Best Cities to Move to in America
By Cindy Perman, CNBC.com
Oct 27, 2010
http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/be...n-america.html
What people are looking for when they relocate changes from time to time. In the 90s, it was a city with low crime. Then, it was places with good schools.
"These days, you want a job and to make sure you can get a house there," said Bert Sperling of BestPlaces.net, which helps people find the best places to live, work or retire.
Sperling crunched the numbers to find the 10 best cities to relocate to today. The list takes into consideration all kinds of data points from cost of living to crime rates, the number of colleges and how healthy the population is, as well as access to museums, shows, sporting and other events. Plus, one you might not think of - stability.
"We're a big believer in the concept of stability, where there is modest, controllable growth," Sperling explained. "Big booms lead to disruption, and ultimately big busts. Neither is good for livability."
5. Austin-Round Rock, TX ranks high on quality of life and affordability: It has at least a dozen colleges and was voted the No. 1 college town by the Travel Channel. The cost of living is 2.4 percent below the national average.
But what sets it apart is its quirk. The city has been described as a "crazy quilt," stitching together everything from art, improv and country music to environmentalism and high tech. It's home to the South by Southwest festival, featuring independent musicians and filmmakers and emerging technologies. Though, its quirky rep has been around awhile, spawning a new slogan, "Keep Austin Weird."
Round Rock is its conservative counterpart, known for its outstanding education system and as the headquarters of Dell Computers.
The unemployment rate in the area is 6.5 percent, well below the U.S. average of 10.2 percent. It's the No. 10 job market, according to Indeed.com, with two applicants for every job opening.
Companies That Are Hiring Now: Dell, Seton Family of Hospitals, Soliant Health and AT&T, according to Indeed.com.