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1) The Boils – Gainesboro

A short distance from Cummins Falls State Park, an adventurous traveler can find a neat little natural phenomenon called the Boils. The Boils is the end point from where the Roaring River goes underground, for about three miles, and re-emerges with a spectacular display. The thunderous noise made when the Roaring River goes underground sounds like a jet engine, which is how the river got its name. When the river comes back to the surface, it erupts in this roiling spout of water that looks like a pot of water boiling over. Hence its name, the Boils.
Right next to the boils, where Blackburn’s Fork River and Roaring River meet, is a great place to swim or fish. The county maintains a stable gravel bar that can be driven on, without a four-wheel drive. When the weather is nice, friendly locals flock here to relax and have a good time. Cookouts are common here, either with a grill or just roasting hotdogs over a campfire.

     

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1) Canyon Diablo

This ghost town harks back to the Wild West, and though not as infamous, it was reputedly wilder than Tombstone. Originally a railroad town, it was built when the bridge crossing the Canyon Diablo was taking longer than anticipated to construct. The bridge ended up taking ten years (1880-1890) to be finished, and in this time the town thrived as a hub of illegal activity. The nearest law enforcement to the town was over 100 miles away, so there were no rules for anything. Brothels, saloons and gambling establishments never closed their doors. Along the main street, which was named ‘Hell Street’, stood no less than fourteen saloons, six brothels and ten gambling houses. By the time it was decided that the army should take over law enforcement by the canyon, the town was deserted due to the completion of the bridge. Though it was short lived, there were no doubted some great stories in this town, and the remains of it still hold a little of the danger and excitement of the Wild West.

     

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1) Paper house

Located in Rockport, this house is quite literally made from paper. An engineer named Elis F. Stenman, who designed a machine which makes paperclips, began the house as a hobby. As he went on, he decided that the paper was good insulation. Once built, the house was furnished with newspaper fittings as well. It has been kept in all its glory and opened as a museum in the 1930’s. These days you can explore the house for yourself and read about its creator for the low price of just $1.50. It has, of course, been revarnished a few times, and a porch has been added, but other than these minor changes it remains standing as it was built in 1922. Even the piano is covered with newspaper! This house is not a well known attraction, but it is an interesting one and definitely needs to be seen to be believed.

     

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In an effort to help prospective new residents, here are 10 of the best places to live in California. The list isn’t in any particular order, but each city was selected on the basis of a number of different factors: weather, average income per household, house prices, quality of living which include air quality, unemployment and crime rates, services and facilities like hospitals, restaurants, shopping, businesses, sporting facilities, entertainment; and commuter times. Depending on what you want, you’ll find that any one of these cities will be a good choice if you’re considering California as your new home.

1) Redondo Beach

Many people want to live in California to enjoy its beautiful, sandy coastline and the Pacific Ocean. If you’re one of these people, then Redondo Beach, located in the South Bay of Los Angeles, is the place for you. Redondo Beach has two distinct communities, South Redondo and North Redondo. South Redondo snuggles next to the Pacific Ocean, and has everything you would want from an ocean town, including a pier, great restaurants and shops. North Redondo Beach is inland, so the average house price is less as you won’t be getting any ocean front properties, but you’ll have less of a commute to work. Overall, Redondo Beach has excellent weather, a great Performing Arts Center and an exceptional school system that regularly produces high scores on standardized state tests. It also has wonderful sport facilities, with over a dozen excellent public parks, that provide running tracks, tennis and racquetball courts.

     

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1) Woodstock

The first thing to come to mind, when Woodstock is mentioned, is the iconic 60’s music festival, (which was actually held in Bethel, the next county over), tie-dye and hippies. The quaint little town offers much more than a nearly fifty year old page in the history books though.
While Woodstock might be a small town, it is surprisingly modern. There are several unique boutiques, shops and places to eat that offer a world class experience. There are also nature trails to explore, and wellness centers dedicated to improving the mind, body and spirit of residents and visitors alike.

