Relocate-America Announces 2005 'America's Top 100 Places to Live' List

prnewswire ^ | Apr 4, 2004

[11th_VA]

HOWELL, Mich., April 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Relocate-America, a web site assisting consumers in finding communities that best fit their family's needs, announces the release of "America's Top 100 Places to Live" for 2005. The list can be found at http://www.Relocate-America.com , which offers consumers an abundance of community information and links to top real estate professionals throughout the U.S. Cities making the list are considered for inclusion on the list by first being nominated by a current or past resident, or other individuals familiar with the community's benefits. They submit a brief description that is reviewed by Relocate-America's editorial team for compelling reasons on what makes the community a special place to live. Such descriptions often include references to a community's:

-- Great people and neighbors -- Serenity, peace and quiet -- Beauty of area -- Great Schools -- Safety for children -- Low crime rates -- Activities, such as museums, theaters and sports -- Economic health, with employment opportunities and affordable housing

"At HomeRoute we are pleased with the continued growth of Relocate- America's Annual 'America's Top 100 Places to Live' List. It gives communities a sense of pride and accomplishment when making the list," says Steve Nickerson, CEO & President of HomeRoute. "As a result we've helped connect 1000s of relocating consumers with their next hometown. It is fun & rewarding to be a part of that." The nominated towns then are put through an editorial process conducted by HomeRoute. Each nominated city is compared against each other in crime rates, employment statistics, housing & economic data for the past year as well as a non-scientific study of what makes the community a great place to live according to its nomination ballots and the total number of consumer inquiries for the area as well. After all is reviewed, the Top 100 cities are selected to make the list. From the Top 100, the Top 10 communities are ranked based on the total number of nominations. The remaining 90 are compiled alphabetically to equally recognize those top communities on the list. Each year thousands of communities across the U.S. are nominated and considered for the list.

Top 10 of Relocate-America's "America's Top 100 Places to Live" in 2005

1. Spencer, IA

2. Long Beach, NY

3. Yuma, AZ

4. Edmond, OK

5. Bartlesville, OK

6. Venice, FL

7. Bonita Springs, FL

8. Montgomery, AL

9. Asheville, NC

10. Jasper, IN

Relocate America's "America's Top 100 Places to Live" in 2005

Asheville, NC

Astoria, OR

Auburn, AL

Bartlesville, OK

Bella Vista, AR

Belton, TX

Bonita Springs, FL

Boulder City, NV

Brunswick, ME

Canyon Lake, TX

Cape Charles, VA

Carlsbad, NM

Celebration, FL

Chandler, AZ

Colorado Springs, CO

Corpus Christi, TX

Crestview, FL

Deltona, FL

Diamondhead, MS

Edmond, OK

Elko, NV

Eureka, CA

Fort Collins, CO

Fort Lewis, WA

Fort Walton Beach, FL

Gardnerville, NV

Georgetown, TX

Green Valley, AZ

Gulf Shores, AL

Gulfport, MS

Harlingen, TX

Harveys Lake, PA

Hastings-On-Hudson, NY

Henderson, NV

Hunters Creek, FL

Indian Lake, OH

Jasper, IN

Kingman, AZ

Kingstowne, VA

Klamath Falls, OR

Laguna Vista, TX

Lake Keowee, SC

Lakeland, FL

Las Cruces, NM

Las Vegas, NV

Lehigh Acres, FL

Long Beach, NY

Madison, WI

Mandeville, LA

Manhattan, KS

Melbourne, FL

Mesquite, NV

Mexico Beach, FL

Montgomery, AL

Mooresville, NC

Mount Charleston, NV

Mountain Home, AR

Murrieta, CA

Naples, FL

New Paltz, NY

Newport News, VA

Ocean Springs, MS

Pahrump, NV

Pawleys Island, SC

Poinciana, FL

Port Isabel, TX

Port St. Lucie, FL

Prescott, AZ

Queen Creek, AZ

Reno, NV

River Hills/Lake Wylie, SC

Roseville, CA

Saddlebrooke, AZ

Sanford, FL

Santa Fe, TX

Seaford, DE

Sebastian, FL

Sedona, AZ

Seneca, SC

Sierra Vista, AZ

Sparks, NV

Spencer, IA

Spring Hill, FL

Springfield, MO

St. Mary's, GA

Stafford County, VA

Summerlin, NV

Surfside Beach, SC

Temecula, CA

Titusville, FL

Vacaville, CA

Valdosta, GA

Venice, FL

Virginia Beach, VA

Weatherford, TX

Weston, FL

Willis, TX

Winter Haven, FL

Yellow Springs, OH

Yuma, AZ

[11th_VA]

Alot of red in those states - there goes the neighborhood ...

