Vacaville among top 100 spots to live, Relocate-America survey concludes

Good news for Vacaville!
Sacramento Business Journal - April 5, 2005
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Roseville and Vacaville are among America's top 100 places to live, according to Relocate-America, a Howell, Mich., company that describes itself as "a Web site assisting consumers in finding communities that best fit their family's needs."

The only other California locales on the 2005 list are Eureka and the Riverside County duo of Murrieta and Temecula.

The company said that in compiling the list -- one of several such rankings created each year by various outfits -- it employs the following criteria: great people and neighbors; serenity, peace and quiet; beauty of area; great schools; safety for children; low crime rates; activities, such as museums, theaters and sports; and economic health, with employment opportunities and affordable housing.

That collection of criteria produced disparate results indeed, as the California results suggest. In Nevada, where 11 locales were named, it's more pronounced. The 11 are all over the map not just in geography but in size, rate of growth and the pace of life: Reno, Sparks, Gardnerville, Elko, Mesquite, Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City, Mount Charleston, Pahrump and Summerlin.

Even more jolting are the only two Oregon cities on the list, wealthy Astoria atop a hill at the mouth of the Columbia and blue-collar Klamath Falls in the south-central part of the state.

Relocate-America ranked only its top 10 and listed the other 90 alphabetically

Spencer, a small town in northwestern Iowa, came in at No. 1.

Long Beach, N.Y., was second. Yuma, Ariz., claimed the third spot. Edmond and Bartlesville, Okla., were No. 4 and No. 5, respectively. Venica, Fla., was sixth. Bonita Springs, Fla., grabbed the No. 7 slot. Montgomery, Ala., weighed in at No. 8. Asheville, N.C., snagged No. 9 honors. Jasper, Ind., was No. 10.