Perhaps Woodstock’s biggest draw, for being a place to live, is for artists. Particularly of note is the Byrdliffe Arts Colony, America’s oldest operational art colony. Each year, artists from around the world attend a retreat hosted there meant to inspire through collaboration. In addition to Byrdliffe, Woodstock has a number of museums and art and music schools. There are also several art festivals, dedicated to many mediums ranging from film, writing, music and the visual arts.

     

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1) Sheraton Vistana Villages – International Drive, Orlando, FL

Sheraton Vistana Villages – International Drive is a 4-star hotel with one and two bedroom available timeshares. While many reviewers note the spacious rooms, laundry inside the unit and kitchens, others note it as a “Great vacation apartment,” and its proximity to Disney World.

The hotel is located in a beautifully landscaped park-like setting only a couple of miles from Sea World Orlando and Walt Disney World.

Each villa has a kitchen or kitchenette, dining area and 1-2 bedrooms. All have either a garden or water view and some villas have private patios or balconies. Along with the standard cable and free wi-fi, the resort also offers 3 pools and a pool bar. There are 3 fitness centers, 2 game rooms and multiple sports courts. In addition to the great amenities on site, the resort also offers a free shuttle to and from the Disney Parks. While there are plenty of surrounding attractions, you never have to leave the resort to have a great vacation.

     

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1) Lauderdale Lakes

It’s a small neighborhood in the southeast of the state, but don’t be fooled by its small population of just 35,000. It is not a calm, small neighborhood away from all the noise and problems of big cities. Its violent crime rate is twice as that of the state it is in. It’s actually safer than just 6% of all the US cities. Last year, it had, on average, 479 crimes per square mile or 51.87 per 1,000 people. Even with such a small population, there were 309 burglaries and more than one thousand reported instances of theft. If you live here, the probability of your being a crime victim would be 1 in 23. In short, it has a lovely beach, but statistically speaking, it’s just not a very safe place to live.

     

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Times Square

In a sentence: it’s a very symbolic, yet very fun place. Basically a commercial intersection in midtown Manhattan, it’s the place which has it all: street performers, theatres, awesome shopping spots, bars, lights and lovely people. And the pizza from there is quite famous too. You can’t feel lonely when you’re at Times Square because it’s crowded all the time. There’s a reason they call it “The Great White Way”; you can find outlets of major companies here, ranging from Morgan Stanley to Nickelodeon. About 37 million visitors come through every year and more than 330,000 pass through it every day. But that’s not all; it’s loaded with historic importance. Since 1907, it has been the place where the annual ball is dropped on the New Year’s Eve. That’s one of the reasons that over one million people come to Times Square to celebrate their New Year’s Eve. If New York is your destination of choice, you must you visit Times Square.

     

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1) Take Time From Work – No Homework Either!

Most people find that the hardest thing about executing the perfect staycation is drawing a line between work time and vacation time. No matter how hard people try, they can’t seem to break away from bringing work home with them, even if it’s just checking emails or taking a short, work-related phone call.

When you leave home for a vacation it’s quite easy to leave work behind — all you need to do is turn off your devices or leave them at home. It isn’t as difficult to be “off the grid” when you’re away. Being at home, however, makes it a little harder to implement this discipline.
Our advice is to adopt the same principles on a staycation as you would on a regular vacation. Set up out-of-office alerts on your email and shove your laptop, tablet and phone in a drawer somewhere. If you can’t bear to part with your devices, then turn off the wifi and put temporary blocks on work-related calls and texts.

     

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However, California also boasts miserable traffic, heavy pollution in some areas, wild gang violence, and over-populated prison systems. Here is a list of the 10 worst neighborhoods in California. The list looks at crime, poverty, pollution, poor education, and an overall lower quality of life.

1) Emeryville

Scouring the internet for bad neighborhoods in California, one can’t help but notice that the city of Emeryville seemed to be on nearly every list. Looking into the area some more, it’s not surprising why.

