Nome, AK, United States

Living in Nome, Alaska is no walk in the park. The population of 3,699 contends with a brutal subarctic climate, with temperatures plummeting to −54°F and only 78 freeze-free days per year. Bureaucracy is also a persistent headache, as the city's post office once refused to accept a name change to "Anvil City" despite local support. Yet Nome's rugged, isolated location on the Bering Sea coast also draws hardy souls seeking gold mining opportunities, which have supported the economy since the 1898 gold rush. This is no place for the faint of heart.