Most Livable Places

As regular readers know I love the full range of rankings such as -- US states with the highest tax burdens, literacy rates, etc. so here is another one courtesy of this week's Parade magazine. According to the book, State Rankings 2006, America's "most livable places" based on 44 factors such as income, education, and job growth include:

1. New Hampshire
2. Minnesota
3. Iowa
4. Vermont
5. New Jersey
6. Wyoming
7. Massachusetts
8. Virginia
9. Nebraska
10. Connecticut

Based on this top ten list let me offer the following observations:

1.) Minnesota and Iowa - (my adopted and home states) are ranked #2 and #3 of course. My selfish concern is that people will flee the coastal areas for these Great Plains/Upper Midwest states for the "good life" but given the negative connotations that I have seen people give to my beloved "Iowa" this migration is a VERY small fear of mine.

2.) New Hampshire - this state was selected by the "Free State Project" (http://freestateproject.org/) to be the official state where freedom-loving people would relocate to in order to create a "critical mass" of such people that would enable a popular political revolution to reduce government in order to maximize individual liberties.

Enjoy your home,

Todd