It's back-to-school time at Boston-area colleges and universities, but as political and economic challenges mount, this fall feels a little different.

Stacker compiled a list of the best places to live in America as of August 2025, using Niche data on cities, towns, and suburbs.

The center is the first building completed in the United States for Shelley McNamara and Yvonne Farrell, the Pritzker Prize-winning co-founders of Grafton Architects in Dublin.

Policymakers hope to ease the load on young families, close early education gaps and nudge birth rates up. But deeper structural pressures and societal expectations may prove harder to shift.