Top 10 Best Cities to Live, Work and Play (8 of them are in flyover states)

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Our approach this year to picking the ten best cities in which to live and work was simple: Look for places with strong economies and abundant jobs, then demand reasonable living costs and plenty of fun things to do. When we ran the numbers, some of the names that popped up made us do a double take at first. So we hit the road to meet movers, shakers and regular folks, experience the ambience and take in the sights.

We discovered that our numbers guru, Kevin Stolarick, hadn't steered us wrong. Stolarick, research director at the Martin Prosperity Institute, a think tank that studies economic prosperity, says: "Our formula highlights cities not just with strong past performance, but also with all the ingredients for future success." One key to a bright future is a healthy shot of people in the creative class. People in creative fields -- scientists, engineers, architects, educators, writers, artists and entertainers -- are catalysts of vitality and livability in a city.

The cities that made our list also represent larger surrounding areas. And because we understand that city living isn't for everyone, we've highlighted some great suburbs, too.

Pack a bag and join us on a tour of the Best Cities for 2008 and prepare for some surprises.

1. Houston

Population: 5,542,048

Population Growth Since 2000: 14.9%

Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 31.3%

Cost-of-Living Index: 88.1 (100 being national average)

Median Household Income: $50,250

Income Growth Since 2000: 13.1%

2. Raleigh

Population: 995,662

Population Growth Since 2000: 19.9%

Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 36.1%

Cost-of-Living Index: 99 (100 being national average)

Median Household Income: $56,150

Income Growth Since 2000: 10.3%

3. Omaha

Population: 821,356

Population Growth Since 2000: 6.6%

Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 30%

Cost-of-Living Index: 89.4 (100 being national average)

Median Household Income: $51,627

Income Growth Since 2000: 15.1%

4. Boise

Population: 568,086

Population Growth Since 2000: 18.2%

Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 33.2%

Cost-of-Living Index: 95.5 (100 being national average)

Median Household Income: $49,833

Income Growth Since 2000: 16.6%

5. Colorado Springs

Population: 600,444

Population Growth Since 2000: 10.5%

Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 34.1%

Cost-of-Living Index: 95.3 (100 being national average)

Median Household Income Since 2000: 53,486

Income Growth Since 2000: 16.1%

6. Austin

Population: 1,506,425

Population Growth Since 2000: 17%

Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 36.5%

Cost-of-Living Index: 92.8 (100 being national average)

Median Household Income: $52,882

Income Growth Since 2000: 12.2%

7. Fayettville

Population: 419,455

Population Growth Since 2000: 17.3%

Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 31.4%

Cost-of-Living Index: 90.4 (100 being national average)

Median Household Income: $42,267

Income Growth Since 2000: 17.6%

8. Sacramento

Population: 2,067,117

Population Growth Since 2000: 13.1%

Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 34%

Cost-of-Living Index: 121.7 (100 being national average)

Median Household Income: $56,953

Income Growth Since 2000: 19.1%

9. Des Moines

Population: 532,425

Population Growth Since 2000: 9.6%

Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 32.1%

Cost-of-Living Index: 90.6 (100 being national average)

Median Household Income: $53,384

Income Growth Since 2000: 16.3%

10. Provo

Population: 474,351

Population Growth Since 2000: 20.6%

Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 32%

Cost-of-Living Index: 97.7 (100 being national average)

Median Household Income: $50,583

Income Growth Since 2000: 12.2%

http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/artic...,-Work-and-Play

[Dr. Obvious 49]

Out of all of those, I would maybe consider Bosie. Maybe. All the rest, no thanks.

[mawilson 2,133]

0.8 Sydney

0.9 Melbourne

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Of these, I like:

• Houston and Austin (state income tax of...0)
• Fayetteville and Raleigh
• Boise ("close" to Canuck border) and Provo (easy trip to Calgary)

and dislike Sacramento passionately.

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

Sacremento? Surely that's the armpit of California.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Sacremento? Surely that's the armpit of California.

Basically, the armpit of the US #######-hole.

[*JG* 2]

None of them spark my interest.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

I would live in Manitou Springs just outside of Colorado Springs in a minute!

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Sacremento? Surely that's the armpit of California.

The raw data and formulae they used to come up with this ranking would have been interesting to see.

