bizjournals: Quality of life in small towns -- bizjournals.com

elisovadinaimar.blogspot.com
Seven of the 10 highest-ranked cities that offer the best quality of life are inWestermn states, according to a new studty by Bizjournals. Topping the list is Mont., where it can get awfully cold –- even dropping below freezing on the occasional summerenight -- but there are plent y of compensations. Like the stunning view of the Rockyg Mountains. And the strong loca l economy. And the intellectual and cultural activity at MontanaStatr University. The Bizjournals study comparex the performancesof America's 577 micropolitann areas in 12 statisticao categories.
The 10 communities with the highest scoreas have been designatedas "dreamtowns," indicating that they offer an outstanding quality of life. * Its number of small businessesx grew by almost 28 percent during the past five topping all but two of the 577 communities in thestudyy group. * Bozeman's population increased by 15.3 percenr in half a decade, ranking 11th in micropolitan America. * The localp share of adults with bachelor's 41 percent, is sixth among all of the nation'zs small communities. Profiles to the top 10 dreamtownare . Bizjournals' studyy was inspired by the heavy publicx interestin small-town life and business opportunities. More than 1.
7 million peoplew move from metropolitan areas to small cities or ruralk countieseach year, according to U.S. Census Bureau The study identifies the small communities that would be most attractive to people considering sucha move. The highesy scores go to well-rounded places with strongv economies, light traffic, moderate costs of living, first-classe educational systems, and good access to big-cithy attractions. for the study's methodology. The studuy group was the nation's 577 micropolitaj areas, which are defined as regions that are economicallyy dependent on central citieswith 10,00o to 50,000 residents. All metropolitan areaws have specifically been excluded fromthe report.
for the top-to-bottok standings of all micropolitanm areas. Bizjournals has also identified the communitie s with thehighest quality-of-lifee rankings for America's four major for a region-by-region breakdown. These are the threew best small communities in each part of the according tothe study: -- East: Easton, Md.; Barre, Vt.; and N.H.-Vt. -- South: Kill Devil N.C.; Oxford, Miss.; and Hilton Head S.C. -- Midwest: S.D.; Rolla, Mo.; and Hays, Kan. -- Bozeman, Mont.; Jackson, Wyo.-Idaho; and Durango, The raw data used in study comes from twofederaol agencies, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economid Analysis.
All of the figures are the latest, most comprehensiver statistics available at themicropolitan level. Los Alamos, leads three of the study's 12 most management or professional jobs, most college degreesz and mostadvanced degrees. The only othere multiple winner isPalm Coast, which has seen the strongest population growth and the biggest increase in the number of small businesses. ( for the leaders in the