(MONEY Magazine) – NO. 6 FORT LAUDERDALE

Pop. 1,287,000; for more information call 305-462-6000. No longer a bedroom community for Miami, now that growing companies including Northern Telecom (650 local employees) and 30,000 people a year are moving in..."Homes are going up like crazy," says Louis Sandora of the local Broward Economic Development Council (typical three-bedroom: $140,000, up 3.4%)...International trade will soon rival tourism as the largest industry...Economic forecasting firm NPA Data Services sees impressive 14.3% job growth to 1998, nearly double the 8% U.S. averageellipseThe welcome mat is no longer out for spring break frolickers...New Jersey transplant Donna Brown, 39, marvels that the move brought her family "more house and more lifestyle for less money. We can afford a pool here, and the kids swim like fish."

NO. 7 SALEM, N.H./ HAVERHILL, MASS.

Pop. 356,900; for more information call 603-893-3177 in N.H.; 508-373-5663 in Mass. The Mason-Dixon line of the North, it moved up 139 points this year as small businesses sparked an economic recovery... Top medical care, culture and four pro sports teams are in Boston--45 minutes to an hour away, depending on your side of the border...Also, near skiing and beaches. No sales tax or tax on earned income in New Hampshire, though the state is starting to feel a pinch as property taxes slowly rise to about $2,000 for a typical three-bedroom.

NO. 8 RALEIGH/DURHAM/ CHAPEL HILL, N.C.

Pop. 909,200; for more information call 919-840-7372. Last year's Best Place to Live is still on a roll with minuscule 3.3% unemployment, but the economy is slowing a bit. For example, houses appreciated 7.8% on average, according to Century 21, down from 26% a year earlier. Still, Woods & Poole Economics of Washington, D.C. says it will be one of the top 15 metro areas for job growth over next decade...Boasts three excellent colleges (Duke, University of North Carolina and North Carolina State), great medical care and top NCAA basketball too.

The Research Triangle is a magnet for businesses like MCI, which last September opened its 1,000-person network management center there... "We left Cedar Rapids and came here without jobs two years ago,'' says Mike Price. Within a month, he and his wife Julie found work in banking and marketing.

Trouble in paradise revolves around the inconveniences of growth, especially the increasingly crowded public schools in Chapel Hill, where 16% of students are parked in portable classrooms.

NO. 9 LAS VEGAS

Pop. 971,400; for more information call 702-735-1616. This gambling town has turned boomtown, with roughly 5,200 people moving in each month...Recently, its job growth rate topped 8%, the best in the nation...Companies like Ocean Spray and Bank of America have expanded local operations, offering jobs for nearly 900...Money's November 1994 issue ranked Las Vegas the fourth-best place in America for entrepreneurs partly because of no state personal income tax or corporate income tax...There is so much building under way that some people joke that the state bird is the construction crane...Housing remains affordable, despite the hot local market: Here you pay roughly $122,000 for a typical three-bedroom.

Family fun with water sports at Lake Mead, the largest man-made lake in the U.S....Hot new eateries such as Dive! Las Vegas, the Steven Spielberg-Jeffrey Katzenberg-Steve Wynn 16,000-square-foot submarine-shaped restaurant...The area's 27 golf courses make Vegas a hit among retirees, despite the 103degrees summers...Says Bill Schaefer, a service supervisor for Desert Elevator who moved from Illinois with his wife Sue four years ago: "I've never been as happy as I've been here. I don't think anything could make me leave.''

NO. 10 NAPLES, FLA.

Pop. 159,700; for more information call 941-262-6141. Favored spot for well-to-do retirees and vacationing corporate execs... On Gulf Coast, due west of Fort Lauderdale, with seven miles of pristine, seashell-rich beaches...Residents boast about the 56 golf courses--more per capita than anyplace in the world--and the fact that pros Greg Norman and Chi Chi Rodriguez live there...Second highest housing appreciation in U.S. during the past 12 months (16.4%) after Eugene, Ore. (18.4%), according to Century 21; typical three-bedroom now goes for $163,400... Has one of the lowest property tax rates in the state, and those taxes ($2,000 for that $163,400 house) have barely risen in years...Locals and tourists converge on Michelbob's for world-class barbecued ribs ($16.39 for a pound of baby backs)... Especially great area for single guys, with seven single females for every male...Says W.N. "Whit" Ward of the Collier Building Industry Association, a county trade group: "It's a community of 'haves' and 'have mores.'"