Why "best places to live" aren't always that

Money Magazine annually produces a list of the best places in the country to live. This type of special is effective for two big reasons:

1. Readers love lists. Why? We don't have too much time these days and have evolved into clicking maniacs with the help of the Internet. Lists are easy to digest and get to the point with little fluff. Plus, as humans, we love to read about what other people think, so we can then proceed to disagree.
2. People are passionate about where they live and where they're from. There are tons of great places to live in this country, and people tend to attach some pride to where they've decided to live. This helps fuel the debate. Besides, we are all from somewhere, and at some level, we're choosing where we live right now.
   

The 2006 rankings put Fort Collins, Colo. as the No. 1 place to live (the photo at the top of this entry is a photo from that city, in case you were curious). Ft. Collins does not align with what I'm looking for in a city, so it's not for me. But that doesn't mean that it wouldn't be great for you.

For reference, here is the rest of Money's top 10 best places to live 2006: 2. Naperville, Ill.(pictured below left); 3. Sugar Land, Texas; 4. Columbia, MD (pictured below right); 5. Cary, N.C.; 6. Overland Park, Kan.; 7. Scottsdale, Ariz.; 8. Boise, Idaho; 9. Fairfield, Conn.; 10. Eden Prairie, Minn.

I say that, as a group, these "best city" lists are largely irrelevant, because what constitutes a "best place to live" varies widely for each person. That's because each of us value different features in choosing and loving a place to live.

People tend to freak out and get all defensive if their city was not even considered, though. Some of the posts expressed outrage that their city or region was overlooked. Reader nominees included, with my commentary:

• Fond du lac, Wisconsin. An hour from Green Bay, Madison and Milwaukee. Average low temperature of 9 degrees in January. Lowest recorded temperature of -41 degrees in 1951. Saying the name too many times could potentially lead to lockjaw. Located at the foot of Lake Winnebago. No, I'm not kidding.
• Cleveland, Ohio.Highlights from the poster's arguments: "Cleveland has the third finest medical center in the country; one of the "Big Five" symphony orchestras... main public library building second in size only to New York's; a performing arts center second in size only to Washington's Kennedy Center... of the finest (and affordable) housing stock in suburban areas that you will find anywhere. Plus, I didn't even mention Jacobs Field and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!" My arguments: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is indeed amazing. The whole "Cuyahoga River on fire" thing...not so amazing. Plus, I honestly don't care too much about how big the performing arts center and library are because they say nothing about how great a city this is. The state of Ohio also ranks sixth worst in unemployment (December, 2006 stat). Also: Just because a place is affordable is not necessarily a good thing. Think about some of the most expensive cities to live in: New York; San Francisco; San Diego. All of those are great places and cost a lot, partly, because of high demand.
• Any place in Montana. Cold, hard facts that would worry me: 46 out of Montana's 56 counties are considered "frontier counties" with an average population of 6 or fewer people per square mile. Fourth largest state, but 44th most populous state. Largest city: Billings, with an estimated 2007 population of 103,206. Under the "Attractions" section in Wikipedia for Billings are: Yellowstone Art Museum, Moss Mansion Historic House Museum, the Western Heritage Center, the Billings Depot, and Skypoint. Not good enough for me. If you're a sports fan, don't even try clicking on the "Sports" section.
  

Some of the things that would repell me from moving to Wisconsin, Cleveland or Montana are precisely the things that draw other people to them. Nothing at all wrong with that - all it proves is that people all have their own tastes. But we already knew that, didn't we?

For example, I lived in the Northeast for four years and hated dealing with the winter weather (probably because I'm originally from Southern California, but I don't think anyone enjoys shoveling snow, no matter where you're from). I'm also not an outdoors person, so "open spaces" and trails don't do it for me. And I don't care about whether or not a city has exceptional health care available. I'm (knock on wood) in good health, so that's just not a priority at this point in my life.

Here are the factors of a great place to live on my personal short list, in no particular order:

• Good weather - Doesn't have to be as perfect as it generally is here in Southern California - but I'd prefer not to tolerate extreme cold or heat. You can't, therefore, convince me that Fargo, N.D. is a great place to live, because I don't want to live somewhere where weather is a major factor.
  
• Low crime - You can't be constantly worried about crime, because that really detracts from the quality of life.
• Easy access to entertainment and the area - This includes movie theaters, restaurants and professional sporting venues. Middle-of-nowhere, small-town life is great for some people, but it's not for me. By easy access, I'm including traffic. Traffic, if possible, should not be that bad. I can deal with rush-hour issues, but when it's a pain to get around in general, that's just no fun (I lived in West Los Angeles for a bit, and let me tell you - sometimes I would be almost driven to tears by the thought of fighting traffic to get just about anywhere).
  
• Other, slightly less important factors - A good local economy where getting a decent job isn't out of the question. Relatively affordable housing would be a plus, but like I said, I'm from Southern California, so I'm used to dealing with ridiculous housing costs.

This is not about bashing the places that made the Money list, or those places I mentioned above that people were appalled didn't make the cut. The point is that what constitutes a great place to live is so different for each person that it makes it impossible to make a blanket statement about one place being "better" than another.

The 2006 edition came out last July, so I hope the 2007 version is almost ready. As usual, it should give us all plenty to argue about.