We often hear talk about the most affordable cities to live in, but what about the most livable cities? According to Livablity.com, other important factors of a city make it desirable and livable. The site introduces visitors to more than 200 cities that rank high in "livability".

This could mean they have multiple options for commuting, are in close proximity to airports and have minimal commute time. It also could mean they have great golfing, beer, film festivals, and minor league baseball stadiums.

Livability.com takes a different approach to looking at cities that people may want to live in. "Every city has a personality, an essence, a reason for being. And it's our job to bring these cities to life," it states on Livability.com Scouring the country, the editors of this site seek to find "the best places to live, work, play, explore and belong". They share stories, pictures and even some videos to give visitors an opportunity to get to know the featured city.

A variety of tools to help you do everything from do-it-yourself home remodeling to moving, are available to make transforming your home or transitioning to another one simpler. A quick look in the Moving Tools section will provide you with some suggested moving companies, a job search database, and an interesting tool to search for a city to live in based on home price, population, neighbors and age (eg: mostly single or married and younger or older), and weather.

It's kind of fun to play with that one and see which cities come up! However, using the job search, didn't produce much for my area. I searched for jobs in many different fields in my zip code but found none. That could be because my city (San Diego) isn't a designated "livable" city by Livability.com. Hmm, wonder if anyone is doing a "spendability" site…bet SD would make the list for a place to drop cash quickly. Of course, there are the perks of So-Cal living like our wonderful weather.

Dig through the site a little more and you'll find the gardening section. Informative articles for sprucing up the yard, adding trendy home décor like outdoor fireplaces, and keeping your gardens green. The site is a bit lean on content in some of the categories, but appears to be taking root by branching out and collaborating with the Chamber of Commerce in various cities. Links to Chamber sites provide visitors with easy access to view more information on some of these little-known cities. I found it interesting to watch some of the videos that showcase these small "livable" cities.

If you're looking to relocate and unsure exactly where you'd like to move to, this site will certainly give you some ideas. Once you know where, then connecting with the right real estate expert will help ensure a smooth transition to your new location. And, of course, because making a big decision to move is always a difficult one that usually requires a lot of thought, you can register with the site for free and save your articles, photos, and videos that you've viewed online so you can access it and share it with friends and family.

I have to give kudos to the folks at Livability.com for creating a site that's based on outside-of-the-box thinking—it presents some interesting and unique information and search criteria to find the best place to live.

Published: April 1, 2011

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Phoebe Chongchua is an award-winning journalist, an author, customer service trainer/speaker, and founder of Setting the Service Standard, a customer service training and consulting program offered by Live Fit Enterprises (LFE) based in San Diego, California. She is the publisher of Live Fit Magazine, an online publication that features information on real estate/finance, physical fitness, travel, and philanthropy. Her company, LFE, specializes in media services including marketing, PR, writing, commercials, corporate videos, customer service training, and keynotes & seminars. Visit her magazine website: www.LiveFitMagazine.com. Phoebe's articles, feature stories, and columns appear in various publications including The Coast News, Del Mar Village Voice, Rancho Santa Fe Review, and Today's Local News in San Diego, as well as numerous Internet sites. She holds a California real estate license. Phoebe worked for KGTV/10News in San Diego as a Newscaster, Reporter and Community Affairs Specialist for more than a decade. Phoebe's writing is also featured in Donald Trump's book: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Buying Foreclosures. She is the author of If the Trash Stinks, TAKE IT OUT! 14 Worriless Principles for Your Success. Contact Phoebe at (858) 259-3646 or . Visit PhoebeChongchua.com for more information.