Online relocation portal Relocate-America.com has taken a "town vote" on more than 5,000 cities to come up with 100 of the best places to live in the nation.
The unscientific pool tabulates the choices of thousands of HomeRoute.com visitors who nominate communities based on:
Safety, low crime rates, safe for children
Activities, such as museums, theaters and sports
Serenity, peace and quiet
Beauty, such as a downtown with trees
Great schools
Economy of the town is healthy, with employment opportunities and affordable housing
Great people and neighbors
Howell, MI-based Nationwide Homes Network, Inc. is the parent company of HomeRoute.com, the umbrella company for Relocate-America.com and Relocate-Canada.com online community directories of hundreds of towns in North America and Homes101.net, a real estate education Web site for consumers.
After a town vote lasting all year, 100 communities are selected for the top 100 list by Relocate-America.com staff who use three criteria:
Is the community represented on our site?
Are local residents getting involved with input and town support?
Does the information submitted make us want to live there?
Not ranked in any order because every community is considered a winner in its own right, the Top 2002 list includes:
Centreville, MD, for its rural charm in a modern city so crime free cops don't lock their doors.
Bellingham, WA, as a walkable town with a temperate climate and a bay view, mountains and rivers.
New Haven, CT, as an affordable New England town steeped in culture, museums, restaurants and outdoor activities.
Houston, TX, the proud home of the Texans.
Hanover, PA, for its beautiful farmland and low crime rate.
Cameron Park, CA, a centrally located city near employment opportunities in Sacramento and Folsom and fun at Lake Tahoe, Napa and San Francisco.
Parma Heights, OH, an urban community untouched by typical big city problems, offers excellent schools, friendly retail centers and a town for families.
North Las Vegas, NV, as host of the Aliante retirement community by Del Webb near the casino strip and offering lots of clean air and open spaces.
Broderick Perkins parlayed a career in old-school journalism into a
contemporary digital news service that really hits home.
The award-winning consumer journalist, originally from Wilmington, DE, is founder, publisher and executive editor of the bootstrap DeadlineNews Group, a Silicon Valley-based editorial content and consulting service specializing in residential real estate, consumer news and related editorial consulting services.
The DeadlineNews Group includes the website, DeadlineNews.com, offering real estate editorial content and consulting services, and its back shop, the Deadline Newsroom, an open house on news that really hits home.
Perkins obtained his formal journalism education from University of Delaware and a journalism boot camp, the Institute of Journalism Education at the University of California-Berkeley. He went on to 20 years of service as a daily newspaper journalist at the Wilmington, DE News Journal and San Jose, CA Mercury News.
Perkins covered housing on the San Jose Mercury News reporting team which earned a General News Reporting Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for coverage of the Loma Prieta earthquake.
He has also produced real estate, consumer and small business content for the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, RealtyTimes.com, Nolo.com, Better Homes and Gardens, the National Association of Realtors, Homestore/Move and Intuit/Quicken among more than three dozen publications.
In addition to managing the DeadlineNews Group, Perkins most recently served as chief editorial consultant for Nolo's Essential Guide To Buying Your First Home, Nolo, and writes real estate television scripts for RealtyTimes.com.
Broderick Perkins parlayed a career in old-school journalism into a
contemporary digital news service that really hits home.