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