All the Best Places to Live, Work, Eat, Procreate, and Kiss Life Goodbye
I’m a huge believer in quality of life and the idea of ‘work to live’ not ‘live to work’ which is hard to believe considering I live in the roughest city in the U.S. but I guess that would fall under work hard, play hard.
Anways, I know this is not a new way of thinking and I understand in times like these many don’t have the luxury or time to focus on maintaining a high quality of life…. but life goes on. Regardless of the economy people are still having kids, getting married, relocating for work, moving closer to their elderly parents, etc. and all of them want to find a home that fits their needs and lifestyle.
Lifestyle, whether you’re a young professional, a mother with three kids, or a retiree, it’s important to find that perfect place to fit that phase and time in your life.
I don’t know anyone that doesn’t enjoy a “Best Places to…” story, so I’ve taken some of my favorites from this year and last to share a variety of places that one can fulfill a person’s lifestyle and hopefully get us all thinking more about how and where we want to live and not merely survive.
Best Places to Live
CNNMoney.com, Best Places to Live 2008
Plentiful jobs, excellent schools, affordable housing – America’s best small cities have all that and more. See the top 100 best places to live – including detailed city profiles, homes for sale and million-dollar homes. More1. Plymouth, MN2. Fort Collins, CO3. Naperville, IL4. Irvine, CA5. Franklin Township, NJ6. Norman, OK7. Round Rock, TX8. Columbia/Ellicott City, MD9. Overland Park, KS10. Fishers, IN
Best Places to Work
FORTUNE, 100 Best Companies to Work For 2009
Even in this economy, some companies are going out of their way to please employees. This year, there’s a new no. 1, as Google slips to no. 4. See detailed profiles of the top 100 employers, including interactive maps, key perks, contact information, and more.
And the winners are…
Best Places to Eat
Gayot.com, The Restaurant Issue, TOP 40 Restaurants in the U.S.
These restaurants have influenced the dining scene in big cities like New York, Chicago and San Francisco with daring, elegant, exciting and soothe-the-soul concepts. Smaller towns, too, whether on secluded Atlantic shores or California’s golden hills, have benefited by having one of these top-rated restaurants in their midst. The top restaurants not only share their spirit, but ignite our intelligence, imagination, and desire for more truly exceptional dining experiences.
Best Places to Have Kids
BusinessWeek, The Best Place to Raise your Kids 2009
Kid-Friendly and Cost-Friendly
A Chicago suburb beats out thousands of other communities around the U.S. as the best, most affordable place to raise kids
Mount Prospect, Ill., is a quiet Chicago suburb with a population of just over 56,000. It is a tight-knit town where over the past eight years Prospect High School’s football team won three state championships, its Marching Knights picked up their 26th straight grand champion title at the annual state marching band festival, and just last month the school itself ranked 12th among all state high schools. Now the town is also the winner of Businessweek‘s second annual roundup of the Best Places in America to Raise Kids.
Best Places to Retire
CNNMoney.com, Best Places to Retire
Beaufort, SC is by far my favorite of this bunch. I am partial due to my entire upbringing being in South Carolina, from beautiful horse country of Aiken, to the home of the Carolina Gamecocks in Columbia, and my favorite, the beaches of Charleston. Now living in New York (which I love and while I am mentally ready to retire, I am no where near financially) I can appreciate the slow pace and beauty of the coastline and quaint towns.
6 Terrific towns, all on the water
Many baby boomers dream of retiring somewhere by the water. These half-dozen places are on a lake, a river or an ocean – yet won’t sink your retirement budget. More
Onboard Informatics had the pleasure of working with many media companies to produce data-driven stories such as the ones above. Of these, Onboard provided the data for CNNMoney’s Best Places to Liveand BusinessWeeks’s Best Places to Raise Kids.
Check out some of our other media client’s lifestyle stories… BusinessWeek’s Best Affordable Suburbs in the U.S. 2009, Progressive Farmer, Five Safest Places to Live in Rural America and Best Places to Raise Farm Kids.
For more information on how we partner with media and publishing companies please contact us at 646.747.4273 or info@onboardinformatics.com.
Tags: Best Places to Live, Business Week, CNNMoney, Fortune, Gayot, Lifestyle, Onboard Informatics, Real Estate.
on Mar 12th, 2009 at 5:12 am
I emailed this link to myself to check it out later when I’m not on my Blackberry. It looks like a great central place to get the “best” info! Thanks for bringing it all together!
on Mar 12th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
These are some of my favorite projects to have worked on. Collaborating with our publication clients is a lot of fun and, I think, really valuable to consumers.
When you think about it, a lot of life and certainly the ideal focus of a home buying experience, is finding your best place. The many flavors of places just make it possible for the many flavors of people to find the right fit.