Best Places to Live: Top 100

For this year's list we focused on smaller places that offered the best combination of economic opportunity, good schools, safe streets, things to do and a real sense of community.

By Kate Ashford, Andrea Bartz, Jeff Cox, Asa Fitch, Stephen Gandel, Josh Hyatt, Rob Kelley, Kathleen Knight, Joe Light, Ismat Sarah Mangla, Sarah Max, Jennifer Merritt, Brad Nelson, Donna Rosato, Ingrid Tharasook

Woodside Green Park

96 of 100

96. Gahanna, Ohio

Population: 33,300
Median home price (2006): $198,522
Average property taxes (2005): $2,990

A diverse town with affordable homes (median home price is $144,900), this Columbus suburb is revitalizing its main street with the Creekside redevelopment project. The development will add retail, restaurants, condos, office space and a public park with a lagoon and waterfall to the downtown area known as Olde Gahanna. The first phase will open this October. Just five minutes from Port Columbus International Airport and 10 minutes from downtown Columbus, this town is especially proud of its diversity. "We're one of the most diverse towns in Ohio, economically, racially and ethnically," says Mayor Becky Stinchcomb, Mayor of Gahanna the past six years. -D.R.

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