Situated just north of Oakland, one statistic that stands out is that the FBI listed Emeryville as the second most dangerous city in the Bay Area. The Bay Area has its mega wealthy, as well as some of the worst neighborhoods in the country, and Emeryville ranks high on that list.

It is only a small town of 10,000 people, but packs a violent punch, despite being headquarters to both Pixar and Jamba Juice; not exactly scary names in business.
To be fair, Emeryville, in and of itself, may not be terribly bad, nor its residents. However, its proximity to Oakland is certainly something of which to be aware.

Of the 729 people arrested in Emeryville in 2013, 67 percent of them were from Oakland. This crossover contributes to a lot of problems for this community. While the number of homicides tends to be low, the number of violent crimes such as armed robbery, stabbing, beatings and rapes are excessively high.

     

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1) Barrington

Barrington has everything you’d expect from a wealthy Illinois suburb; a real estate scene bursting with historic Victorian mansions; beautiful nature preserves; great horse riding trails and an exemplary school system. It’s no wonder the Barrington area zip code is the seventh wealthiest zip code in the United States. With a population of around 10,000 people, Barrington is made up of six independent villages including North and South Barrington, Lake Barrington, Tower Lakes and Barrington Hills. Almost 20 miles northwest of Chicago, Barrington scores highly on all markers of ‘liveability’ with low crime rates, high graduation rates and a stable housing market. The only liveability marker that Barrington scores poorly on is cost of living, which is no surprise given the areas great amenities that give it an overall placement of 16th on AreaVibes recent liveability poll. The village of Barrington even has its own chirpy motto, ‘a great place to live, work and play!

     

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1) Penn Wynne

Penn Wynne regularly comes up trumps in liveability polls and is widely considered to be one of the most desirable places to live in Pennsylvania. A small town of around 6,000 people and officially recognized as a CDP (census-designated place), Penn Wynne is not technically a town as it does not have its own municipal government. Whatever it is, Penn Wynne is a great place to live and raise a family. Essentially one big suburb, Penn Wynne is primarily made up of residential streets and has a large Orthodox Jewish population. The people of Penn Wynne are known to actively promote a green lifestyle and work to conserve the natural assets of the area. Crime is virtually non-existent in Penn Wynne where the crime rate is 72 percent lower than the state average. Penn Wynne also scores highly on education for its stellar school system that sees 13% more of its kids graduate high school than across the rest of Pennsylvania.

     

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1) Seal Beach, Orange County

If you’re looking for that Cali laid-back beach-bum vibe you need go no further than Seal Beach, Orange County. An archetypal southern Californian town with all the extra trimmings you’d expect from an Orange County beach destination, Seal Beach is located in the westernmost corner of the county and is just south of the city of Los Angeles. Nearby Long Beach and San Pedro Bay get the lion’s share of the bikini-clad tourists while

     

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1) Fredericksburg

Undeniably the most European city in Texas, Fredericksburg is also one of the most desirable places to live. A unique place that was founded by German settlers in 1846 and named after Prince Frederick of Prussia, Fredericksburg is home to just over 10 thousand people and is colloquially known as Fritztown.

Located in Gillespie County, Texas, Fredericksburg is cooler than much of the rest of Texas, an important detail in a state that regularly sizzles at 90 degrees and above. The unemployment rate in Fredericksburg is below average with just 4.3 percent of people out of work, a figure over 40 percent lower than the rest of the state.

Fredericksburg is also one of the best towns in the state for education with impressive high school graduation scores and a ratio of one teacher for every 12 students. In addition to the great quality of living statistics, Fredericksburg has a nationally registered historic district as well as a wonderfully diverse agricultural industry that brings in tourists from all over the world.

     

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1) Niceville

It would have been tempting to include Niceville on our list of the 10 best places to live in Florida based on name alone, but luckily Niceville has more than earned its place for other reasons. Ranked as the ninth most liveable place in Florida according to AreaVibes, Niceville is simply a very nice place to be.

