Who Needs a House Out in Hackensack?
Ann Arbor doesn’t make the top 100 in CNN’s Best Places to Live list, but Saline (for which A2 is listed as the “nearest city”) comes in at number 43. A2 is well under the “best places average” in all but one of the categories of movie theaters, restaurants, bars, golf courses, libraries and museums. Yes, the exception is golf courses, of which Ann Arbor has twice as many as the competition. (Saline is behind in all those categories too, so we’re not sure how it made the list.)
Be sure to take the quiz on the site that tells you what your ideal place to live is; our results say that we should be living in Hackensack, New Jersey.
Apparently I’m supposed to live somewhere in the NYC metro area, according to this thing.
This is kind of a strange list - I’m used to seeing rankings by metro area. I can understand why people live in places like Saline (i.e., cost of housing viz. AA, small-town lifestyle, whatever), but would people really choose to live there if it weren’t close to anything else in SE Michigan?
posted by Nick on July 13th, 2005 at 12:35 pm eIt turns out that quiz is retarded — after fiddling with it about 20 different ways (including replies saying everything was NOT important and another saying everything was VERY important), I only got about 3 responses outside the NY metro area. Nothing on the West Coast. So maybe the pro-Ann Arbor list guy got fired?
posted by Dale on July 13th, 2005 at 12:56 pm eMan, even limiting the results to the state of Pennsylvania, I shouldn’t have moved to Philadelphia.
posted by rjwhite on July 13th, 2005 at 1:15 pm eNow I get it — it excludes any place that lost population and that doesn’t have above average income, ruling out most actual cities.
posted by Dale on July 13th, 2005 at 1:34 pm e>
I live in Saline, so I feel qualified to answer this with a resounding NO. On the other hand, I wouldn’t want to live in Ypsi or any of the townships around AA unless I had access to the all of the resources and jobs in AA, either.
posted by Sandy on July 13th, 2005 at 2:03 pm eWhat a distinguished list of over-priced suburbs!
posted by Anonymous on July 13th, 2005 at 2:03 pm eI don’t know
In the top 25 alone there’sYorba Linda, the boyhood home of Richard Nixon. There’s Vienna, Virginia, where Bill Frist could be your neighbor. There’s Naperville, home district of Henry Hyde, a short drive Papillon, Nebraska, known around Omaha for its backstage role in the movie “Election.”
but maybe then again I should take my $544,000 to Chatham, NJ. maybe I can purchase a home on one of the 89 nearby golf courses.
I bet this list is actually just pegged to the credit limit on local Lord and Taylor charge cards.
posted by Anonymous on July 13th, 2005 at 2:12 pm eI grew up in Saline, went to school there and I still live in the area (yes, I am now desperately trying to get out, why do you ask?) - and I also have to echo Sandy’s resounding no. It’s an especially crappy place to grow up in if you happen to be Hispanic.
posted by WordNerd on July 13th, 2005 at 2:13 pm eI would like to move to Saline, because I am uncomfortable when not constantly surrounded by hillbillies.
posted by Real Big on July 13th, 2005 at 2:51 pm eMy results were much the same as Dale’s.
posted by HNG on July 13th, 2005 at 2:52 pm eWhat a totally demented database! Even when I restrict my search to Michigan only, Ann Arbor comes in 25th
When you go to the details for Ann Arbor, it comes in way below the national average in the numbers of “Colleges, universities and professional schools”, “Restaurants”, “Bars”, “Libraries”, and “Museums”.
But if Money can be believed, Ann Arbor is no longer overrated and now may even be underrated…
posted by mw on July 13th, 2005 at 3:34 pm eSaline??? Who are they writing this for? If you’re white middle-class and straight perhaps (and increasingly, they’re making room for upper class people). A lesbian friend of mine grew up there, not too long ago, and I don’t think I’d wish her experience on anyone.
posted by Saline?? on July 13th, 2005 at 5:19 pm eI just took the survey and it told me I should live in Cedar City, Utah. Who needs Ann Arbor! The criteria are…odd. Low car insurance?? That always tops my criteria for a place to live.
posted by Saline?? on July 13th, 2005 at 5:48 pm eYeah, the top 25 on this list sucks. Yorba Linda is an awful place to live even relative to the rest of Orange County - hot as shit in the summertime, not close to the beach or any other place to go (the closest “nightlife” is downtown Fullerton). It’s a place to live if you can’t buy a house in a better place nearby, nothing more. And Vienna, VA is strip-mall hell - its leading cultural attraction is the Metro stop that gets you the hell out of northern VA into DC.
