Huntersville placed second on Forbes Magazine's list of America's 25 Best Places to Move.
On its Web site, with the article about the list, Forbes has a color slide show with a picture from each city. Huntersville's picture was taken in Birkdale Village. The magazine notes details about the town, including:
Population: 42,9001
Location: 15 miles from Charlotte
Adults with BA degrees or higher: 49 percent
Born in different state or abroad: 67 percent
Racial demographics: 84 percent, white; 7.5 percent black, 5.5 percent Hispanic and 2.5 percent Asian
Came from out of state within five years (2000 Census): 30 percent
Median family income: $90,739
Median home value: $231,400
Forbes' article highlighted the hot spots across the country for companies and their employees to re-locate, Bobby Williams, Huntersville management assistant, said in a press release. "Relovilles," as the article calls them, are destinations for periodic relocation of major corporations to young, mid- and upscale suburbs near company headquarters and office parks in major cities such as Charlotte, Raleigh and Atlanta.
To determine America's best places to move, Forbes looked at cities with populations of 25,000 and more. Forbes analyzed Census data from 2000 to 2007 to identify the hot spots for places where people were born out of state or abroad, who had moved to town from a considerable distance within one to five years, and who had moved for a job.
Forbes also noted the top 25 Relovilles that emerged from the analysis generally have twice the incomes, twice the home values and home sizes, twice the college degrees, twice as many youth and half as many elderly among other factors.
The relative strength of the Charlotte housing market during the economic downturn was also referenced as a factor that could have contributed to Huntersville's high ranking.
Buzzwords such as "tree-lined neighborhoods," "charm" and "small-town feel" were associated with many of the 25 communities identified, Williams said in a press release.
Huntersville was one of three North Carolina towns on the list. The others were Apex at number 3 and Cary at number 8. Alpharetta, Ga., was no. 1.
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