Ronald Johnson
McKinney, Texas

After 18 years with Morgan Stanley in Dallas I now hang my shingle out at Smith Barney in McKinney, Tex., (pop. 50,000), the county seat of Collin County.

My life today:
Commute: 1 minute 30 seconds each way.
Old Commute: 2 hours round trip.
Country Club: 3 blocks from the office and 6 blocks from the house
Internet: At the office—industrial strength. At home—always-on digital
Housing Cost: $.73 per foot vs. High-end Dallas cost of $1.50 per foot
Culture: Local Community College
Dining: With two small kids who really needs another trendy restaurant?
Schools: Exemplary rankings. One kid at school three blocks from house. Another in special-ed program—but only 5 minutes away.
Income: Down a little with rough brokerage industry conditions, but expenses are way down also.
Improved work attitude and family relationships: Priceless.

Carolyn Hash
Paoli, Indiana

I live in rural southern Indiana in a small town of 5,000 people. We moved here 12 years ago and tonight I was reminded once again why we made that decision. I have just returned from a play performed in the cafeteria in the school where I am a guidance counselor. There are 42 students in the Senior class and 18 were in the play tonight. Three hours of laughter and good food, all for $13 a person.

Douglas Patteson
Rochester, New Hampshire

While in grad school at Wharton, most of my classmates were contemplating investment-banking jobs in New York City, consulting jobs in Boston or Chicago, business development jobs in Silicon Valley–you get the point. My wife and I weighed the miserable hours, the expensive lifestyles and the big-ticket salaries (many of which are now casualties of recent right-sizings) and said no.

I can see the allure of Boston or New York or Washington D.C. But for our mid-30's family of 5, it doesn't work. So we trotted off to New Hampshire, where, for the price of our old tiny 2-bedroom in suburban D.C., we got a 6-acre idyll with a horse barn and small fruit orchard on a lake 85 miles from Boston.

By the way, I can sit in my 200 year old farmhouse listening to loons on the lake while I am on my wireless network through a broadband connection to the outside world. Pretty cool!

Jeb Morrison
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Small cities are the way to go. I graduated from the Stanford Graduate School of Business last spring, moved to Minneapolis to start a small investment business with two family members, and bought a 4,200 square foot house in a high-end, near-downtown neighborhood for less than a shoe-box starter home in Palo Alto, and am loving it.

I'm glad I moved from California back to the Midwest. My second child is due in six weeks, and the natural thoughts that percolate through a father's head continue to support the move I made.

I'm thrilled to be in the one place that has ever felt like home to me.

Peter Murphy
West Sand Lake, New York

Priorities change for people transitioning from their 20s to their 30s as they have families and become more homebodies. Therefore, fewer parties, shows and museums doesn't matter that much. Many of us would rather be home playing with children or doing yard work.

I grew up in suburban New York City.

Now, praise the Lord, I have an eight-room house, full basement, two-car garage, barn, porch, deck, etc. on a full acre of property in Rensselaer County just 11 miles from downtown Albany, with no Hudson River bridge tolls and children in an affordable parochial school. My visiting siblings from New York City, Washington and L.A. can't believe how much I've got.

Paula Olson
Fort Worth, Texas

As a 30-something, stay-at-home mother of four. I have lived in Dallas, Mexico City, Kona Hawaii, Omaha, Southern California, Jinan (a medium city of 3 million on mainland China), and, finally and most happily, in Fort Worth.

Here we can manage cheerfully on a single $65K income. My husband, a programmer, turned down an $85K job in Dallas. It would take a much bigger salary hike than that to even tempt us to move.

We like Fort Worth because it is convenient and affordable, but we LOVE Fort Worth because it is a terrific place to raise a family.

Joe Milam
Granite Bay, California

I live in Granite Bay, Calif. (outside Sacramento, near Folsom Lake). When I moved up here in 1996 the area was a financial backwater. Since our clients ($1 million minimum) come from referrals, I introduced myself to some of the local professionals (CPAs, attorneys). They didn't know the difference between a registered investment advisor and a stockbroker!

Have times changed in Sacramento!

Entrepreneurism is breaking out everywhere, including a third-tier financial town like Sacramento. When my friends at Sand Hill asked me in 1996 why I moved to the 'hinterlands my reply was ... because I can. Many wish they had.