Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Ann Arbor, 100th best place to live

According to Money Magazine, Ann Arbor is the 100th best place to live in the US. The city barely made it onto the magazine's list of top 100 places to live losing to notable Michigan cities such as Troy, 26; West Bloomfield Township, 37; Shelby Township, 78; and Macomb Township, 84. Says one commentor on The Com:

Ann Arbor certainly is no Shelby Township.

8 comments:

  1. Well at least it's not ShelbyVILLE! *shakes fist*

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  2. What the heck were the criteria?

    "Troy?" - EJ

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  3. If you have enough variables, you can rank cities in any order you please.

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  4. These are the supposed criteria:
    1] Start with all U.S. towns with populations of 50,000 to 300,000.
    2] Screen out places with a median family income of more than 200% or less than 85% of the state average; those with more than 95% of one race; and those with poor education and crime scores.
    3] Exclude retirement communities and towns with major job losses. Rank the rest based on job growth, home affordability, safety, school quality, health care, arts and leisure, diversity, and several ease-of-living criteria.
    4] Factor in more data on the economy (including the fiscal strength of state and local governments), plus jobs, housing, health care, and happiness. Give the most weight to economic data.
    5] Visit towns and interview residents; assess traffic, parks, and gathering places; and consider intangibles like community spirit.
    6] Select the winner based on the data and reporting.

    Ann Arbor ranked poorly because the study reports a -12.9% job loss between 2009 and 2011. Perhaps the Borders jobs? Still though, that seems pretty high considering Washtenaw County's 5% unemployment rate.

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  5. Who cares about lists. Every place is not good for every one. Ann Arbor is the #1 place for me.

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  6. These lists are ridiculous! Ann Arbor is home to the University of Michigan, one of the top universities in the world & the 6th richest university in the US. There's more cultural & educational opportunites in Ann Arbor than in all of the sorry State of Michigan. The best & most famous sports team in Michigan sporting history is the football team at the University of Michigan. There's really no need to leave Ann Arbor. Those other cities are boring hick towns compared to Ann Arbor. Ann Arbor would be the only valid reason to visit the State of Michigan.

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