BEST PLACES TO LIVE 2006 (CNNMONEY WANTS TO KNOW IF YOU AGREE-VOTE)

CNNMONEY.COM ^ | 8.26.06 | MONEYSTAFF

[fight_truth_decay]

CNNMONEY.COM

And the winners are...
Americans are flocking to places that offer big-city opportunities and amenities -- with a lot more green space and a lot less stress. See the top 10 Great American Towns.

1. Fort Collins, CO
2. Naperville, IL
3. Sugar Land, TX
4. Columbia/Ellicott City, MD
5. Cary, NC 10. Eden Prairie, MN
6. Overland Park, KS
7. Scottsdale, AZ
8. Boise, ID
9. Fairfield, CT
10. Eden Prairie, MN

What do you think is the best place to live?

Fort Collins, CO
Naperville, IL
Sugar Land, TX
Columbia/Ellicott City, MD
My hometown
None of these

Quick Vote:

[CNNMONEY MUST BE EXCERPTED]

[Paved Paradise]

OMG, I was going to say I hated Naperville too. Not for the reason you cited, but that whole part of Illinois is so flat and boring. You are right about the McMansions.

[EDINVA]

my thirty-something nephew and his wife, who were both raised in Naperville, sold their house there and moved a bit farther out, and couldn't be happier ... it's not at all the nice town they grew up in.

[beethoven]

Yes, but I wish you were referring to our borders!

[lionheart 247365]

Baltimore Md. has 350 homicides a year on average and rising . Corrupt police , corrupt city council , corrupt city states attorney office , corrupt school system , with a 70% drop out rate . I can't believe Baltimore didn't even make the short list , and the mayor is running for Governor so he can do the same for the state . PLEASE SEND THE NATIONAL GUARD ASAP . . .

[lionheart 247365]

Like Baltimore City , Columbia is fudging the crime figures each year to look nice but it's mean also . . .

[OldFriend]

LOL.....the only good thing about New Mexico is that it isn't NJ......is that what you're saying.........LOLOL

[BluH2o]

Just don't come to WV. Awful place to live. You wouldn't like it.

Really? I think WV is a beautiful state ... there, I've blown your cover WVNan, we're all packing up and headed for WV. You can't fool us ... ;)

[SuziQ]

Just don't come to WV. Awful place to live. You wouldn't like it.

*snicker* Yeah, we're fixing to move to Gulfport MS. One third of the town isn't even THERE anymore. There won't be a lot of other people moving in anytime soon, which is just fine with us! Having been in MA for 18 years has 'cured' us from being around loads of people and traffic!

[familyop]

One of the choices was "None of these." ...no other choices? LOL!

[BluH2o]

Grand Junction, CO should be on the list ... great place to live. Close proximity to skiing, the great outdoors, vineyards in the valley, lots of water (Colorado & Gunnison Rivers), no traffic/congestion issues like the eastern front range of Colorado. Excellent regional airport, good hospitals, etc..

[MonicaG]

OMG - I want to move to Florida but a good friend lived there and suffered major, chronic withdrawals from lengua taco's, carne asada, burrito's, etc. It didn't help that he'd frequently call me while I was enjoying a few freshly-made tamales with my friend's homemade salsa.

I'd like CNN to make me a custom list - it would have to include a place with local Mexican food readily available. It would also be right next to the ocean in a town where the Subaru Outback's were free from Kerry/Edwards/Wage Peace/The-Only-Bush-I-Trust bumper stickers, and I wouldn't have to join the police force to get a concealed-carry. Plus, I'd never be juiced for another "$0.63 for a bus ticket" or have my home broken into, in this amazing town where it never snows.

/daydream

[Inyo-Mono]

The people who make up this list are from huge cities and so see medium size cities like Boise and Ft Collins as "small". It all depends on what you're used to. There are people who think that going to Jackson Hole, Wy or Park City, Ut is "roughing it".

Lol! You just about summed it up. I like "roughing it" myself. I couldn't live in a town with a population over 7,000. By the way, thanks for your service to our country, I know you didn't hear it back then.

[q_an_a]

if taxes are the only figures to consider or the view from your kitchen window then some of these cities make sense, but I like the NBA, MLB, NFL and a good museum, a symphony and some fine food at night. Most of these towns are a long ways to major league sports and other things that make life interesting.

[Muleteam1]

When I came to New Mexico in 1968 it was virtually undiscovered. The big joke back then was that tourist magazines had to inform their readers that visitors to the State did not need passports. A career caused me to leave the State for many years and, by the time I returned in the 1990s, New Mexico had been fully discovered, explored, and was getting as "civilized" as all other American areas under the influence of urbania.

I will only add that along with plentiful amounts of cancer-causing sun, we also have volcanoes, lava flows, and aliens (the extraterrestrial type). We're pretty sure our governor came from the planet Remulak as he keeps reminding us that he is only part Anglo.

[Muleteam1]

>>Yeah, we're fixing to move to Gulfport MS.<<

LOL! I'm betting you are originally from the South?

I haven't been in Gulfport in many years but when I lived in New Orleans, it was one of my favorite "get-a-way places.

BTW. I have not lived in deep east Texas in forty years but people still say that can hear my east Texas accent very clearly. I have ancestral families in Mississippi.

[SuziQ]

LOL! I'm betting you are originally from the South?

Sure am! SirKit and I were born and raised in MS, but left in 1976, the year after we got married. Have lived in various places since, the last 27 being north of the Mason Dixon Line. I can guaran-damn-tee you that when we cross that line on our move, we'll be a whoopin and hollerin; me in the min-van, and SirKit in his pick-em-up truck! There is a sign on I-81 marking the line, and we used to give a cheer at it every time we went down South for vacation. The kids got a big kick out of it!

[La Enchiladita]

Forewarned is ... *giggle, giggle* ... forearmed.

[Muleteam1]

I know what you mean. My family had to live in one of CNN's "Best Places To Live" in Maryland once. Although south of the Mason-Dixon line, I did not enjoy living in the liberal State. My ancestors left Maryland in the 1600s headed for the great American South and I should have learned something from their experience.

[OldFriend]

Daughter spent a month in NM on a physics seminar as a college student. She loved it but was amazed at the high cost of living. Wow. Of course, all we remember is that the labs nearly burned down following a so called controlled burn.

I do remember Richardson being asked about Las Vegas NM and he thought the referral was about Las Vegas, Nevada. He had no clue.

[Muleteam1]

My primary home is in Albuquerque so I can attest that living costs there have risen considerably in recent years. Housing in most parts of New Mexico have jumped greatly in the past couple of years.

I should ask if the physics seminar was at Los Alamos at LANL? If so, Los Alamos is considered a high-cost of living area by the Federal Office of Personnel Management who tracks these things. Before I knew this, I once interviewed for a job at LANL years ago. I was probably lucky I was able to pin down another position in the State at that time.

I'm a native Texan who already has my burial plot in Texas purchased. However, I love New Mexico, its people, its dry climate, its beautiful scenery and it's extraterrestrials.