Finding Your
"Best" Place to Live
by Janet Wickell
From http://about.com/
Narrowing down the
choices
We all have different criteria for choosing the
"best" place to live. Maybe your best
place is a large city with plenty of nightlife,
or small-town America where everyone in town knows
each other–or something in-between.
No matter what you're looking for, there's probably
an online or print publication that's done some
research to help you find it. Here's a look at
some of this year's reports.
Employment Review's Best Places to Live
and Work, 2003
Employment review's report lists twenty American
cities, along with the reasons for ranking them
as America's best cities. They appear to look
for locations that are in a growth mode, with
job opportunities and a good quality of life.
Number one is Raleigh, North Carolina, for the
second straight year. Madison, Wisconsin is ranked
#2, followed by Austin, Texas. Huntsville, Alabama,
and Atlanta round out the top five.
Money Magazine's Best Places to Live
Money Magazine takes a slightly different approach.
The editors have chosen several cities they rank
as best choices, but the Web site also offers
tools to help you determine your own best location.
I like the option that allows you to search for
a city by profile: desert, tropical, where the
money is, let it snow, and art and culture.
Kid Friendly Cities Honor Roll
This report card helps you find a kid-friendly
city that's right for you. Follow the specific
categories to narrow-down your choices.
Homefair's Lifestyle Optimizer
Homefair's search engine helps you develop a
list of the 10 best cities for your needs. Choose
one characteristic to rank the cities, then select
demographic, economic, or climate conditions to
restrict your list.
Robb Report's Best Place to Live, 2003
The Robb Report focuses on luxury lifestyles.
For 2003, its editors awarded Best Place to Live
status to Palm Beach, Florida.
There are many other publications and search
engines that can help you find your best place
to live. Browse my Best Place to Live and Best
Place to Retire links for relocation inspiration.
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