Ten Best Places to Raise a Family

Recently, BusinessWeek.com shared their top 50 towns for raising a family. They listed low crime rates, low cost of living and highly regarded schools as a few of the reasons these towns are such great places to raise a family. Here are there top 10:

Groesbeck, Ohio
It’s funny, Groesbeck is listed as the number one town for raising kids, but it doesn’t even have its own web site! Maybe there’s a correlation there! Groesbeck is in Hamilton County — which doesn’t have much of a presence online either! But they do have this Parks and Recreation website. It does look like a beautiful place!

Western Springs, Ill.
This “Village of Towering Character” is only 15 miles west of Chicago, for those of you who need to be close to city-life!

Deerfield, Ill.
Another Illinois town, Deerfield is “the community that lives and works together.” It’s also close to the Windy City.

Echelon, N.J.
Echelon is an unincorporated area within Voorhees Township, “in the center of everything and away from it all.” (I love these little slogans!)

Arapahoe, Neb.
Located in the beautiful Republican River Valley, this little town has a population of about 1,000. Its web site features the local Subway sandwich shop … so you know this is a laidback place!

Waverly, Neb.
This Nebraska town has more than 2,000 people (a little more cosmopolitan than Arapahoe!).

Wilmette, Il.
Located 16 miles north of Chicago, Wilmette is one of the wealthiest towns in Chicago. It’s also Charlton Heston’s hometown, which is kind of ironic, because the city has a ban on handguns!

Lackland, Texas
I couldn’t find a website for the town of Lackland, just for the Air Force Base nearby.

Waterville, Ohio
Waterville is a scenic and historic town located on the banks of the Maumee River. It has a population of less than 5,000, and two-thirds of its households are made up of married couples, which is nice!

Hopewell, Tenn.
Another town without an official web site, Hopewell is part of Bradley County, and is about 25 miles from Chattanoga.

For the full list (and slideshow!) of the best places to raise a family, click here.

The picture above is one of my hometowns, a pretty nice place to raise a family, I think! What about you? What kinds of towns do you think make the best places to raise kids? What things are important to you?

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