Monday, July 16, 2007

"Best Places to Live"

AOL is displaying Money Magazine's new "Best Places to Live" in America. They also provide a survey tool to find your own. So I filled it out (image above). Good weather is very important to most of us on the Westside. Add Good health care access as we get older, and a Low crime rate. We want a reasonably Short commute time and Plentiful cultural options. Job growth seems a given. For this we'll concede anything like the rest of the country would consider Affordable housing.

So what are the top picks? Drum roll, please.... The top twelve are:

Find your best place: Results

Rank State City
1 CA Anaheim
2 CA El Monte
3 CA Carson
4 KS Overland Park
5 CA East Los Angeles
6 AZ Chandler
7 KS Olathe
8 CA Tustin
9 CA Santa Ana
10 KS Shawnee
11 CA Inglewood
12 CA South Gate

HUH?! Anaheim, El Monte, Carson, East Los Angeles, Santa Ana, Inglewood, and South Gate?! Not to mention the great climate in Kansas?

7 comments:

Terri said...

East LA, Inglewood and South Gate hardly come to mind when I think of good schools, proximity to jobs and safe community. El Monte is barely on my list either. I shudder to think how the metropolis of Overland Park, KS fares in comparison.

Anonymous said...

For your information, Overland Park, Olathe and Shawnee have great schools... they're right outside Kansas City, and students in the Shawnee Mission School District (which covers Shawnee and Overland Park) consistently score higher than the national average in standardized tests. The school district has earned several national distinctions. Not all Kansans are the crazy Intelligent Design supporters you hear about on the news.

Westside Bubble said...

Thanks, Anon. But how's the weather there, which I thought was a major selection point?

Although the explanation on Money's website is, "Sunny weather based on number of clear days in the area per year." Which sure doesn't cover the main attraction of the Westside.

Anonymous said...

Terri, I can guarantee you that Overland Park KS is a FAR FAR better place to live than East La, Inglewood, South Gate, and El Monte.

Anonymous said...

I grew up in Overland Park, KS. Wonderful place to live, top-notch schools, plenty of cultural attractions but lacking the congestion and overpricing Calif. I will vouch for anywhere in OP/Shawnee/Olathe as great places to live. Having said all that, the weather does not compare.

Terri said...

OP, Olathe and Shawnee sound good, but I don't think I would be able to support my husband in a manner to which I have become accustomed, as I am the one who would have a job there and he would be the stay at home! They don't make video games in Kansas

Anonymous said...

I live in downtown Anaheim, and it's not that bad. We have some bad areas NE of Pearson Park (the local barrio) and keep getting crowded by the snob appeal of the resort district, but downtown (the "Anaheim Colony Historic District") is pretty good. Looking toward ditching my HOA squeeze and picking up one of those Roaring Twenties craftsman bungalows along Broadway when prices finally tank.

But EL MONTE? I went to high school there -- they're the easternmost tip of East LA! We had gang tags of Hicks Camp and Hayes Boys over every vertical surface! And with the big influx of illegals, it's probably gone from East East LA to North Tijuana.

"Wish I was in
Tia Juana
Eating barbecued iguana..."