best city in america

mn54

mn54

Full time employment: Posting here.
Joined
Sep 30, 2007
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771
Location
mpls, mn
So here I am approaching ER, trying to decide where I would like to live after retiring, when lo and behold MONEY mag. decides I am already living in the best city. Now MONEY is not held in the highest esteem on this forum, but it was still quite a surprise they would pick a city up here on the frozen tundra.
 
There is no one "best city." Everyone has their own likes and dislikes, and everyone has their own priorities about which aspects of a particular retirement location (i.e. cost of living, recreational/cultural opportunities, taxes, climate) is most important to them. At best their selection is based on some hypothetical average person, I would assume.
 
They've obviously never been to Plymouth.

and I question them choosing suburbs. If someone came over here for the best small city in America and wound up in Plymouth or Chaska, I think they'd want a refund.
 
mn54 said:
So here I am approaching ER, trying to decide where I would like to live after retiring, when lo and behold MONEY mag. decides I am already living in the best city. Now MONEY is not held in the highest esteem on this forum, but it was still quite a surprise they would pick a city up here on the frozen tundra.
Click to expand...

Sorry to be the dummy here - where are you?

Thanks!
 
Sorry, my mind must be going, hopefully not too late. As marquette pointed out, the city is Plymouth, MN. Yes ziggy, there is no one best city. I agree. Although if it wasn't so *&!! cold here in the winter I wouldn't be looking to move. As far as living in the suburbs, it depends on what you're looking for. Open spaces yet close enough to a metro. area and university. It could be worse.
 
Oh, don't get me wrong, Plymouth is nice and all... just poking some fun. Heck, I moved to Rogers (temporary situation!) from Eden Prairie.

I've never loved living here but I don't hate it. And, when it comes down to it, on days like we had last week, it's easy to forgive January and February. I mean, those are really the only miserable months here.... and those are livable.

when it comes down to it, as a metro, the commute is pretty easy, we have a lot of good theatres and restautants, good music, and a diverse economy. There are definately worse places to be stuck.
 
Silly people - Tonganoxie, KS straight shot to Arrowhead Stadium - unfortunately:

The Chief's do not have a good football team.

Also one of the ones listed in Colorado was a cow pasture/wheat field -'never to be developed' in the 70's when I lived in Littleton.

All of which prompt's my Curmudgeon mind to ask - how many 'we're never gonna tell communities exist'. Or now that we're here - let's shut the gate.

I noticed that when I lived in Colorado. It didn't work.

heh heh heh - Which hilltop do I live on in Missouri? My lips are sealed. :rolleyes: :D
 
I share time between a district of 44,000 next to a city of 2 million and a city of 350,000, both on the Pacific. Works for us.

I ignore most surveys because I spent four years managing a market research function for a large technology company and I could prove anything I wanted.
 
I suspect the people who do these surveys base their selections strictly on computer data, ie crime statistics, cost of housing, education, taxes, etc. However, in the real world, choosing a place to live is much more subjective. If they actually visited MN in January- or AZ in July for that matter, their conclusions might be different. We should link this thread to the one about living somewhere you don't like just so you can ER...
 
The "best" city in all the polls I've seen is rarely the most affordable.

I plan to stay where I am for quite a while (I'm not retired yet, but don't plan to move after retirement). I live in a small town that has little to offer, but it has two advantages: The cost of living is low, and it's a short drive to a larger city that has plenty to do.

My advice is to find that perfect city, then look for a cheaper town that's not too far away, and save a bundle.

From where I live, I can travel to any place in the world (just like you), and because my bills are low, I can afford to.
 
skittles said:
The "best" city in all the polls I've seen is rarely the most affordable.

I plan to stay where I am for quite a while (I'm not retired yet, but don't plan to move after retirement). I live in a small town that has little to offer, but it has two advantages: The cost of living is low, and it's a short drive to a larger city that has plenty to do.

My advice is to find that perfect city, then look for a cheaper town that's not too far away, and save a bundle.

From where I live, I can travel to any place in the world (just like you), and because my bills are low, I can afford to.
Click to expand...

What part of the country do you live in, Skittles?

