Best Place to live according to Money Magazine is

[napi21]

Middleton, Wi.! I don't know anything about Middleton, but here's a clip from a news note:

MONEY magazine announced today that Middleton, Wisconsin wins the No. 1 spot on this year’s list of America’s Best Places to Live, its annual ranking of America’s most livable towns. Middleton was followed by (2) Hanover, N.H., (3) Louisville, Colo., (4) Lake Mary, Fla., (5) Claremont, Calif., (6) Papillion, Neb., (7) Milton, Mass., (8) Chaska, Minn., (9) Nether Providence (Wallingford), Pa., and (10) Suwanee, Ga. Profiles of the top 10 and a full list of the top 100 are available online now at www.CNNMoney.com/bestplaces and will appear in the August issue of MONEY, on sale July 23.

I can ony speak for one city on that list...Suwanee, Ga. That's 12 miles south of me and the city where my husband works. I don't know what criteria that mag. used, ut I can tell you, you better have a NICE SALARY is you want to live in Suwanee! Last I checked, the lowest new house was $280,000 and it sure wasn't anything to write home about! (Not for THAT much money anway!)

http://www.huliq.com/27407/money-magazines-best-places-to-live-in-america

[David Zephyr]

1. Claremont, California is one of the best places to live in America.

Claremont is # 5 in the U.S. and # 1 in all of California. :)

[jaysunb]

22. Somehow, I just knew you'd chime in here...

:rofl:

[David Zephyr]

40. And just why would that be? Heh, heh...

And youuuuuuuuuu of all people chiming in about me chiming in.

Well, Claremonters are a special breed.

No. 1 in California & No. 5 in the U.S. Not too shabby for my little berg.

Let us luxuriate in our conceit.

:rofl:

[OnionPatch]

28. Is that the Claremont with the botanical gardens?

Rancho Santa Ana or something? That's a super-cool place!

[wiggs]

31. Yep. Botanical garden with california natives only. nt

[David Zephyr]

41. Claremont indeed.

The botanical gardens now have a new facility for potted plants for urban living. It's neat.

[candice]

29. How is the air these days? Are the mountains "out"?

I know that the polluted air from L.A. heads your way, and now 25 % of that pollution comes from China.

[David Zephyr]

42. My home fronts the beginning of the Angeles National Forest.

Hundreds of miles of wilderness and forest at my front door. I live at the top of a mountain so it is never "out". Claremont is a great community.

[swag]

2. I remember Middleton. It's between Madison and Black Earth.

Was a little town where my dad played softball for a season for the team sponsored by Tubby & Milly's Bar. Very nice little town.

I loved me some Wisconsin back with I was 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.

Nice choice!

[NewJeffCT]

3. It actually says

that one of the strong points for Suwanee is the affordable housing.

[napi21]

4. Well, I guess if they're comparing it to Orange Cty. Ca!

Believe me, we looked when my husband took a job there 5 years ago, and I've checked each year since. He would have loved to only have to drive a mile or two to work. We live in Flowery Branch, Ga., not in the city, but about 3 miles outside of town. We don't have a BIG house (1,600 sq. ft.) but it's fairly close to everything, the neighbors are nice (except they're Pubs), there's no crime, and very little traffice on the streets in the sub division. Homes here are $150,000 and a few even less.

[NewJeffCT]

5. I can't believe Rocky Hill is the top town in CT?

It's a nice town, don't get me wrong.

But, a lot of nice towns in the Hartford, CT area have better schools (Newington, Farmington, West Hartford, Avon, Simsbury, Glastonbury, South Windsor, Ellington, Somers - with Simsbury & Avon far better) and just as good, if not better, business climates (Farmington & South Windsor, as well as West Hartford) I'm also betting that Simsbury, Avon, Glastonbury & Farmington have lower crime rates as well.

And, that's not even including other towns down in the New Haven area and on towards NYC.

[Atman]

18. Is Rocky Hill really even a TOWN?

I mean...it has a commercial strip along a state highway...Dunkin Donuts, strip mall, Christian book store filling up an old abandoned mini-mart...what the hell is there in Rocky Hill? I don't get that one at all, and I speak from experience...I live in Wethersfield which borders Rocky Hill to the north, and even our olde towne has it all over Rocky Hill. 'Cept for that it borders Hartford. Minus twenty points for that.

.

