Lafayette

Local pride: Lafayette was founded in 1821 as Vermilionville by Acadian exiles — French settlers deported from Canada in the 1750s whose descendants became the Cajuns — and French still peppers daily life; you'll hear "laissez les bons temps rouler" ("let the good times roll") used sincerely. Studies have repeatedly crowned it one of the happiest cities in America, and locals credit the food and the dancing.