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Reason to Have Second Thoughts: 500 miles to the nearest beach.
GEORGETOWN, TEXAS
Population: 18,000
Median Housing Price: $108,000
Why It Didn't Die: Business owners anted up special taxes to pave sidewalks and bury power lines, and banks came through with low-interest loans to polish up downtown's Last Picture Show facades. Austin cowboys rode in searching for a piece of hill country to call their own.
Reasons to Move There: Blue cornmeal-encrusted catfish at the Wildfire grill. One of the nation's fastest-growing towns, with 100% downtown occupancy, yet people here still find time for weekly quilting bees.
Reason to Have Second Thoughts: If growth continues at this pace, expect 61,000 neighbors by 2020.
GRASS VALLEY, CALIF.
Population: 9,500
Median Housing Price: $135,000
Why It Didn't Die: Folks like to live in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas.
Reasons to Move There: This old-time gold-mining town has drawn new prospectors: artists and craftsmen, telecommuters and Silicon Valley refugees who took pay cuts, hung out their shingles as consultants and hit the quality-of-life jackpot. Ornate homes are tucked away in the gorges, and Mayor Mark Johnson sells some mean orchids at his family's Foothill Flowers shop.
Reason to Have Second Thoughts: Blissed-out mecca for the self-employed--but job seekers beware.
--By Eric Pooley. Reported by Aisha Labi and Daniel S. Levy/New York