[NewJeffCT]

34. Oh, Forgot Wethersfield

as another town with better schools than Rocky Hill. And, they have the nice "Old Wethersfield" town center on Main Street off the Silas Deane. Does RH even have much of a town center like that? I grew up in Cromwell and don't remember anything special about Rocky Hill?

I should add Cheshire to the mix as well, but they might be more the New Haven area.

[Alexander]

47. Agreed, I lived in Farmington, Avon and Simsbury.

They are all nicer than Rocky Hill.

[stevedeshazer]

6. All places no-one has ever heard of

Raise your hand if you want to live in one of these places

[Alexander]

46. moo!

[w8liftinglady]

7. I wish I could find a cheap liberal place...I'm a nurse

I,Luckily<can find a job anywhere

[femmocrat]

11. Have you checked out Pittsburgh?

Housing is very affordable and the city has many excellent hospitals. And there is a long tradition of democratic politics here.

[TwilightGardener]

26. Yup, will second your 'Burgh recommendation--BIG medical town,

cheap housing, good quality of life--but just a bit too many gray days for me (grew up there).

[xmas74]

15. Middleton's not too far from Mad City.

Madison's a rather progressive town and it would be very easy to find work there-govt seat and the main state university there.

Madison's a nice place. I've always liked it.

[B3Nut]

37. Heck, it's right next to it

Head down University Ave. in Madison, and you'll end up in Middleton. Ditto for the Beltline.

And yes, the whole area is a nice place to live. Be prepared for the property taxes though, they're quite high pretty much everywhere in Dane County, though Mount Horeb is cheaper (and still close enough to be convenient.)

Todd in Cheesecurdistan

[xmas74]

43. I knew it was around

but couldn't remember exactly how close-it's been years since I've been there. (I'm originally from SE WI but now live in MO).

If I had the money and didn't have to fight in court to move out of state I'd move myself and my child back to WI in a heartbeat.

[zalinda]

17. I live in Syracuse NY

while it's not wholly liberal, there are some nice liberal parts. Housing is affordable, we have an okay bus system, and 4 hospitals. Take a look at Syracuse.com in the want ads, I'm sure there are nursing jobs. We have SU, plus some SUNY's, Lemoyne college, Cazenovia college and maybe more........lots of young people. There's a little something for just about every one here.

All in all, it's not a bad place to live.

zalinda

[Solly Mack]

8. Suwanee has changed a lot over the last 31 years

I lived just north of there for 17 years

[w8liftinglady]

14. do you have a spare room?..hehe

[Solly Mack]

16. I'm in Germany now but if I did still live there - you'd be welcome!

[w8liftinglady]

20. cool!unfortunately,you'd be stuck with a 10 and 17-year old

I wouldn't wish that on anyone!

[emmadoggy]

9. Middleton, WI is, I believe, where Russ Feingold is from.

And it's a suburb of Madison. I've never been to Middleton, but Madison is quite nice - what I've seen of it. Chaska, MN is a Twin Cities suburb as well.

[bbgrunt]

13. Feingold has an office in Middleton. However, he is originally from Janesville, Wi.

[emmadoggy]

39. Oh, shoot! That's right. Thanks for the clarification.

:hi:

[frazzled]

10. Hokay ...

I'm not dissing Middleton. I'm sure it's nice. But exactly best place for whom? I mean, if you happen to be a nuclear physicist or a jazz trombonist or a serious patron of theater, it might be a little hard to practice your trade or feed your interests in Middleton. Maybe it's not best for you.

I don't believe in "best" anythings. We live, thankfully, in a diverse society, whose citizens vary vastly. Everybody has different needs and preferences. Some will prefer to live in a 400 square foot cold-water flat in New York Citybecause it puts them close to the vital center of their art. Others will thrive on a small farm in Vermont, or an isolated shack in the Nevada desert. Some people want to raise their children in suburbia or a small town. Others want to be near the ocean because it sustains them.

How the hell can you say there is a "best" place to live? We are not all the same, thank goodness.

[Ellipsis]

12. Middleton, Home to Russ Fiengold.

It's a great town.

[scarletwoman]

19. I worked in a small factory in Middleton WI for a few months back in 1996.

But I know nothing about its residential amenities -- I lived in Mazomanie at the time. It's close to Madison though, which is a pretty cool place...

sw

[hootinholler]

21. Ooohh, hey dat was easy dere, don't ya know?

Why last fall during the bratwurst festival, Millie over at the Luthern church, er, no the other one, anyway she passed out dese survey forms, ya? An we all filled them in an dere ya go, in like Flynn, eh?