Located in Okaloosa County, Niceville is part of the northwest region of Florida, and its unusual name was chosen by the postmaster’s daughter. In Niceville there is hardly any crime with a crime rate that is 67 percent lower than the state average. Niceville is a great place to raise a family as it has an impressive school system with high school graduation rates that are eight percent higher than average. Niceville is full of great amenities, and is, affordable for most. Home prices are just 15 percent higher than the Florida average and the cost of living is actually 6 percent lower.

     

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1) Hilliard

Hilliard is a bustling suburb of Columbus with a small yet dynamic population. The city holds approximately 30,000 residents, however the local economy thrives on local business and nightly entertainment. The Hilliard community values art and culture while preserving its history with annual events such as the Old Hilliardfest. The Early Television Museum reflects on the development of broadcast entertainment and provides a fun yet educational experience for viewers across the board. When it comes to nightlife, Hilliard is no stranger to an array of sports bars as well as the local Movie Tavern. Residents and visitors looking to branch out in search of weekend activities are delighted to learn that Columbus, the largest city in Ohio, is a mere 18 miles away.

     

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1) Pinehurst

Known for its small population and lush golf courses, Pinehurst offers the perfect setting for a family home. The city’s small population of just thirteen thousand ensures absolute tranquility–one that you can expect to find only in a golf course setting, but without standing in one.

It’s not too congested as traffic is light (and surprisingly organized!). However, it’s not the serenity of the city that makes it one of the best in the country; it’s the fact that it’s serene without being lifeless. You’ll find almost everything in Pinehurst — from day schools to community colleges, from Pinehurst Resort to Mystic Cottage, from well maintained roads to Moor County Airport.

And the list doesn’t end here. Pinehurst also enjoys the reputation of being one of the safest cities in the US. Last year, the violent crime rate here was just 0.52 per one thousand residents.

     

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1) Duluth, Georgia

Duluth is considered to be one of the most budget friendly cities in Georgia, but it is also very walkable, making the need for transportation at a minimum compared to other US cities. This quaint Gwinnett County town has a modest population of just about 28,000 residents, which is a near eight percent increase. The average household income for Duluth sits at around $57,000 while most of the residents are of a younger demographic, with over 35% under the age of 17. Residents and visitors can look forward to a major fall festival held every year, along with easy access to the Southeastern Railway Museum which features a collection of historic trains and Pullman cars. Duluth is also home to the Infinite Energy Arena, which is the stopping ground for the professional minor league hockey team known as the Atlanta Gladiators.

     

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1) Ho-Ho-Kus

At the top of the list is Ho-Ho-Kus, a small borough with a population of just 4,000. The per capita income in the borough is 60% higher than the national average. The median household income beats the US average by 197%.

Despite having just one public school, the average test scores here are 36% higher than the national average. 97% of the residents are high school graduates, and over 70% hold a bachelor degree or higher.

As for safety, the borough’s overall crime rate is 81% lower than the national average, making it safer than 82% of the cities in the US. Turning to jobs, the unemployment rate in the borough is 35% lower than the rest of the nation; the poverty level is even lower by 89%. Thanks to all these qualities, Ho-Ho-Kus gets the first position without any tough competition.

     

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1) Midland

Midland is the 35th largest community in Michigan. With a population of 41,000, the mid-sized city provides a perfect setting for people looking for the advantages of city life without the stratospheric costs associated with it. 85 percent of the residents of Midland work in white collar roles, which tells a lot about the place.

Despite the urbanized lifestyle, the cost of living in Midland is 10 percent lower than the national average. The cost of housing is even lower (i.e. 23 percent lower than the national average). The best part is that the urbanization hasn’t expressed itself with a high crime rate. Perhaps it’s because of the fact that 42% of Midland’s residents are college graduates. Whatever the reason, the fact remains that Midland is safer than most cities in the US, which makes it an attractive place for people looking for a safe place to settle with their families. If you are one of those people, you should know that the city has five public schools, and the median house or condo value here is just $136,000. What are you waiting for?

     

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