Ever wonder what makes one community better to live in than another? If so, then you’re in luck as Trumbull-based Connecticut Magazine has once again published their analysis of how various cities and towns rank based on several criteria. As usual, they have sorted the localities into four groups based on population:
- 10,000 – 15,000
- 15,000 – 25,000
- 25,000 – 50,000
- 50,000+ (We will feature the smaller towns with populations below 10,000 in their own series of posts coming soon)
Then, information was collected in the quality-of-life criteria that are most important to residents:
- Schools
- Crime Rate
- Cost of Living
- Local Economy
- Leisure/Cultural Outlets
Then the numbers were crunched and rankings were awarded based on how the towns scored in those criteria, with a “1” being the best score possible.
In this four part series of posts, we’re going to show how the top 20 places in each population size fared, and highlight how some towns in our market area fared as well. We’ll begin in Part One with those communities between 10,000 and 15,000 residents:
10,000 – 15,000: Weston New #1, Cromwell, E. Hampton Improve
Very few towns in our market area fell within this group, with the exception of Cromwell, Oxford and Derby which finished 9th, 12th and 16th respectively. Cromwell improved on their previous ranking by 2 spots, thanks mostly to a lower crime rate and good leisure activities, while Derby jumped 3 places after improving in every category. Oxford was rated in a different group last time. Weston and Canton slipped ahead of previous number one Old Saybrook. Weston’s improvement came mainly through lower real estate prices, as median home prices their fell by 25% from 2007 and 10% from 2009.
East Hampton appears to be the happy medium in this group, with above average scores in education, crime and cost of living offsetting subpar numbers in economy and leisure. As we’ve noted before, it’s interesting how the towns that placed well in education, crime and economy are almost always at the bottom of the pack for cost of living and leisure, proving once again that a good school system, low crime rates and good economic opportunities cost money to maintain.
Keep in mind that there are obviously many more criteria to be considered when deciding where to live in Connecticut, but the ones scored here are important and can be used as a starting point for comparison when deciding where to call home. There are many reasons for liking –or not liking – a specific city or town that transcend any statistical ranking or report, and only you can decide if a place is right for you and your family.
In Part Two of this series, we’ll take a look at the next group of towns, those with a population between 15,000 and 25,000 people.
