Forget hearting NYC (sorry!); apparently Austin is the number one city in the U.S. for creating and developing small businesses, according to the Austin Business Journal. Over the past few years, Austin’s population grew by 20.2% (only Raleigh grew faster); its job base grew by 9.3% (the third-fastest); and the number of small businesses grew by 1.5% (no other city did better than 0.6%). Admittedly, these stats aren't a total surprise to us. Right now, we have 3,136 members in Texas, with a good portion from Austin, and we totally dug the scene when we were visiting in March for SXSW. (photo by lloydi, via Flickr)