Blowing Rock is a very tiny but affluent town in northwest North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains. It got its name from some unusual rocks above the town that cause vertical wind currents.  After the Civil War, summer residents began to come up from the nearby city of Lenoir to enjoy the cool fresh air and magnificent mountain views.  The village…...

Mission Viejo is located in southern Orange County in the Saddleback Valley. It  is one of the largest master-planned communities ever built under a single project in the United States. The city has a 2020  population of 93,653. The city is mainly residential, although there are a number of offices and businesses within its city limits. The city is known…...

Mount Airy, located in northwest North Carolina, has a lot to attract active adults 55+. It has a vital downtown  that attracts tourists and retirees. The town has 10,100 people, but almost 40,000 people live in the immediate area. Andy Griffith, who hails from here (Mount Airy was the inspiration for Mayberry), has a theatre named after him, the Andy…...

Milwaukie, Oregon, is a small town in northwestern Oregon, just south of Portland, with a population of 20,512 (2013 census).  Founded in 1847, along the banks of the Willamette River,  Milwaukie is known as the birthplace of the Bing cherry, developed by orchardist and resident Seth Lewelling, and is still a major cultivar in Oregon. The town is unique in…...