• Austin - Best Place to Live
  
  

Austin - Best Place to Live
From Jacci Howard Bear

How Austin Ranks Among American Cities

Austin consistently ranks high on lists of best places to live, work, and play. Forbes, Men's Journal, Sperling's BestPlaces, and others regularly publish lists of the best cities to live, best vacation destinations, healthiest cities, and top places for businesses based on research, facts and figures, polls, and surveys.

How to Use Best Place to Live Rankings
Some rankings of the best places to Live are based on statistics and demographics. Other rankings are more subjective and include perceptions and perhaps a touch of bias on the part of those taking part in the surveys that help determine the rankings. Facts or feelings, these lists provide a starting point if you're trying to decide if Austin is the right home, business, or entertainment destination.

Austin and the Austin-San Marcos Metropolitan Statistical Area typically rank very well in both individual and overall categories.

While these best cities lists can't tell the whole story, they do provide interesting reading and food for thought when it comes to choosing a place to live, do business, or take a vacation.

Best City in U.S., Best City in Texas
If Austin consistently makes the top 10, 25, 50 lists of best places to live out of hundreds of U.S. cities, then we might just be doing something right. Among large US cities, Austin garners top honors as a best place for entrepreneurs, Hispanics, dating, and budget weekend getaways. The city is recognized as being the fittest, most unwired, and least sweaty of the major Texas cities. Some lists are enlightening and useful. Some are simply amusing.

People Are Moving to Austin
Statistics show that, yes, a lot of people are choosing to move to Austin. The lists on this and related pages show some of the many reasons that Austin is such a popular place to live. There are areas in need of improvement -- driver safety is low¹ and our crime statistics could be better² -- and some criteria could tip the scales against Austin based on your own personal needs -- being high on the allergy capitals list is not a good thing. However, there are good reasons why so many people are moving to Austin and perhaps these lists will help you make your own decision about whether to move here (or move away).

Best City for Everything
Singled out as the best city for Hispanics, Singles, Seniors, and Families (see best places to live list at bottom of page), it's Austin's high ranking in specific categories that help keep it high on the best cities lists overall. Cost of living is only one factor bringing people to Austin. Weather and climate, unemployment rates, and general quality of life make Austin a favorable choice for singles, seniors (retired or not), families, and kids. To stay one of the best places to live in the United States Austin offers a quality business climate, reasonably healthy environment, thriving social scene, and first class arts, entertainment, and attractions.

Not the Best City But Not the Worst
There are some lists we didn't make that would have been nice to see such as the list for the twenty happiest cities or the cities with the best air. Luckily, Austin escaped inclusion on the lists of cities with the worst air, most depressed people, and most challenging cities to navigate.

¹ 176 out of 196 Safest Cities to Drive in; AllState's Driver Safety Study
² 54 out of 100 Best/Worst Cities for Crime (1=least crime) ; Sperling's BestPlaces

How Austin Ranks as Best Place to Live

For more on this article and about.com go here: http://austin.about.com/od/relocation/a/bestliving.htm