Just east of Morehead City, Beaufort, North Carolina is a charming and friendly small town of about 4700 by the sea. Pronounced Bow-furt, it is not to be confused with the South Carolina city of the same name, pronounced B'yoo-furt (see the Retirement Guide to Beaufort, SC). The Hatteras barrier islands sweep away to the east, and ferries will take you…...

Cupertino is a very affluent community located west of San Jose in the Silicon Valley. The average household income is about $184,000. De Anza College is located in Cupertino, as is the headquarters of Apple Computer.  The city has bike lanes and a very expensive bicycle bridge. It also has ambitious plans to become a more pedestrian oriented city....

Grand Junction, Colorado comes up near the top of many people's "best places to retire". For one thing, this fast-growing town perched on the border with Utah has a relatively low cost of living. It is also a college town (Colorado Mesa University has over 10,000 students on campus here). Natural beauty and recreation is abundant with the Rocky Mountains…...

Laurel Maryland is a suburban town in Prince George's County of about 21,000 people. It is northeast of Washington DC and near Columbia (MD), the National Security Agency's headquarters, Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory, and the Laurel Park Racecourse. There are a number of locations on the National Register of Historic Places in Laurel.  Howard Community College and Prince…...