Something like that?

-Hoot

[Lone_Star_Dem]

23. Kind of funny. #40 Schertz, Texas

A person I know just moved from there due to all the meth heads in her area.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

30. Ah, but is their football team named.....

The Schertz Sleeves?????

:evilgrin:

Thanks to a very old Texas Monthly contest asking for funny submissions for sports teams for Texas towns.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

32. That is funny!

Thanks, I'd had never heard that before. :D

[TwilightGardener]

24. Papillion, Nebraska! I'm not far from there--who knew? Go, Nebraskee!

[rainbow4321]

25. Wow..my hometown made #23

Good luck affording a house there, though... I know people who own 800-900 sq feet houses that on the tax records are literally $180,000-$200,000. And those are over 30 yrs old! Tons of McMansions. Last I visited, they just built up new and shiney stuff around old run down places that were there in the 70's. Infrastructure-wise, same traffic clogged 2 lane highway from the 70's/80's despite township population having doubled since then. This "list" is a bit misleading.

23. Hillsborough, N.J.

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/moneymag/0707/gallery.BPTL_top_100.moneymag/23.html

[Gloria]

27. Thank God, Las Cruces isn't on this list....it's been on a couple of

retirement lists in recent years, and the population is increasing, too fast for me!

Coming from the East Coast originally (NJ) I have to laugh at some of those places listed in that region.

[AndyTiedye]

33. How Livable Are The Towns AFTER They Make the Money Magazine List?

Wouldn't being flagged as one of the top 10 most livable locales in the USA tend to cause your fair city to become overrun?

Worse yet, it would probably be overrun with Repiglickins.

I'm not telling Money Magazine where I live.

[Ezlivin]

36. I'm in Number 50 - Keller, Texas

It was a pretty quiet community when we moved here back in '93, but now it's overrun with subdivisions. All of the nice rolling hills and green fields are nearly gone; traffic is a bitch. Our property taxes have tripled since we've been here.

Yes, our property taxes have tripled. And the population has tripled.

We could not afford to move here again. The prices for homes and property have risen very fast.

Keller used to have some unique character but that's quickly being replaced by the Standardized City Appearance Program® which means that it will be indistinguishable from any other corporately-owned town.

[MadHound]

35. My condolences to Middleton residents. You had best start preparing now.

In the early ninties my home town, Columbia Mo, got this same endorsement and boy, did people come a runnin'. Growth and development exploded, old infrastructure suffered at the expense of new development, chain stores are making the town into strip mall hell, sprawl is happening at a rapid rate and little of what once made my sleepy little college town really cool is left anymore.

So for those fine folks of Middleton, congratulations are in order. But start preparing now, for you're going to be hit by a tidal wave.

[BronxBoy]

38. Suwanee isnt't that bad....

I live right next door in Lawrenceville but work in Suwanee. You're right, fairly conservative area but more racially diverse than I would I have expected Lots of Blacks, Asians (Primarily Korean) and Hispanics are moving into the area, many from out of state. While $280K may seem like a lot, a lot of these people are moving in from other areas like NY and are flush with cash. The economic development seems to be a little better than the south side and there are some folks fleeing Fulton County to what they perceive as more well run municipalities. Read into that what you want but it is happening.

I think the Northeast corridor is a nice place to live. I wish they would put more thought into keeping the infrastructure up with all the housing development. And if you are sitting with a 130K house in Flowery Branch, you are sitting on a little goldmine because that's where a lot of the development projects will be heading. With this announcement, the redevelopment of downtown Lawrenceville and the escalating prices of homes within the perimeter, Flowery Branch is primed to become the next development arena.

BB

[LSK]

44. its just outside of Madison

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=middleton,+wi&ie=UTF8&ll=43.09529,-89.50992&spn=0.688923,1.056061&z=10&om=1

[anitar1]

45. I moved from that area ages ago becauseof thick smog,

too much traffic, crime and overcrowding. Jeez--now it is a great place to live ??

[Yavin4]

48. They Left Out The Best Part About Middleton, WI

You get Russ Feingold to represent you in the Senate. How cool is that? A senator that you can be proud of and taunt your fellow liberals who have people like Lieberman as their senator. Yes, people of CT, I am looking at you.