small towns

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10 Small Towns to Consider for Your Golden Years

CNN ranks its favorite places in America for retirees

(Newser) - If you're looking ahead to retirement and trying to suss out how to spend your golden years, now's the time to scout out some ideal spots. CNN has picked some of its favorite small towns in America to consider for a quiet retreat into post-retirement life. The news...

Be Glad You Don't Live in 'Doomsday Vault' Town

Its permanently frozen ground isn't so frozen anymore

(Newser) - Thank your lucky stars you don't live in Longyearbyen. Tucked away on a remote Norwegian island, the town of 2,000 is built on permafrost that's melting due to climate change—which is destabilizing houses, threatening wildlife, and menacing the so-called "doomsday vault," CNN reports. A...

Cops Probe Town of 11 People After Disappearance

Police investigate Larrimah, Australia, after day laborer Paddy Moriarty and his dog vanish

(Newser) - Everyone in the town of Larrimah is under investigation for the disappearance of Paddy Moriarty—and that means all 11 people. Authorities are poking around this dusty Australian pitstop after Moriarty, a day laborer, vanished along with his dog one night last December, the New York Times reports. Top suspects...

This Is the Coolest Small Town in America

Bruce Springsteen made Asbury Park, NJ, famous

(Newser) - Not a big fan of crowds? You might want to check out one of Budget Travel's "coolest" small towns this summer. With suggestions from readers, the site has created a list of small towns that shine through their "cultural and ethnic diversity," beaches, cuisine, "creative...

10 of America's Most Explicit Town Names

Yes, there is a Ballplay, Alabama

(Newser) - It was a hard job, but somebody had to do it. (That's what she said?) The Estately Blog responded to some PG-13 criticism of a recent "Oddest Town Names" in America list by giving the people what they wanted—"we placed our minds in the gutter" and...

One Country So Broke, It's Giving Away Villages

Spain gives them away or sells for less than $100K

(Newser) - Want to buy a little vacation house in the Spanish countryside? Thanks to Spain's economic downturn, some buyers have picked up entire villages for as little as zero euros, AFP reports. Thousands of villages have been abandoned across Spain, often by residents seeking city life or better farmland, and...

For Sale: Site of Custer's Last Stand

Garryowen, Montana, going up for auction

(Newser) - If you've always wanted to buy an entire town , but you've been waiting for one with some real historical cred … today is your lucky day. Garryowen, Montana, famed as the site of Custer's Last Stand, is for going up for auction this month with an opening...

Starbucks Saves Small-Town Factory

 Starbucks Saves 
 Small-Town Factory 

in case you missed it

Starbucks Saves Small-Town Factory

Places giant order with Ohio potter

(Newser) - In an era of disappearing manufacturing jobs and struggling small towns, a giant corporation has become an unlikely hero in Ohio. East Liverpool, by the Ohio River, has been called country's "Pottery Capital," but lately just a few factories remain. Among them is American Mug and Stein,...

Most Extroverted US City Is ... Keota, Iowa?

 Most Extroverted 
 US City Is ... 
 Keota, Iowa? 
in case you missed it

Most Extroverted US City Is ... Keota, Iowa?

Even the residents are a bit confused

(Newser) - The most extroverted city in the US seems to be a somewhat random pick—even to the residents of said city. Keota, Iowa, came in first on the most recent list from "psychological marketing" firm Pyco, leading many in the small town of 1,009 to wonder just what...

Dull, Scotland, Pairs Up With Boring, Oregon

World's least-interesting towns seek transatlantic partnership

(Newser) - Here's some news that's less than exciting: The Scottish village of Dull is hoping to join forces with Boring, Oregon, in large part because it will result in amusing signage. It all started when a Scottish cyclist rode through Boring while on vacation; she mentioned her idea to...

Up for Auction: America's Smallest Town

Buford, Wyoming, can be yours for a minimum bid of $100K

(Newser) - Got $100,000 lying around? You could buy a very small house in a decent suburb, or you could place the opening bid in the upcoming auction for Buford, Wyoming. The 10-acre town currently contains a post office, gas station, trading post, and exactly one resident. Tomorrow, that resident, Don...

15 Oddball US Town Names
 15 Oddball US Town Names 

15 Oddball US Town Names

One-way ticket to Toad Suck, please

(Newser) - There are so many towns in the great expanse of the United States that a few of them are bound to have absurd names. ( The little Irish town of Effin isn't the only spot struggling with a name that makes us say, "Huh?") BuzzFeed runs down...

Small Planes to Small Cities Seeing Big Cuts

Soaring fuel prices have made small planes least profitable for airlines

(Newser) - The big airlines may be pampering their first-class passengers more than ever , especially on international routes, but around the United States, small-plane service to small cities is increasingly getting the ax, reports the AP . Over the past two years, the big airlines have cut service entirely to 27 US cities,...

Vicious Small-Town Gossip Gets Online Forum

The virtual stuff is anonymous and nasty

(Newser) - It’s small-town gossip 2.0: Tiny towns in the Ozarks, Appalachia, and elsewhere are increasingly turning to the Internet for local chatter—and when posts are anonymous, they can get nasty. On sites like Topix.com, cruel rumors get started virtually, and true or not, the fallout can be...

Rural Share of US Population Hits Record Low

84% of Americans now live in cities or suburbs

(Newser) - Small-town and rural America is fading away as the US becomes a nation of suburbanites and city dwellers, according to the latest census figures. The share of Americans who live in rural areas—including towns with fewer than 50,000 people that are out of commuting range of metropolitan areas—...

Texas Town Furloughs Entire Police Force

With five-member department on 6-month leave, mayor predicts chaos

(Newser) - With its finances stretched to the breaking point, Alto, Texas, is giving its police officers the boot for six months—all five of them. OK, so it’s not exactly the NYPD. But with the county sheriff’s office already overburdened, town residents are afraid losing their small department could...

Minnesota Town Tops List of Best Places to Live in US

Eden Prairie beats out suburbs of Washington, Boston, Seattle

(Newser) - If you follow the advice of Money magazine, you'll want to live in a non-diverse suburb of a not-too-gritty city. The top five places to live are Eden Prairie, Minn.; Columbia, Md.; Newton, Mass.; Bellevue, Wash.; and McKinney, Texas. The rest of the list is dominated by more suburbs and...

Yeah, She's a New Yorker. You Got a Problem With That?

Guess what: 80% of Americans also live in metro areas

(Newser) - Conservatives, desperate for some angle from which to attack Elena Kagan, have found a particularly distasteful one, complaining that she's a longtime New Yorker in a court that already has a couple, and hence can't understand the experiences of Americans in the “heartland.” It's an irritating meme, “...

Chicago Suburb Tops Best Family Towns

Best spots to raise kids boast good schools, low crime

(Newser) - BusinessWeek has combed the US for the best places to raise a family and has come up with a Chicago suburb to top the rankings again. The rest of the list, based on factors that include education, crime rate, cultural vitality, and air quality, is broken down by state....

Horrorcore Rap Killings Shock Sleepy Va. Town

Questions abound about music's role in family's slaughter

(Newser) - Farmville is a sleepy Virginia town of 7,000, hardly the kind of place you’d expect a Californian “horrorcore” rapper to brutally bludgeon four people to death, Yet that's exactly what 20-year-old Richard Alden Samuel McCroskey III, aka “Syko Sam,” is suspected of doing. “I...

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