Woodbridge is a suburb of Washington D.C.,  along the Potomac River.   The city has been trying to transform itself with the addition of various Town Centers along the lines of those in Reston, Va and other planned communities. For more detailed information about the area see our review for Alexandria.  The diverse population is about 42,000 (2020), with the average…...

Banning is a  town of 29,000 near the San Gorgonio Pass; north of San Diego and east of Los Angeles. Palm Springs and Riverside are nearby.  It is named for Phineas Banning who was a stagecoach line operator and Father of the Port of Los Angeles.  The area was first settled by the Cahuilla Indians and then as a Spanish…...

Chestertown is small town of about 5,000 (2020), that is east of Baltimore on the Delmarva Peninsula, and northeast of Annapolis on the Chester River.  The population is growing as more people consider it a quiet alternative to places like St. Michaels. In the mid-eighteenth century, Chestertown was considered Maryland's second leading port, after Annapolis. Chestertown is home to Washington…...

Orono, a college town, is the home of the University of Maine in Penobscot County, Maine. The population is just over 9,000 but swells by additional thousands when college is in session. This college town is partially surrounded by two rivers, the Penobscot and the Stillwater. Orono is on Rt I95 in central Maine, just north of Bangor.  Picture of…...