the Taylor Home Inn, guests are greeted by a "Welcome to Mayberry" sign on the front door as the show's theme song plays in the background. 2 Aug

The Most (and Least) Educated States

Americas Most Educated Cites

Which is the smartest state in the union? According to the Census Bureau it's not a state at all: Washington, D.C., tops the list. OK, trick answer. But, D.C. aside, which state has the most brainiacs? 15 Jun

Seattle tops the list of America's most educated cities, with more than half its population 25 years and older holding at least a bachelor's degree. 6 Jun

The most expensive Zip Codes

Where the Millionaires Are

Forbes.com ranks the most expensive ZIP codes across the U.S. No. 1? A tony Hamptons enclave. 25 Apr

Forget Park Avenue. The highest concentrations of wealthiest U.S. households are in some surprising places. Take a look at Kiplinger's Top Ten. 10 Apr

Thrive on just one income

The Most Expensive Places to Insure a Home

The key to supporting one spouse as a stay-at-home parent is planning, planning, planning. Here’s how one young couple manages it. 6 Apr

Big disasters take their toll, but it’s wind and hail that drive up premiums. Homeowners in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana are paying a bundle, Forbes reports. 4 Apr

The 10 richest U.S. counties

House price appreciation by metro area

A study of millionaire-congested areas offers some surprising insights -- mainly that their priorities aren't much different from yours. They just have more money. 3 Apr

How does your city compare? Check out this list of 276 places and see which are hottest. 27 Mar

The New American Dream Towns

What You Get for the Money

Think Utopia doesn't exist? Maybe not yet—but these ten towns are making a play for perfection with adventure-friendly innovation and cool ideas for building smart communities. Plus the hottest concepts in urban revival, combating sprawl, and better hometown living. 20 Mar

Look to Fine Living's What You Get for the Money to find out! You'll discover what you could buy for $250,000 ... $500,000 ... or even $2 million ina wide range of metropolitan areas and rural regions. 14 Mar

Don Knotts, TV's Barney Fife, Dies at 81

The best and worst states for taxes

One of Mayberry's long time residents passes on. "I went to New York cold. On a $100 bill. Bummed a ride," he recalled in a visit to his hometown of Morgantown, where city officials renamed a street for him in 1998. 27 Feb

We all pay Uncle Sam the same no matter where we live, but property, gasoline, tobacco and sales taxes are all over the map. 24 Feb

More . . .

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