5. Cary, NC

People come to the Research Triangle area for opportunity. They settle in Cary because they can't believe how pretty the place is.

"We drove around and we loved the terrain," says Wendy Diard, 42, who moved here 12 years ago with her husband Jess and their seven-month-old baby. "It was hilly and beautifully wooded."

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The Diards now have four children, with a fifth on the way, and they're never at a loss for something to do.

More than 30 parks and green ways dot the region, and regular arts and crafts festivals bring tens of thousands to the downtown area to browse. And, of course, there's plenty of culture in nearby Raleigh.

Cary residents don't lack for jobs. Software maker SAS is based here, and about 50 percent of its 10,000 jobs are in the area. The city has one of the country's lowest crime rates.

And although the schools are experiencing growing pains, half of Cary's adults have school-age kids, more than 90% of elementary and middle school students passed state reading and math tests last year, for the third year in a row.

"The schools are great," says Chris Brooks, 34, who grew up here and moved back after law school. "I went to them, and they're the same kind of schools I want my daughter to go to."

Families can afford Cary: A nice home goes for less than $300,000. There's a fair amount of road construction, but mostly it's to prepare for growth, not respond to what's already been built.

"Some towns kind of react," Brooks says, "but Cary's looking ahead."

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