America's Top 10 Best Places to Live 2008

http://money.cnn.com/ ^ | Monday, July 14, 2008 | by Kate Ashford, Carolyn Bigda, Lawrence Lanahan, Sarah Max, Caren Weiner Campbell

[Lucky9teen]

Great jobs, schools, housing—these 10 small cities have all that and more

Chances are, you love the corner of the nation your family calls home. And that’s exactly as it should be. But let’s face it: Certain towns have more of the things that make a place great for raising a family and building a rich life—like plentiful jobs, excellent schools, scenic beauty and houses that won’t suck away your last dime.

As we do every year, we set out to identify those communities that just seem to have it all. We analyzed the nation’s small cities, those with populations of 50,000 to 300,000. That means you won’t find, for example, Chicago on our top 10 list—but you will find places that offer Chicago-like amenities (such as cafés and culture) plus other benefits the Windy City can only dream of (such as low crime and affordable homes).

These 10 towns aren’t mere suburbs; they’re places in their own right, with thriving commerce and job growth. That means many residents need not leave town for work—a huge plus with gas at $4—and some rarely need to drive at all. One result: a strong sense of community. “One of the great things about walkable cities is that if you’re constantly passing by someone you don’t know, eventually you say hello,” says Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, dean of the University of Miami’s School of Architecture.

[Lucky9teen]

No 1: Plymouth, Minn.

Population: 70,100

Miles from Minneapolis: 10

Number of lakes: Eight

Rank of its main school district: Top three in the state

Pros: Plenty of green, great schools, close to the Twin Cities

Con: A long, cold winter

No. 2: Fort Collins, Colo.

Population: 129,500

Miles from Denver: 59

Hiking and biking trails: 25 miles

Average July temperature: 69°F

Pros: Environmentally minded, lots of high-tech jobs, outdoor paradise

Con: More than an hour from a major city

No. 3: Naperville, Ill.

Population: 142,900

Miles from Chicago: 26

Job growth: 18.8% since 2000

Public library: Ranked No. 1 among small cities

Pros: Topnotch schools, abundant parks, a booming downtown

Con: Lots of traffic

No. 4: Irvine, Calif.

Population: 194,000

Miles from Los Angeles: 36

Green space: One-third of the city

Sunny days per year: 280

Pros: Topnotch schools, great weather, lots of green space

Con: High home prices

No. 5: Franklin Township, N.J.

Population: 59,200

Miles from New York City: 33

Green space: 11,930 acres

Typical single-family home: $385,000

Pros: Natural beauty, diversity, affordability

Con: High taxes

No. 6: Norman, Okla.

Population: 102,800

Miles from Oklahoma City: 17

Typical single-family home: $163,600

People at the typical OU game: 84,860

Pros: Affordable housing, football mania

Cons: Severe weather, football mania

No 7: Round Rock, Texas

Population: 92,400

Miles from Austin: 17

Typical single-family home: $192,500

Job growth since 2000: 46.8%

Pros: Affordable homes, loads of outdoor amenities

Con: One employer dominates the economy

No. 8: Columbia/Ellicott City, Md.

Population: 158,800

Miles from Baltimore: 21

Median family income: $107,318

Job growth since 2000:10.7%

Pros: Strong economy; family-friendly amenities

Con: Traffic can be heavy

No. 9: Overland Park, Kans.

Population: 166,700

Miles from Kansas City:10

Typical single-family home: $275,000

Job growth since 2000: 16.8%

Pros: Reasonably priced housing, great job market

Con: Sometimes feels a little too planned

No. 10: Fishers, Ind.

Population: 61,800

Miles from Indianapolis: 15

Economic development spending: $700 million from 2008 to 2010

Transit: New rail line in the next five years

Pros: Public transportation, growing economy

Con: Minimal downtown

[The KG9 Kid]

HEY EVERYONE! Let's all move to Minnesota, California, New Jersey, and Illinois!

CNN said those are the best places to live!

What could go wrong?!

Good grief. Take a look at the Irvine CA pic. That ain't mist in the skies, and that's a GOOD day for air quality.

[Always Right]

Not sure why football mania is a big negative or why public transportation is a big plus. How much of the population of Fishers Indiana use the public transportation?

[isrul]

If that's the best America has to offer, I better start thinking about emigration.

[LongTimeMILurker]

You can’t support cafes and culture without some real products and services to back them up. I disagree, these ARE suburbs, which would not exist without the larger city nearby, and without the population driven out there by failed goverment policies.

[Always Right]

How much of the population of Fishers Indiana use the public transportation?

A google search of that produced this first result:

Commuting

In Fishers, 94% of commuters drive to work. There just aren't a lot of public transporation users in the town.

[KarlInOhio]

Not sure why football mania is a big negative

Maybe when 80,000 fans show up in your 100,000 person town 6 times a year or when 80,000 drunk fans leave your 100,000 person town 6 times a year. :-)

[Mr. Jeeves]

Nevertheless, Irvine is the only city on the list with remotely tolerable weather.

[Hatteras]

Ft. Collins
Con: More than an hour from a major city

That's a bad thing?!

[Always Right]

I live in a college town. Of course we rarely to get 1/2 of the fans that OU gets, but I still don’t find it much of a nuicence whether it is 25 or 50 thousand. Just minor schedule and route adjustments, and you won’t even notice it. Besides, once or twice a year it might even be enjoyable to join them. If it was an opera getting 80,000 people, the magazine would be raving about it.

[MHGinTN]

I’ve been looking into Clanton, AL of late. Wow, what a buy for home ownership, and situated almost halfway between Birmingham and Montgomery. I’m seriously considering moving to this wonderful little town! And ... it has marvelous peaches in season.

[Verginius Rufus]

On “Fox & Friends” this morning they were talking about how Luverne, Minnesota, is offering to pay people to come live there. It’s about 30 miles east of Sioux Falls, South Dakota (population 142,396 in 2006)—not sure that counts as a major city. Luverne has under 5,000 population and its county (Rock County) has under 10,000 population—it went for Bush in both 2000 and 2004.

[boogerbear]

There sure are a lot of places that get snow on that list. No snow for me, the worst place in the world that doesn’t have snow is better than the best place in the world that does. Nasty white crap.

[library user]

America's Top 10 Best Places to Live 2008

I don't know about the best places to live, but I can tell you one of the worst place's to live: OJ's spare bedroom.

[kidd]

Plymouth, MN is #1 in the country?

Its not even the nicest place to live in the Minneapolis area.

Mound and Waconia are great lake towns, with good schools, and they have conservative voters.

There’s nothing horribly wrong with Plymouth, but its really not remarkable in any way that I’ve seen.

[MissEdie]

I was thinking the same thing- sounds like it’d be too cold for me in most of those places!

[pogo101]

None of the top 100 is in South Carolina. Seems a bit odd. (Wife and I live in LA but have long considered moving to an “exurb” of Charleston by the time we have kids who are old enough to be influenced by the toxins here. Wife’s folks live in Charleston.)

[Gay State Conservative]

Plymouth,MN

Miles for Minneapolis:10

Lakes:5

Days when the high temperature exceeds 10 degrees:10

[CPOSharky]

I sure am glad they left my city off that list.

Jeeze, I would not live in most of those states no matter how nice the city was.

[Tolkien]

I'm sitting here at Round Rock anticipating going out into the 101 degree weather and driving down I-35 hoping I don't get run over.

There are hardly any trees in Round Rock because of the big tectonic plate we're sitting on.

Round Rock is at the whim of Michael Dell and everyone knows it.