posted by Nick on July 13th, 2005 at 6:51 pm eDoes Saline really have 9 colleges, universities or professional schools?
posted by Saline? on July 13th, 2005 at 8:30 pm eAccording to the link, of the top 15 places to live, 20% are in New Jersey (a particularly loathsome state - though, as Dale sometimes reminds me, certain portions are quasi-bearable), and one of these “Top Places” is Princeton. I nearly had to stop myself from retching. As I gazed upon this opening page, I immediately knew that any information beyond this that I solicited would be riddled with bullshit.
But most of these surveys are. www.findyourspot.com is another example of a search engine meant to enlighten the internet surfer with a teaspoon of wanderlust, and tell them where they were “meant to be”. (It is, btw, far superior to CNN’s attempt) I suggest a road trip and a copy of the local paper if you’re seriously considering relocation. Otherwise, I’ll see y’all in New York, as clearly that’s the only place in the US (CNN said!!) with “plentiful cultural/leisure activities” oh yeah and “affordable housing” …. excuse me while i crack up.
posted by Heidi on July 14th, 2005 at 12:23 am eThat www.findyourspot.com thing was actually sort of cool, but puzzling. Over half of mine were in Oregon — Medford, Oregon is my top spot — Medford, Oregon?
posted by Anna on July 14th, 2005 at 9:11 am eI’d say it was pretty decent — my top 3 were Portland, OR, Milwaukee, and Chicago, which are all among my real life top 5. Medford was my 4th.
posted by Dale on July 14th, 2005 at 9:46 am eIt said I should move to Baltimore.
John Waters, here I come!
posted by Real Big on July 14th, 2005 at 9:54 am eMine were mostly in New Jersey….Hmmmm
posted by Kozzie on July 14th, 2005 at 11:24 am eJacksonville, Florida; Charleston, South Carolina; and Houston took top honors for me. I guess that whole “I hate winter” thing really develops into a theme.
posted by Dave on July 14th, 2005 at 12:06 pm eThe Find Your Spot site is a lot more fun than the CNN site. By the looks of it, I guess Dale and I will be neighbors someday - Portland, OR was tops for me. I also got Baltimore, Honolulu, and Providence in my top 5, which is odd since I’ve never considered living in any of them though they seem nice. On the other hand, Little Rock, Sacramento, and Hartford came up in my top 10, so maybe this site is bullshit too.
posted by Nick on July 14th, 2005 at 12:39 pm eTold me The Bronx. I KNEW I WAS HARDCORE!
posted by js on July 14th, 2005 at 12:58 pm eSigh… I knew it.
Portland, Oregon wants me. Followed by:
Baltimore
Little Rock
Hartford
New Haven
Providence
Go figure. No Michigan at all in my rankings, and very little Midwest, in fact.
posted by Brandon on July 14th, 2005 at 1:23 pm eBrandon.
I had the exact same list, in the exact same order, sans Little Rock.
Creepy.
posted by todd on July 14th, 2005 at 1:27 pm eI happen to live in one of the cities on my list, actually, and I do like it here, so maybe there’s something to it after all… (I also had Burlington, VT - Vermont? Is there anything to do for a living in VT? I think they forgot to ask whether I might enjoy a career as a creater of overpriced arts and crafts).
posted by Anna on July 14th, 2005 at 2:27 pm eI was just in Sacramento — that place sucks.
posted by Dave on July 14th, 2005 at 3:50 pm eYou could work for Ben & Jerry’s in Burlington. Which is actually an awesome city, by any accounts.
posted by Heidi on July 14th, 2005 at 4:27 pm eIs there anything to do for a living in Burlington, VT? Yes, you can push snowboards for Burton… That’s their HQ. I personally prefer slinging Viagra for our very own Pfizer.
posted by Captain Employment on July 14th, 2005 at 4:31 pm eI agree Burlington is an awesome city, but I already live in a city I like a lot — and where one can get a job putting to good use the years spent in AA sweating out a degree.
