Anchorage Named Top 10 Best City in America

Anchorage was recently named as the 10th Best City in America to live according to online magazine Businessweek.com. Ranked #10 on the list of America's Best Places, Anchorage was recognized for its quality of life, educational access and low crime rates amongst other factors. This is the first time Businessweek.com has compiled its list of 50 Best Cities.

In its report, Businessweek.com specifically cited Anchorage for its amount of park acres per person as well as the best air quality of any other city on the list. At 6.4%, our unemployment rate is well below the 8.6% national average reported as of last month. Our low foreclosure rate (0.0053) has kept many Anchorage homeowners out of the mess the rest of the country has experienced in the real estate market over the last few years.

Businessweek.com took 50 of the largest cities in the United States and ranked them according to the following criteria (amongst others):

• Amount of restaurants, bars and museums per capita
• Number of colleges/universities, libraries and sports teams
• Median income
• Unemployment rate
• Crime rate
• Foreclosure rate
• Performance of public school students
• Percentage of population with at least a bachelor's degree
• Park acres per 1000 residents
• Air quality

The most weight for ranking was placed on air quality, school performance, level of education of citizens and the amount of restaurants, bar, parks and museums available to residents. This study just puts in writing what most Anchorage citizens are already well aware of: Anchorage is one of the best cities in America to live. Let me know if you are interested in purchasing your own Anchorage home so you can enjoy all the benefits Anchorage has to offer for yourself.

Pauline Hofseth, your Anchorage real estate specialist