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← Older: America’s Best Places to Live 2008: No. 30, Chandler, Arizona
Feathered hats may not be the rage anymore, but Chandler’s annual Ostrich Festival certainly is: It’s the town’s nod to the ostrich farms that used to dot the area.
Newer: America’s Best Places to Live 2008: No. 12, Highlands Ranch, Colorado →
Just 12 miles southeast of Denver, Highlands Ranch is a young unincorporated community — only 27 years old this year. Settled by Native Americans long ago, it remained a series of farms and ranches until the 1980s brought suburban development.
America’s Best Places to Live 2008: No. 28, Gilbert, Arizona
As seen in the August 2008 issue of Money magazine and on the web at CNNMoney.com.
Gilbert, AZ
Top 100 rank: 28
Population: 191,500
In the early 1900s, Gilbert was known as the Hay Capital of the World. Today it is a bustling small city and the fastest-growing town in Arizona in the last decade.
New development projects include the Freestone Recreation Center, a new regional mall called SanTan Village, and a planned Mormon temple.
Retaining the charm of the old days, the town’s Heritage District remains a quaint and historic heart of the community. And the schools are top notch.