Surprised only 1 Illinois City made the 50 Best Places to Live?
Frankly, I'm not surprised only one town in Illinois made the list of the 50 Best Places to live in the US, but I am a little surprised how high on the list this city in the Land of Lincoln falls.
According to a ranking of the 50 Best Places to Live in the US from cbsnews.com Naperville, IL comes in as the 3rd best place in the country to live and is the only city from Illinois in the top 50.
When I first was going through this list I honestly didn't expect to see any cities from Illinois on the list, Illinois gets a lot of bad press for its high taxes, dysfunctional state government, and not ideal year-round weather, but if there was going to be a city that made the list I figured it would be Chicago, lower on the list closer to 50, but still getting the nod because it is such a special place. So why Naperville (a suburb of Chicago)? Well here is what they say on the website...
"The wealthy Chicago suburb ranks as the best city to raise a family in America. Naperville has the best public schools, a low crime rate and an affordable cost of living. The city has many outdoor activities, including a downtown riverwalk and an outdoor history museum called Naper Settlement."
Naperville comes in at 3rd behind, Arlington, VA in 2nd, and The Woodlands, Texas in first, apparently The Woodlands is a suburb of Houston. To see the full list for yourself click here!
Overall I don't massively disagree with Naperville getting so much love, it is a slightly wealthier and larger version of the Chicago suburb that I grew up in called Crystal Lake, and it is a fantastic place to live. But I guess a lot of it is a preference, I'd just say this, I'd rather live in the 25th ranked spot on this list Columbia, Missouri, than I would in the 3rd ranked spot.