America's Dreamtowns
Chambersburg, PA ranked #12
By G. Scott Thomas
America may be a metropolitan nation, but most of us don't seem very happy about it.
A total of 252 million people -- 83.5 percent of all Americans -- live in metropolitan areas. That includes 164 million in the 51 biggest metros, the ones with populations above 1 million.
Yet a substantial number of these residents of big cities and inner-ring suburbs don’t have their hearts in it. They would prefer to live on the suburban fringe or in small-town America, as repeatedly shown by surveys during the past decade:
-- A 2005 poll by Where to Retire magazine found that only 8 percent of respondents were planning to spend their golden years in urban centers. The other 92 percent were opting for retirement in rural towns or suburbs.
-- Thirty-nine percent of Americans surveyed by Adweek in 2002 chose small towns as the best places to live, citing "sense of community" and "friendlier people" as the key reasons. Suburbs and big cities were picked by 27 percent and 21 percent, respectively.
-- A 1998 poll by Professional Builder magazine asked participants to select the ideal site to build a home. Two-thirds said they would break ground far from any major city.
Most people never follow through with these impulses, of course, which is why metropolitan areas continue to dominate America.
But some do manage to escape congested cities and sprawling suburbs. The U.S. Census Bureau recently reported that 235,000 families moved from metropolitan areas to nonmetropolitan regions in 2006 -- an average of 640 families per day.
|
Rank |
Micropolitan area |
Quality of life score |
Average commuting time (minutes) |
Median household income |
Management and professional jobs |
Homeownership rate |
Adults (25 or older) with bachelor's degrees |
Air mileage to closest major metro |
Micropolitan area population (2006) |
|
1 |
Torrington, Conn. |
18.19 |
25.2 |
$66,664 |
39.0% |
77.4% |
31.9% |
81 miles (New York City) |
190,119 |
|
2 |
Bozeman, Mont. |
17.01 |
20.6 |
$47,532 |
33.6% |
66.2% |
45.2% |
517 miles (Denver) |
81,763 |
|
3 |
Lexington Park, Md. |
16.96 |
26.6 |
$71,158 |
40.2% |
71.9% |
24.4% |
48 miles (Washington) |
98,854 |
|
4 |
Lebanon, N.H.-Vt. |
16.41 |
20.3 |
$49,526 |
39.0% |
73.6% |
34.5% |
112 miles (Boston) |
172,429 |
|
5 |
Helena, Mont. |
15.44 |
16.3 |
$45,013 |
40.0% |
73.4% |
30.8% |
480 miles (Seattle) |
69,212 |
|
6 |
Kalispell, Mont. |
14.33 |
18.9 |
$45,920 |
29.9% |
76.1% |
25.3% |
373 miles (Seattle) |
85,314 |
|
7 |
Mankato-North Mankato, Minn. |
14.06 |
16.8 |
$46,104 |
33.2% |
69.8% |
33.8% |
62 miles (Minneapolis-St. Paul) |
89,567 |
|
8 |
Oak Harbor, Wash. |
12.99 |
25.5 |
$49,022 |
33.7% |
78.9% |
27.3% |
40 miles (Seattle) |
81,489 |
|
9 |
Stevens Point, Wis. |
12.66 |
17.5 |
$52,354 |
34.6% |
74.1% |
30.5% |
187 miles (Minneapolis-St. Paul) |
67,484 |
|
10 |
Concord, N.H. |
12.56 |
23.7 |
$55,072 |
35.1% |
69.6% |
28.9% |
72 miles (Boston) |
148,085 |
|
11 |
Midland, Mich. |
11.23 |
21.9 |
$48,360 |
39.4% |
76.7% |
33.3% |
107 miles (Detroit) |
83,792 |
|
12 |
Chambersburg, Pa. |
10.97 |
22.6 |
$50,254 |
31.3% |
75.4% |
17.0% |
69 miles (Baltimore) |
139,991 |
|
13 |
Gettysburg, Pa. |
10.64 |
26.6 |
$53,932 |
25.9% |
79.4% |
18.9% |
48 miles (Baltimore) |
101,105 |
Topping the list is Torrington, Conn., which is tucked in the hill country in the northwestern part of the state. Its residents enjoy high income levels and a strong educational system that would be the envy of most suburbs. Only 36,000 people live in the city of Torrington itself, 190,000 in its entire region.
Here are the top three small towns:
1. Torrington, Conn.
2. Bozeman, Mont.
3. Lexington Park, Md.
Bizjournals compared 140 micropolitan areas in 20 statistical categories, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau. A micro consists of a central community with 10,000 to 50,000 residents, along with the surrounding countryside. It is, in effect, a small-scale version of a metropolitan area. (Methodology)
The study was inspired by the heavy public interest in small-town life. Its aim was to identify communities that would be most attractive to people considering such a move. The highest scores went to well-rounded places with light traffic, healthy economies, moderate costs of living, impressive housing stocks, strong educational systems, and easy access to big-city attractions.
The 15 runners-up in bizjournals' rankings have qualified for the honorable mention list, a step below dreamtown status. This group ranges from No. 11 Midland, Mich., to No. 25 Watertown-Fort Atkinson, Wisc.