63 North Texas towns ranked. Which came out on top? Which sank to the bottom? And where does your community fall on the list?
You’d be hard-pressed to find anyplace on earth that smells as good as the Texas Harvest Pie Company on South Main Street in Keller. It’s like walking into your grandmother’s house, if your grandmother lived in a freshly made bowl of butter and graham crackers. The buttermilk pie is better than your grandmother’s. Trust us. We’re not sure if this is why Money magazine often lists Keller among the top 100 best places to live in the country (No. 50 in 2006, No. 7 in 2009, No. 93 in 2011), but it must have been a factor. Other possibilities: the city’s state-of-the-art library, 11 developed parks, more than 18 miles of trails, and its passion for local art. Brenda Wyatt, chairman of the 10-year-old Keller Public Arts Board, has lived in Southlake and Colleyville, finally settling on Keller eight years ago. The retired art teacher started monthly art shows focusing on Texas artists at City Hall (which features “museum-quality space,” she points out). As you drive through Keller, belly full and enjoying the sugar high, you’ll see what Wyatt and her cohorts have been up to. In addition to a full arts calendar, nine pieces of outdoor art keep the town focused on its creative bent. Six of the pieces feature animals—mostly birds—while Circle of Friends, by Karen Crain, looks like a scene you might see any summer day here: a young girl, barefoot, reading a book.