Thanks to blogger pal Doug Hagin over at The Daley Gator for the linkback!
So here, from U.S. News and World Report, are the 125 best places to live in the United States. The ratings are partly on polling, partly on such things as crime rates, employment rates, mean household income, housing prices and a few other things. Here are the top twenty:
- Austin, Texas
- Denver, Colorado
- Colorado Springs, Colorado
- Fayetteville, Arkansas
- Des Moines, Iowa
- Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota
- San Francisco, California
- Portland, Oregon
- Seattle, Washington
- Raleigh & Durham, North Carolina
- Huntsville, Alabama
- Madison, Wisconsin
- Grand Rapids, Michigan
- San Jose, California
- Nashville, Tennessee
- Asheville, North Carolina
- Boise, Idaho
- Sarasota, Florida
- Washington, D.C.
- Charlotte, North Carolina
Interesting to see our own Denver in the second spot, with neighbor Colorado Springs next. But there a couple in there that make me question the entire list. Specifically:
7. San Francisco, California
Are you kidding me? The place has astronomical housing prices, and is literally – not figuratively, literally – a shithole. The city’s vagrant population is completely out of control, while draconian zoning and land use regulations keep any affordable development from spoiling the ocean views of those folks in the tony gated communities (we’re talking about you, Speaker Pelosi.)
19. Washington, D.C.
Again, are you kidding me? The city is full of the kind of people you’d cross the street to avoid – and that’s just the politicians. The Imperial City has neighborhoods only blocks from the Imperial Mansion that you wouldn’t want to wander into unless you were accompanied by a squad of Marines in full gear.
There’s something else to this list besides the scoring methods they mention. But then, it’s a real estate page, so…
