| Each year, Money magazine rates hundreds of | | | | list in population, at 369,800. Coming in second was |
| American cities in order to help folks who may be | | | | Austin, Texas (690,300), followed by Mesa, Arizona |
| yearning to move be able to find the best new place | | | | (442,800).The top ten list of big cities was rounded |
| to settle. The magazine compiles statistics on various | | | | out by Raleigh, North Carolina (341,500); San Diego, |
| factors, such as housing affordability, job growth, | | | | California (1,255,500); Virginia Beach, Virginia |
| commute time, schools, weather, access to health | | | | (438,400); Omaha, Nebraska (414,500); Wichita, |
| care, leisure pursuit possibilities, crime rate, and quality | | | | Kansas (354,900); and New York, New York |
| of life, and then publishes its findings once a year.For | | | | (8,143,200).Since many people are concerned about |
| the year 2006, the overall winner was Fort Collins, | | | | crime, Money ranked cities according to crime rates, |
| Colorado, followed by Naperville, Illinois, and Sugar | | | | and the safest city in America turned out to be |
| Land, Texas. Money magazine was especially | | | | Wayne, New Jersey, followed by a pair of |
| impressed by the many parks in Fort Collins, including | | | | Connecticut towns, Fairfield and Greenwich. Two |
| some sixty miles of biking and hiking trails in a town | | | | Nevada towns, Paradise and Sunrise Manor, were |
| of 128,000 people located some 5,000 feet up in the | | | | next, and the rest of the top ten was comprised of |
| Rocky Mountains. There are plenty of jobs in Fort | | | | another Connecticut town (Manchester, 7th); and |
| Collins, too, with giant companies like HP, Eastman | | | | four more New Jersey cities (East Brunswick, 6th; |
| Kodak, and Agilent Technologies maintaining a large | | | | Cherry Hill, 8th, Edison, 9th, and Hamilton, 10th).If |
| presence in town. Fort Collins is also the home of | | | | you're single and yearn to live in a city with lots of |
| Colorado St. University and Poudre Valley Hospital, | | | | other single people, Money magazine's data suggests |
| which provide 10,000 more jobs between | | | | moving to Bloomington, Indiana, where 58.2% of the |
| them.Rounding out the rest of the top ten most | | | | population is unattached. There were nine other |
| livable American towns were: Columbia/Ellicott City, | | | | American towns in which more than half the |
| Maryland; Cary, North Carolina; Overland Park, Kansas; | | | | residents were single, including New Brunswick, New |
| Scottsdale, Arizona; Boise, Idaho; Fairfield, | | | | Jersey (54.6%); College Station, Texas (54.3%); |
| Connecticut; and Eden Prairie, Minnesota.Money | | | | Ames (52.5%) and Iowa City (52%), Iowa; |
| magazine also rates the country's largest cities | | | | Cambridge (52%), Somerville (51.3%), and Boston |
| annually, as well, and publishes a separate list of | | | | (50.4%), Massachusetts; Berkeley, California (50.3%); |
| America's top ten most livable big cities. This year's | | | | and Champaign, Illinois (50.2%).If you're thinking about |
| winner was Colorado Springs, Colorado, making it a | | | | relocating, there are many factors to consider. |
| clean sweep for the Centennial State, although | | | | Explore your options and make your own list of |
| Colorado Springs was the second smallest city on the | | | | priorities. |