Minnesota is beautiful and Minneapolis is awesome but the winters would literally kill me as I would be jumping off the bridge over the Mississippi by February 1.

Here's the list:

Money's list of America's best small cities more

  1. Plymouth, MN
  2. Fort Collins, CO
  3. Naperville, IL
  4. Irvine, CA
  5. Franklin Township, NJ
  6. Norman, OK
  7. Round Rock, TX
  8. Columbia/Ellicott City, MD
  9. Overland Park, KS
  10. Fishers, IN
 
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skittles said:
My advice is to find that perfect city, then look for a cheaper town that's not too far away, and save a bundle.
Click to expand...

That can be tough because your town then becomes the next big suburb if you're too close or the drive is too far to be fun... then you end up not doing something like go to a late-night jazz performance at the downtown club means you're on the road back too late.

In general, I agree with your sentiment, though... I'd rather live somewhere with the main features I want but close enough to drive an hour or so when I need something beyond those features.
 
Overland Park, Kansas looked overbuilt to me when I went to a wedding there two years ago.

Glad they missed some of the true oasis towns/stomping grounds of decades past:

Clatskanie, Oregon

Jamestown, Colorado

Bush, Louisiana

My lips are still sealed - I'll toss in Tonganoxie, KS cause it's in Kansas and the Pats not the Chiefs have a good football team.

Wet summer - grass north of Kansas City is growing like crazy - got the front and back - think I'll let the strip outside the fence bordering the street grow 'past ankle deep.'

heh heh heh - not all roses in the burbs - unless you like grass! :rolleyes:.
 
GoodSense said:
...except you won't drown, since the river is frozen in February.

:duh:
Click to expand...

:LOL: In my defense I didn't say I would drown myself (but I didn't think about the river being frozen--that ice should do the deadly trick right there--not to mention the river being frozen would make me even more depressed).

So funny--this is like one of those brainteaser questions: The man was found drowned off the Minneapolis bridge in February and the police knew he must have been murdered--how did they know?
 
Since we're discussing temps. Which is worse. Freezing cold in MN in the winter or Steaming hot in FL or AZ in the summer? I say the heat is worse because you can always put on another layer of clothing to stay warm if it's cold but you can only take off so much and you're still hot.
 
mn54 said:
Since we're discussing temps. Which is worse. Freezing cold in MN in the winter or Steaming hot in FL or AZ in the summer? I say the heat is worse because you can always put on another layer of clothing to stay warm if it's cold but you can only take off so much and you're still hot.
Click to expand...

Money Magazine obviously prefers cold winters to hot summers when it comes to the best 10 small cities. I think it's an individual thing. I never feel the heat but the cold, oh my God.

There is also the daylight issue in the northern cities--long winter nights plus the longer cold season are depressing to me. FL and AZ don't have the sunshine deprivation. But again, seasonal daylight changes don't bother everyone, obviously.

And as I said, Minnesota is beautiful and Minneapolis is an awesome city.
 
mn54 said:
Since we're discussing temps. Which is worse. Freezing cold in MN in the winter or Steaming hot in FL or AZ in the summer? I say the heat is worse because you can always put on another layer of clothing to stay warm if it's cold but you can only take off so much and you're still hot.
Click to expand...

I have lived in Eastern Washington (coldest winter day was about -28 ) and Phoenix AZ (Hottest summer has been +118 )

Both extremes suck. You are a slave to your furnace all winter in one climate; your air conditioner all summer in the other. I would give the colder climate a slight advantage for younger folks, but as you get older, that advantage may well sway to the warmer climate.
 
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You are correct about the long winters with short daylight. I suppose SAD, seasonal affective disorder, is not discussed much in FL or AZ. Most everyone needs a vacation in the winter to break up the long cold spells. Its funny when I go somewhere warm in the winter there are always lots of Canadians there. Wonder why?
 
no reflection on the topic at hand and just to hijack for a comment because i used to like the best city for this and best city for that articles until i started reading this and for some reason tv talk shows popped into my head. you know how everyone gets all excited just because the guest mentions some city or another.

so now i think these articles are just going after cheap applause.
 
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