[SteveMcKing]

I'm shocked - WORCESTER MASSACHUSETTS isn't listed this year!!!!!

[maine-iac7]

Alot of red in those states - there goes the neighborhood

hopefully the blues will not want to be caught dead in a red zone.

[11th_VA]

even some places like Roseville, CA, are really red districts

[Paladin2]

No place in MT?

Time to go there B4 the media gets the word.

[KarlInOhio]

Yellow Springs, OH

It's like a little bit of Berkeley dropped into Ohio.

[Slings and Arrows]

I'm shocked - WORCESTER MASSACHUSETTS isn't listed this year!!!!!

I'm shocked it was listed any year.

[Clemenza]

Long Beach, NY

Ya gotta be sh-ttin' me! High property taxes, mediocre schools and the commute on the LIRR isn't THAT great (although better than, say, Huntington). Cool beach and Irish bars though.

[Troublemaker]

Yeah, no Montana :o).

[FreeKeys]

I see absolutely NO attempt here to correlate some of THE MOST important things to look for in a community:

LOCATION IN A NO-INCOME TAX STATE like TN, FL, NH, etc.

LOW-CRIME RATES

AVAILABILITY OF HIGH-QUALITY PRIVATE SCHOOLS

AVAILABILITY OF HIGH-ACCREDITATION HOSPITALS

LOW RISK OF FLOODS, TORNADOES, EARTHQUAKES, OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS

ETC.

Instead it just looks like a bunch of real estate agents' puff pieces.

[11th_VA]

No place in MT?

Do you have speed limits yet ?

[Clemenza]

Weston, FL

Yep, the wealthy Venezuelans and Colombians are bringing their money in suitcases and driving up the real estate in Weston. They also bring with them some beautiful daughters. THANK YOU HUGO CHAVEZ!

The downside is that there is no beach and Debbie Wasserman is your congresswoman.

[Slings and Arrows]

Prnewswire is a press release service - you give them the bucks, they issue a press release. I think you're right.

[LibertarianInExile]

Bump to that. Ever notice how they're never the same from year to year?

What a joke.

[FreeKeys]

I just notice Yellow Springs is on the list!! I went to college in Yellow Springs! Yellow Springs is the reddest of red towns (CAPITAL RED AS IN THROUGH-AND-THROUGH COMMUNIST). The college even has an outdoor gathering place called "Red Square" fer criminey sake. It's also only about 9 miles north of Xenia -- the center of one of the deadliest KILLER tornadoes in recent memory.

OHIO HAS A STATE INCOME TAX.

NOOOOOOO, thanks....

[Quicksilver]

Hmmmm. After 4 hurricanes in a month Florida has 20 great places to live?

[sweetliberty]

We're on that list. There goes the neighborhood indeed! Of course, desirability is relative. There are other places on that list that I would NOT consider desirable.

[oceanview]

not many people relocate to long island unless they are coming from queens or brooklyn.

[FreedomFarmer]

Manhattan, KS

There is a rotten socialist core in the Little Apple.

[Serenissima Venezia]

LOCATION IN A NO-INCOME TAX STATE like TN, FL, NH, etc.

I don't know about the other states without a personal income tax, but I know that both Texas and Florida more than make up it by having very high property tax rates. When we lived in Corpus Christi (strangely on the list of top 10 cities), we paid more in property taxes than we paid in both property taxes and state income tax in California! California's property tax rate is 1%, while in Corpus it was over 3%. Nevada is different, though, since the state gets revenue from gambling (no state income tax, 1% property tax rate). Gotta look at the details, which I agree this report didn't do.