Yesterday morning, Money magazine made its annual announcement of its “Best Places to Live”. As you might imagine, this is a list that every city wants to make. Eden Prairie made the list! In fact, Eden Prairie made the Money’s Top Ten. Money magazine ranked Eden Prairie as the 10th Best Place To Live in the United States. Not 10th Best in the Midwest. Not 10th Best City under 100,000. They ranked us as the10th Best Place to Live in the whole country.
Money evaluated more than 1,000 American cities based on their overall quality of life in order to rank the Top 100 cities. They looked at such factors as parks, unemployment, per capita incomes, housing costs, quality of schools, access to health care, arts, higher education opportunities, taxes, climate and crime. They scored cities based on their individual characteristics and then ranked the scores. Ft. Collins, Colorado was ranked #1. Naperville, Illinois was #2, the same position they held in last year’s rankings. Eden Prairie was #10. Other Minnesota cities that made the Top 100 included Eagan at #12, Blaine at #54 and Rochester at #67.
There are so many reasons why Eden Prairie is a Top Ten City. We have great parks. We have a vibrant business community. We are close to metropolitan amenities. We have low crime and solid housing values. Nobody likes taxes, but if you compare our taxes to other cities in the Top Ten list, we look pretty good there too.
The biggest reason that Eden Prairie is a Top Ten City is because the residents of this community have cared enough about Eden Prairie over the years to get us there today. Eden Prairie did not become a Top Ten City by accident. We also did not become a Top Ten City overnight. Many people played small parts in enabling the City to achieve this recognition.
So to all those former (and current) City Councilmembers, Planning Commission Members, School Board Members, Lion’s Club members, Chamber of Commerce members, Rotary Club members, youth sports association board members, church members, etc. – Congratulations! Thank you for your contributions. Eden Prairie is a Top Ten City because of you.
