Alfdog

California's Home To Most Top 100 Towns

POSTED: 5:12 am PDT July 17, 2007
A small town in the shadow of Madison, Wis., has its own reason to boast.

Money magazine declared this week that Middleton is the "Best Place to Live" in America for 2007.

The magazine picked Middleton because it's a tight-knit community and close to the cultural and economic benefits of Madison. The state capital is roughly 14 times larger than Middleton. It was named by Money as the best place to live in 1998.

With a population just over 17,000, Middleton was praised by Money for its small-town charm, booming economy and extensive parks and bike trails. Money said many of its residents commute the seven miles to Madison for work, but enjoy the amenities that a smaller town brings.

Middleton is home to Capital Brewery and its expansive beer garden, where patrons are encouraged to pack a picnic and stay to watch movies or listen to a band.

The American Girl doll maker is one of Middleton's largest employers. The only negatives mentioned for Middleton were a lack of ethnic diversity and its long, cold winters.

Many residents said on Monday that the magazine ranking just confirms what they've known for a long time. The city finished seventh in the magazine's ranking in 2005.

The city's pedestrian-friendly and beautifully laid out downtown was just one of the city's assets that got the attention of the magazine.

Those in the business of drawing people to the community credit visionary city leadership.

"The leaders in the '60s and '70s saw fit to include a large commercial component in the city," said Val Steel, the city's tourism director.

"Some things that we have drawn probably because of the welcoming nature of Middleton and the hotels and the schools and the industry are some restaurants and some businesses you don't normally find in towns of 17,000-18,000," said Steel

California is home to the most Top 100 towns on the 2007 list, according to Money. Claremont, Clayton, Coronado, El Dorado Hills, Grand Terrace, Granite Bay, La Mirada, La Palma and Moorpark all made it in the top 100. ( A Kiss 4 Da Cali Haterz )

In 2006, Money magazine called Fort Collins, Colo, the "Best Place to Live" in America, citing its natural setting, vibrant downtown and the presence of Colorado State University.

The magazine looked at 2,876 places with populations between 7,500 and 50,000. They screened out retirement-oriented communities, places where income is less than 90 percent or more than 180 percent of the state median and towns that are more than 95 percent white. The researchers also eliminated towns with low education scores, high crime rates, declines or sharp increases in population, projected job losses or lack of access to airports or teaching hospitals.

The magazine said it then ranked the places that remained based on job, income and cost-of-living data; housing affordability; school quality; arts and leisure opportunities; ease of living; health-care access; and racial diversity.


Linkzors to the list

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MWPC Presidente , MW80's #001 , MWJC #002 , MWAN #011

Vince

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Detroit Power

"It's the law, in Kennesaw,"

makes <<< the best place to live.

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Alfdog

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LUCC

California is what, 20 times bigger and better than NJ and only has one more city in the top 100!! NJ has 8 and Ca has 9.

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91_5ohgt

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DirtyJerz5.0

OMG jerZey is the Crapzor!

thats why i hate how south jersey gives us the bad name, not to mention when people come to the city, the usually fly in newark immediatly making NJ look like a complete dump......come up north and its one of the nicest parts in the country

just saw my towns median income is 113k

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MISTERgadget

So rich white neighborhoods don't count?

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LUCC

Freehold is very nice as well, all horse farms and very large homes. Hardly any heavily populated cities.
More like southwest Jersey brings us down and the oil refineries near/around Newark. SW Jersey is basically little Philly!
Philly trash<*

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LUCC

So you are saying Miami is on the list.

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MISTERgadget

There are places in Miami where I'd love to live. They'd be nowhere near the list though since the cheapest place there is probably 2MM

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Ralph 01 GT

Even Ohio has 6.

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My 2001 Mustang GT is FOR SALE. 40K miles, PM me for more info.

Al Blue4.6l

looking at the towns in my state that are ranked top 100 vs the ones that arent, I conclude that the rankings are completely FOS.

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LUCC

Virginia is for gay lovers!

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v1b3

Is that the town where everyone must own a firearm?

DirtyJerz5.0

exactly....i used to go down to rowan university alot...had alot of buddys go there, made me wanna puke every time just talking to the people that lived there

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2002 M3 Tiag/dove 6spd
2001 XJ 3" Lift 31's etc
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mttz

.

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NEW-B

that list is complete BS. All those are suburbs of bigger cities and they wouldn't have anything without being close to a big city.

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Detroit Power

Anyone who can legally do so and is not a conciencous objector (although it's never been enforced) must own and maintain a firearm and ammunition for it within their home

It was a city code enacted in ~1981/82.

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