BTW, has anyone tried to get AA on their list? I did, but no matter what I did (specifying progressive causes, expensive housing, progressive education, access to a major medical center, downplaying easy access to ocean, hiking, mountain biking, skiing, etc. and saying I preferred the midwest) I couldn’t get it to come out.
posted by Anna on July 14th, 2005 at 4:32 pm eTodd and Brandon… I also had the same exact list, slightly different order.
posted by Annie on July 14th, 2005 at 6:05 pm ePortland
Hartford
Baltimore
New Haven
Providence
Little Rock
We should all buy a moderately-priced house together and throw awesome rock shows.
Anna, the University of Vermont is in Burlington– I’m sure they’d have some work for you.
It’s really bizarre that so many of us are getting almost the same results. I’ll admit that I did love Portland. Great people, great climate, great transit, affordable…
posted by Brandon on July 15th, 2005 at 12:21 am eI think I’m a little afraid to take the quiz… it all boils down to being afraid to truly know myself. Eventually, though, I’ll have to come to the conclusion that CNN, capable though they are, can only do so much of the work. The only one who can take that “final step”…. is ME.
posted by Lazaro on July 15th, 2005 at 8:49 am eBrandon, your academic job picks you, not vice versa… If I moved to Burlington, I’d need to learn how to make those crochet plant holder thingies.
posted by Anna on July 15th, 2005 at 9:08 am eAnnie,
Ha. Living in a house with a brewer/distiller (unlimited access to booze of all types) that holds rockshows is a recipe for death.
A fast, happy death. But it’s still death.
posted by todd on July 15th, 2005 at 11:37 am eIf all the old surveys putting Ann Arbor and Madison as “most liveable cities” were flawed, this one brings idiocy to a new level. There is not one town in the list of 100 that is vaguely tolerable to live in. This survey takes the “logos” out of “logorhythm” by ignoring every actually significant feature of good places to live and emphasizing imaginary ones.
Who wouldn’t say they’d rather pay less for a place to live, less for taxes or insurance, and have less chance of crime? But the fact is that those things accompany good places to live, and they are usually entirely tolerable. Price is becoming a big issue in the best places, but even that… so San Francisco costs three times as much as Ann Arbor. Isn’t it six times better? Ann Arbor is supposedly ridiculously priced for rents and housing prices because it’s triple the prices of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Ever been there?
posted by Buzz on July 17th, 2005 at 12:57 pm ewow, mine came out:
Danbury, CT
Medford, OR
Eugene, OR
Albuquerque, NM
Carson City, NV
Sheboygan, WI
I have never been to any of these towns (though I think I drive by Danbury once).
On the other survey, it came in NYC, Brooklyn, Bronx, Hoboken.
posted by OFWinsurgent on July 17th, 2005 at 7:51 pm eSaline made the top 100 in the Money magazine survey, but Ann Arbor was nowhere to be found. I think the recent development in Saline put it up there, as having a marked increase in income and property value. Looking at the top 10 (with Moorestown, NJ being no. 1), it’s interesting to see that a lot of the cons involve sprawl, long commutes to work, traffic congestion, and lack of diversity. I think the last one was put in just to be P.C., as the lack of diversity probably is a plus for the people who live in those towns.
posted by JCP2 on July 17th, 2005 at 9:04 pm eOops, forgot that the two lists are the one and the same. I get Money magazine (leftover frequent flyer miles) but I don’t read the CNN website. For me, real paper is better than a computer screen for prolonged reading (except for this blog, of course;)
posted by JCP2 on July 17th, 2005 at 9:15 pm eHow the hell are we all coming up with Little Rock? Admittedly, it was only about 13th on my list, but still–Little Rock appeared at all?
posted by Joy on July 18th, 2005 at 10:35 am eNo wonder CNN is losing ground to Fox News: The quiz is asinine. That and America is full of idiots. You only have to sit five minutes in that shitty coffee shop in Saline to understand why. The Lazy Parrot, or something like that? Idiots.
posted by DrMandrake on July 18th, 2005 at 12:28 pm eThe Drowsy Parrot, and it’s a quirky little place, one of the best things about Saline. I’ve never heard anyone call it a “coffee shop” before this.
posted by Larry Kestenbaum on July 18th, 2005 at 2:16 pm eTHE SALINE SOLUTION
posted by Buzz on July 21st, 2005 at 11:27 am eDude the whole town came out in support of a clear rapist, like, violent sexual coersion, because he was good on the football team. nuf said. If ann arbor is overrated, what’s saline?