Median home price (2006): $272,932
Average property taxes (2006): $2,752
Pros: Quality jobs, a beautiful setting
Cons: Winter; highway expansion will spur growth
Chaska has beauty. Just 25 miles southwest of Minneapolis, it's one of the more rural towns on our list, and its small 19th-century downtown quickly yields to open fields, farmland and the Minnesota River. And it has brains too. More than a dozen technology and biotech firms are based there. The town is a magnet for families, who can find reasonably priced homes, low taxes and quality schools.
With no highway direct to Minneapolis/St. Paul, Chaska is a bit isolated from Twin City sprawl. That's about to change, with a highway expansion expected next summer. The downside: Chaska officials expect the town's population to increase 50% in 15 years.
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