[Aubrey 10]

1. Houston

2. Raleigh

3. Omaha

4. Boise

5. Colorado Springs

6. Austin

7. Fayettville

8. Sacramento

9. Des Moines

10. Provo

http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/artic...,-Work-and-Play

Houston... okay, completely ignore the traffic, the UGLY sprawl, the pollution, and the crime rate... My family (parents and sister's family) moved there and I dread visiting that hell hole...

Austin... lived there myself and the housing is ridiculously expensive unless you live 40+ minutes outside of the city, and you'll sit in traffic at all times of day and never find a place to park downtown. It's a great city if you like crowds and can afford a multi-million dollar home on the west side of the city. And well, my personal experience with AISD (the city school district) really didn't give me a good impression of the educational quality to say the least.

Boise... ok, haven't lived there but holy smokes that desert town is ugly and hot.

Actually I think it's funny that this list includes only cities with huge population growth. Slower growth areas IMO are nicer to live in because you don't have the pressures on increasing competition for all the city resources (road space, space in schools, jobs, etc).

Well, this is the list of the top 10 cities I will avoid.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

I've lived in or been to six out of ten of these. LOL!

Aubrey has the right idea! Boise is . Don't anybody move here! We told these magazines to keep our name out them because we don't want anymore people moving here! We like it the way it is.

[Ban Hammer 13,352]

7. Fayettville

Population: 419,455

Population Growth Since 2000: 17.3%

Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 31.4%

Cost-of-Living Index: 90.4 (100 being national average)

Median Household Income: $42,267

Income Growth Since 2000: 17.6%

this is fayettville arkansas, btw. darn close to bentonville, home of wal-mart. also home to the arkansas razorbacks.

[DeadPoolX 9]

Houston... okay, completely ignore the traffic, the UGLY sprawl, the pollution, and the crime rate... My family (parents and sister's family) moved there and I dread visiting that hell hole...

Austin... lived there myself and the housing is ridiculously expensive unless you live 40+ minutes outside of the city, and you'll sit in traffic at all times of day and never find a place to park downtown. It's a great city if you like crowds and can afford a multi-million dollar home on the west side of the city. And well, my personal experience with AISD (the city school district) really didn't give me a good impression of the educational quality to say the least.

Boise... ok, haven't lived there but holy smokes that desert town is ugly and hot.

Actually I think it's funny that this list includes only cities with huge population growth. Slower growth areas IMO are nicer to live in because you don't have the pressures on increasing competition for all the city resources (road space, space in schools, jobs, etc).

Well, this is the list of the top 10 cities I will avoid.

Well, it's true that Houston has some bad traffic but so does any other extremely large city. You need to remember that Houston is one of the four largest cities in the United States (the other three being New York, Los Angeles and Chicago). If it's one thing all of them have, it's terrible traffic. Houston also seems to love construction, which is always fun, since you never know when some piece of road (or freeway section) may be worked on. The city is attempting to deal with that by adding to the Katy Freeway. Unfortunately, that doesn't look like it'll be done anytime soon.

The pollution isn't any worse than some other large cities; in fact, it's less than other places, such as L.A. or even some smaller, lesser-known cities. None of that means Houston lacks pollution, but it's not quite as bad as many think. As for crime, it's certainly less than many, many other cities. Baltimore, for instance, has the highest crime rate (the last time I checked) in the U.S. and it's nowhere near the size of Houston. Much of the incredibly high crime figures the media has thrown about (due to the New Orleans refugees sticking around) have been dropping off.

In reference to the urban sprawl, it's not really bad. Houston has tons of freeways, so unless you're adamant about sticking to the side-streets, you can get most places by hopping on a freeway and find your destination pretty quickly. I tend to like the fact that the city is so large. I've been to smaller places before and it's driven me nuts. Then again, that's me.

[morocco4ever 63]

I live in one of those cities.

[Nasturtium 500]

No way does Fayetteville have 400k+ people. It has like 70k. There are about 400k+ in the whole metroplex, including Springdale, Rogers, Bentonville, etc. Now I wonder about all their stats!

I live in one of those cities.

Me too, being that they want to annex me into Fayetteville I did live there though, before I bought this house.