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