JournalStar.com

Nebraska fails to make magazine's 'Best Places' list

By the Lincoln Journal Star
Thursday, Jul 17, 2008 - 12:06:26 pm CDT
Money magazine has released its Best Places to Live list, which ranks the country’s best small cities.

But don’t look for us there: No Nebraska cities made the top 100.

Several Midwest cities, with a population between 50,000 and 300,000, made the list: Plymouth, Minn., came in at No. 1, and Fort Collins, Colo.; Naperville, Ill.; Overland Park, Kan.; and Fishers, Ind., all made the top 10. Norman, Okla. - home of the Sooners - came in at No. 6.


The list focuses on towns’ job availability, schools, affordable housing and much more, with a database analyzing everything from air quality to tax rates and access to “leisure and culture.”

Other Nebraska cities do show up on some of the listings’ “Top 25” rankings on more specific topics. Omaha and Bellevue made the magazine’s list of affordable housing. Omaha’s median home sale price in 2007 of $113,000 brought it in at No. 8 on the magazine’s national ranking, and Bellevue’s $120,000 median home sale price brought it in at No. 10. Papillion came in on that list at No. 25, with a median home sale price of $169,000.

Several Nebraska towns are noted on the list of “Shortest Commutes”: Norfolk, Columbus and Kearney all made the top 10, with daily work commutes shorter than 10.5 minutes. Hastings and North Platte came in at Nos. 15 and 17 with commutes under 11 minutes.