College Station grew up around Texas A&M, the first public institution of higher learning in Texas. That university atmosphere contributes to it being named the most educated place in Texas by Money magazine in 2006. The university's steady employment base may also explain why College Station has fared relatively well in the housing crisis. It leads the nation with the lowest foreclosure rate.

Adrees Latif/Reuters/File
The George Bush Library and Museum in College Station, Texas, is pictured around the time of its 1997 opening. The national housing crisis has not hit the city hard.