Daily Real Estate News  |  July 16, 2008  |   Minneapolis Suburb Tops 'Most Livable' List
Money magazine has announced that Plymouth, Minn., outside side of Minneapolis, won the top spot in its annual ranking of the most livable towns in the U.S. The list appears in the
magazine’s July issue.

“Money’s number one Best Place to Live reflects robust Midwestern values in a small city that is 30 minutes from a vibrant metropolis, with a low cost of living, rising incomes, and job growth,” said Money managing editor, Eric Schurenberg. “It’s simply a great place to raise a family, join a community, and build a rich life.”

On its website, the magazine offers full profiles of the top 100 small cities, including detailed statistics on real estate, schools, income, weather, crime and quality of life.

Money used statistics from data provider OnBoard and Sperling’s BestPlaces.net to identify the top cities. It focused on U.S. cities with populations between 50,000 and 300,000 and eliminated places where the income is less than 85 percent or more than 201 percent of the state median. It also nixed any city whose population was 95 percent or more white.

Here are the cities it designated 2008’s top 10 most livable cities and their populations:

• Plymouth, Minn., 70,100
• Fort Collins, Colo., 129,400
• Naperville, Ill., 142,900
• Irvine, Calif., 193,900
• Franklin Township, NJ, 59,100
• Norman, Okla., 102,800
• Round Rock, Tex, 92,300
• Columbia/Ellicott City, MD, 158,800
• Overland Park, Kan., 166,700
• Fishers, Ind., 61,800

Source: Money (07/21/2008)