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