Money's "Best Places to Live"

Twin Cities' Embarrassment of Riches

Money Magazine's most recent "America's Best Places to Live" issue is out, and Minnesota (again) is prominently represented.

No fewer than five Minnesota cities made Money's "Top 20," including Eden Prairie, the grand prize winner.

Two more cities -- Chanhassan and Maple Grove -- could have easily been added as well, giving Minnesota fully one-third of the "Top 20" spots.

Alternative Names: 'Best Suburbs'; 'Best Place to Raise Kids'

Or should I say, "the Twin Cities?"

As you parse the list of 100 cities, what jumps out is that the majority of choices are really suburbs.

And not just any suburbs, but suburbs (per Money's criteria) that: have 50,000 to 300,000 people; whose residents make median incomes (more or less); offer high quality public education; have newer housing stock; and provide plenty of kid-friendly open space.

All good things, to be sure, but criteria that residents of, say, Minnetonka or Edina -- not to mention Palo Alto, Scarsdale or Highland Park, IL -- might take issue with.

Parsing the List

To return to the list, here is Money's current "Top Ten":

1. Eden Prairie, MN
2. Columbia/Ellicott City, MD
3. Newton, MA
4. Bellevue, WA
5. McKinney, TX
6. Fort Collins, CO
7. Overland Park, KS
8. Fishers, IN
9. Ames, IA
10. Rogers, AR

Now here's the Money list sorted by metro area and how many of its suburbs made the list (and how highly they placed):

1. Twin Cities -- 5 total (#1, #11, #13, #15, #20)
2. Washington, D.C. -- 5 total (#2, #25, #30, #31, #47)
3. Kansas City -- 4 total (#7, #17, #27, #49)
4. New York -- 10 total (#34, #41, #53, #57, #73, #78, #82, #88, #89, #90)
5. Boston -- 5 total (#3, #28, #39, #52, #94)
6. Chicago -- 4 total (#43, #54 #56 #59)
7. Denver -- 3 total (#12, #19, #58)
8. Dallas -- 3 total (#5, #16, #24)
9. Salt Lake City -- 3 total (#18, #45, #61)
10. Miami -- 3 total (#44, #48, #72)

Apples and Oranges

Co-mingled on the Money list of "metro" cities (read, suburbs) are genuinely autonomous, small cities.

So, in the Midwest, along with Plymouth (#11) and Eagan (#15), you also find Ames, Iowa (#9); Eau Claire, WI (#69); and Bismarck, ND (#74).

It's hard to imagine many families seriously comparing Plymouth and Eau Claire in the same breath.

The "Places Rated" Franchise

Perhaps the best way to understand Money's "Best Places" list is as a money-making, journalistic "franchise."

As such franchises go, it's certainly not as lucrative as U.S. News & World Report's college rankings (and now, graduate schools).

And it will never be as glitzy as, say, People's 100 Most Beautiful People.

But it's still a good one, because it's inherently subjective, lends itself to so many permutations (brand extensions?), and can be constantly updated.

The surest sign that the rankings have taken hold is that the "contestants" start to tout their high scores -- and begin lobbying to preserve/increase them (as colleges now routinely do with U.S. News & World Report).

The "Places-Rated" Sweepstakes

Money Magazine: Chanhassen #2

I don't put much stock in the "Places Rated" literary genre.

Like college rankings, which have become a full-blown industry, the various self-anointed "place raters" (Money Magazine, USA Today, etc.) are mostly interested in selling ads or books -- and providing fodder for local chambers of commerce.

Maybe that's why the lists seem so formulaic, shuffling some combination of the usual (admittedly desirable) criteria: plentiful jobs, safe streets, good schools, nice physical setting, access to culture and entertainment.

Places such as Gary, Indiana, and Detroit obviously don't score well on the foregoing criteria, but at the top, any number of cities and towns could stand in for one another -- and do (note the year-to-year rotation).

Case in point: Chanhassen, Money Magazine's #2 small city this year, is certainly a very nice place to live, but exactly what differentiates it from Eagan, Maple Grove, Woodbury or any number of other appealing Twin Cities suburbs?

So I skip the lists, right?

Well, actually . . no.

Like People magazine or a bag of potato chips, they're pretty hard to ignore -- that's the point.

Weather Chauvinism

So, if such lists are going to proliferate, it's at least good to see Minnesota cities and towns get their due.

In fact, they seem to be.

Besides Chanhassen's selection this year, Plymouth was Money's top pick in its "weight class" (cities around 50,000 people) last year.

One of the nice things to see is an end to what could only be called "weather chauvinism": until recently, cities had to have a mild climate to score well.

It still helps, but besides Minnesota's rotating representatives, Madison, WI and the suburbs around it -- not exactly tropical -- also seem to get recognized frequently.

P.S.: Personally, I'm waiting for the list of "Most Unheralded Places in America."