"Apparently, there's just something about North Carolina," writes Yahoo Finance. "For the second year in a row, America's best city in which to live lies within its borders, according to Relocate-America.com's annual list.
" 'North Carolina is very active on our radar,' said Steve Nickerson, president and CEO of HomeRoute. 'It continues to get a flood of interest from all over.'
"HomeRoute is the real estate firm that operates Relocate-America.com, a source of community information and real-estate resources for those who are relocating. Each year, the site ranks the top 100 places to live in the country.
"Areas need to be nominated on the site in order to be eligible for the list; more than 2,000 were nominated this year, Nickerson said. Special efforts are made to prevent spamming campaigns from influencing the results, he added. ..."
Here are the top 10 in Relocate-America's 2008 list:
1. Charlotte
2. San Antonio, Texas
3. Chattanooga, Tenn.
4. Greenville, S.C.
5. Tulsa, Okla.
6. Stevens Point, Wis.
7. Asheville
8. Albuquerque, N.M.
9. Huntsville, Ala.
10. Seattle, Wash.
2 comments:
I cringe every time I see a North Carolina city get named to a "Best Of" list...it signals the further influx of people from others states and (in the case of immigration) other nations.
I'm not a full-blown xenophobe, but I recognize that with each inflowing piece of another culture strapped to the backs of another transplant, our own culture gets diluted by that measure.
The flipside, is worse, I suppose. We could be voted the worst place to live in America, and no one would want to live here or do business here, and our economy would grind to a halt.
Change is the only constant, I guess.
I will agree... and then disagree with your statement about diluting the culture. Initially, this seems to happen. YOu see this all the time. The most "snapshotty" example I always think back to is the folks on Ocracoke Island. It is true that the first generation of folks who grew up with mass communications, a rise in tourism and an influx saw their "culture" (mainly their unique language) decline. However, their children are intent on preserving it. In fact, the converse has happened -- people speaking with an increased brogue than their parents.
In the 1950s, Americans really believed that TV would cause everyone to speak with a Midwestern accent (ie, "no" accent). That never happened. SO, don't fret. Yes, your kids will probably grow up to hate barbecue. But their kids will probably prefer killing the hogs themselves!
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