Business Week's been showcasing the "best affordable suburbs" to which its readers might wanna move, and this week it saves the best for last: the South, notable for its "strong job markets and low living costs." And, naturally, there is a Dallas-Ft. Worth suburb included on the list: Flower Mound, which is far more desirable than its next-door neighbor, Lewisville:
Also, in case you were unaware of this, Flower Mound is "named for a large, wild flower-covered mound in the south of town." No word on how Pile of Shit, Kansas, got its moniker. --Robert WilonskyFlower Mound shares a zip code with the nearby city of Lewisville, but the former is the more desirable area to live, according to Dottie Curry, a Realtor with Re/Max in the area. Lewisville is older and more industrial, while strict commercial zoning laws in Flower Mound keep the community quiet and mostly residential. "[The citizens of Flower Mound] have been very careful not to let the builders come in and ruin their town," says Curry...
The bounty of major companies in Texas contribute to the state's gross domestic product of over $1 trillion -- the second highest in the U.S. last year after California. Even so, Texas housing is generally less expensive than in the rest of the country due to the state's less speculative market. Low taxation and limited regulation of business also keep the cost of living relatively low. Flower Mound is no exception -- the median home price here is just $249,900, and the cost-of-living index is 98.8.
