Money Magazine's list of 'Best Places to Live' is out and the Centennial State placed 5 cities on the list. Denver itself was left off the list, but two of its high profile suburbs made it in. The dueling college towns of Boulder and Fort Collins made the list too.
No Colorado city on the list fell under the top 75 mark. In fact, two metro area burgs came in the top 25. Castle Rock ranked at 16 thanks to a described business friendliness and the scenic location. Money does note one downside, "There's not much diversity; Denver is a 40 minute drive."
Highlands Ranch earned two distinctions over its other Rocky Mountain brethren securing the 21 spot on the 'Best Places' list and number 22 on the 'Top-earning towns' list. The median yearly family income for Highlands Ranch was tops of the other 5 cities at $117,523.
Outside of the top 50 on the list Centennial, home of the Denver Tech Center, came in at 49 thanks to the aforementioned tech center and their trail and park system.
In the eternal battle of who is tops between rival college towns Boulder and Fort Collins, the "People's Republic" once again gets to put another feather in its cap. Boulder came in a full 10 spots over Fort Collins securing the 60 spot thanks to city's absolute fitness obsession. Fort Collin's number 70 ranking is thanks to the strength of two of its most recognizable assets: Colorado State University and craft beer.
Fun fact that I learned from the Fort Collins write up in Money? Apparently downtown was the inspiration for Disneyland's Main Street U.S.A.
Review the list here, but for the curious I'll spoil the surprise, Carmel IN won the top spot. If you want to see how NPR sees life in the city, be sure to check out the NPR Cities series.
