[Sly Fox]

Lynchburg didn't make the Top 100 of Small Cities ...

And the winners are...

These terrific small cities -- even now -- boast plenty of jobs, great schools, safe streets, low crime, lots to do, charm, and other features that make a town great for raising a family. More

• 1. Eden Prairie, MN
  2. Columbia/Ellicott City, MD
  3. Newton, MA
  4. Bellevue, WA
  5. McKinney, TX
  6. Fort Collins, CO
  7. Overland Park, KS
  8. Fishers, IN
  9. Ames, IA
  10. Rogers, AR

Click Here for Full List of Top 100

[4everfsu]

Funny but back in the early 90s when I worked for IBM my division was going to move to Rochester Minn. I remember big wigs from Rochester coming down to Tampa to convince us to move there. They had a slideshow( pre internet) showing golfing during the winter, having to use an orange ball in the snow. Yes, like that went over well for the golfers there who played year round in Fl.

Anyway they said Rochester was the hardest place to get people to move but once there they did not ever want to leave.

I think what caused that was once people moved there and going thru the first winter, they became brain dead due to the frozen condition.

BTW I did not move. I had to write that as the #1 is in Mn.

[LUconn]

No way anything in the NOVA/DC/MD area could be pleasant to be in for more than a day.

[RubberMallet]

Funny but back in the early 90s when I worked for IBM my division was going to move to Rochester Minn. I remember big wigs from Rochester coming down to Tampa to convince us to move there. They had a slideshow( pre internet) showing golfing during the winter, having to use an orange ball in the snow. Yes, like that went over well for the golfers there who played year round in Fl.

Anyway they said Rochester was the hardest place to get people to move but once there they did not ever want to leave.

I think what caused that was once people moved there and going thru the first winter, they became brain dead due to the frozen condition.

BTW I did not move. I had to write that as the #1 is in Mn.

i agree with the #1. i want to move the rochester, mn

[FlamingChick]

No way anything in the NOVA/DC/MD area could be pleasant to be in for more than a day.

Actually, Columbia/Ellicott City is nice. I have family members that live there. I'd move there if it weren't so far away from my job!

[Sly Fox]

Mallet - I have to admit that as awesome a specimen as that fish is, my first reaction was that guy looks cold.

[WinthropEagleFan]

No way anything in the NOVA/DC/MD area could be pleasant to be in for more than a day.

Actually, Columbia/Ellicott City is nice. I have family members that live there. I'd move there if it weren't so far away from my job!

I lived in Montgomery County, MD, just outside of DC, for several years growing up. I enjoyed it there. Now I wouldn't want to move back due to the winter weather and I enjoy being in the Charleston area now...but I always enjoy going back to the DC area when I visit my sisters.

[rogers3]

It seems as though many of the "small" cities are actually suburbs in major metros- i.e. Centerville, VA, Cary, NC, Columbia, MD... the magazine needs to have an issue listing the top 100 truly smaller cities. Maybe at least Charlottesville would find its way back on the list!

Anyone who would suggest that Suffolk is a better place to live than Lynchburg, Roanoke, or Charlottesville has their info wrong!

[RubberMallet]

Mallet - I have to admit that as awesome a specimen as that fish is, my first reaction was that guy looks cold.

fish like that would get me through those winters.

[ATrain]

It seems as though many of the "small" cities are actually suburbs in major metros- i.e. Centerville, VA, Cary, NC, Columbia, MD... the magazine needs to have an issue listing the top 100 truly smaller cities. Maybe at least Charlottesville would find its way back on the list!

Anyone who would suggest that Suffolk is a better place to live than Lynchburg, Roanoke, or Charlottesville has their info wrong!

Don't confuse Suffolk with Norfolk my friend. From my visits to the area, Suffolk's image is magnified greatly by the not-so-stellar image of Norfolk.

Anyway, I could see myself selling and moving in 2 1/2 years, paying $1,000+ a month for a small loft apartment in Chrystal City or Pentagon City in NOVA, still doing what I do (the state adjusts the pay scale for COL in NOVA), being within walking distance of a METRO station, coffee shop, grocery store and book store, and taking my car out only when I want to get away on the weekends. The countdown to move on has begun.

[TDDance234]

Nothing in Suffolk but that awful paper-mill smell.

[ATrain]

Nothing in Suffolk but that awful paper-mill smell.

Not anymore, the mill closed.

[rogers3]

It seems as though many of the "small" cities are actually suburbs in major metros- i.e. Centerville, VA, Cary, NC, Columbia, MD... the magazine needs to have an issue listing the top 100 truly smaller cities. Maybe at least Charlottesville would find its way back on the list!

Anyone who would suggest that Suffolk is a better place to live than Lynchburg, Roanoke, or Charlottesville has their info wrong!

Don't confuse Suffolk with Norfolk my friend. From my visits to the area, Suffolk's image is magnified greatly by the not-so-stellar image of Norfolk.

Anyway, I could see myself selling and moving in 2 1/2 years, paying $1,000+ a month for a small loft apartment in Chrystal City or Pentagon City in NOVA, still doing what I do (the state adjusts the pay scale for COL in NOVA), being within walking distance of a METRO station, coffee shop, grocery store and book store, and taking my car out only when I want to get away on the weekends. The countdown to move on has begun.

Agreed- but my point is that Money's small cities are not small cities. It is impossible to compare a Fayetteville, NC, Lynchburg, or Albany GA with this list of trendy suburb "cities."

I would like a second home in Old Town Alexandria!