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Fort Collins Named 'Best Place to Live'

Published August 2006

Outdoor lovers' paradise, great schools, low crime, good jobs and relatively low stress make Fort Collins the best place to live in America.

According to the August 2006 issue of Money magazine, "Americans are flocking to places that offer the opportunity and amenities of a big city - but with a lot more green space and a lot less stress."

Fort Collins was awarded the No. 1 rank based on data and qualitative findings by Money's team of Best Places to Live editors and reporters. The Money staff started by identifying small cities with populations exceeding 50,000 and screened out cities of more than 300,000 people where more than 40 percent of the residents are over 50.

A mix of 38 quality-of-life indicators, such as income, divorce rates, weather, population density, commute times, affordability, art and leisure, park space and incidence of stress-related ailments were used to rank remaining locations. Next, they interviewed local officials, residents and community leaders by phone, before visiting a final pool of 20 cities to assess congestion, natural surroundings, the vibrancy of town center and sense of community.

Overall, Fort Collins, home of Colorado State University, emerged to represent the 2006 most livable city with "the best possible blend of good jobs, low crime, quality schools, plenty of open space, rational home prices and lots to do."

Read more about America's Best Places to Live at Money.cnn.com.

Related Stories

• NBC Today Show, July 18, 2006.
• "Money magazine ranks Fort Collins No. 1 'Best place to live'," Fort Collins Coloradoan, July 17, 2006.
• "Fort Collins is the best place to live - City's quality of life places it as No. 1, Money Magazine says," Fort Collins Coloradoan, July 17, 2006.
• "Money: Fort Collins best place to live,"The Denver Post, July 18, 2006.

Additional Fort Collins accolades:

• Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine's 34th most fiscally sensible city in which to live (2006)
• One of the Top 10 "Best Places to Raise Your Family," according to the book, Best Places to Raise Your Family: The Top 100 Affordable Communities in the U.S., published by Frommer's travel guides and written by Peter Sander and Bert Sperling (2006)
• Named one of 10 "New American Dream Towns" by Outside Magazine based on open space, smart solutions to sprawl and gridlock, can-do community spirit, an active embrace of the adventurous life, and healthy job markets (2005)
• Forbes Magazine top 20 small metro areas to start a business or career (2005)
• "Bicycle Friendly Community" national award by League of American Bicyclists (2005)
• Runner's World Magazine 25 best running cities in America (2005)
• Listed as a nature-friendly town in Nature-Friendly Communities, by Island Press (2005)

• Selected by Men's Journal magazine as fourth best place to live in the United States (2005, 2003)
• Officially designated as a Take Pride In America Community, through a national partnership established by the U.S. Department of the Interior (2005)
• Selected as "Top Retirement Spot" by Where to Retire magazine (2005)
• Best Place to Reinvent Your Life, by AARP Magazine (2003)
• Ranked among the top 50 places to live in the United States by Forbes Magazine (2002)
• Second in the nation as a digital city, 2002 Digital Cities Survey conducted by The Center for Digital Government
• ICLEI 5-Star Award for efforts to reduce global warming and pollution (2002)
• 17th Best Place to Live and Work in America by Employment Review (2002)
• Featured on A&E Television as one of America’s 10 most livable cities (2000)