Recount!

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2008/top100/

 I was recently shocked when i heard that my Home Town of Fort Collins Colorado did not win as the Number 1 place to live in the country.  Even more shocking was we had been beat by Plymouth MN.  Having spent a summer in MN i was pretty shocked to think a place where mosquito's are the size of bird and the Humidity is 120% (not to even bring into the equation where the heck are the MN mountains?)

Fort Collins Colorado is the Number 1 place to live in the country.  Lets just look at a few stats to support my Re-count demand.

"Of course, this being Minnesota, winter can be brutal: January's average low temperature is about 13°F. But when the mercury plummets, the locals get busy. In February the city hosts a Fire & Ice Festival that includes mini-golf, bowling and basketball - all right on the ice."

Does this sounds like the #1 place to live in the country?  I also did notice that in Plymouth you might make more money (the average Joe does)  But really is 30k worth having to sweat all summer while you fight blood sucking mosquitoes the size of Baseballs and then Winters so cold that the best things to do are all ice related.

According to monstermoving.com where you can compare two cities i think the results are obvious.  i was only going to use the stats that support my arguement but then i thought how much cooler it would be to be totally fair.

Compare Two Cities Results City #1: Fort Collins, Colorado City #2: Plymouth, Minnesota Zip #1: 80525 Zip #2: 55442 County #1: Larimer County County #2: Hennepin County About our data  Demographics Details  Fort Collins 80525  Minneapolis 55442  Colorado  Minnesota  Population View 46,551 14,132 4,800,477 5,212,417 Population Change Since 1990   54.00% 48.00% 46.00% 19.00% Population Density   1,533 2,424 46 62 Male   23,213 6,903 2,426,039 2,590,395 Female   23,338 7,229 2,374,438 2,622,022 Never Married   9,998 2,444 991,337 1,159,967 Married   21,190 7,297 2,059,744 2,307,318 Separated   917 209 169,065 133,024 Widowed   1,824 366 171,024 238,456 Divorced   3,762 653 407,276 362,159 Number of households View 19,273 5,268 1,880,294 2,067,770 Average Household Size   2.38 2.68 2.50 2.45 Median Age View 33.47 37.77 34.19 36.03  Income and Jobs Details  Fort Collins 80525  Minneapolis 55442  Colorado  Minnesota  Median Household Income View $66,306 $102,413 $58,715 $57,422 Average household Income   $80,567 $113,509 $67,862 $68,862 Per capita income   $34,066 $42,369 $27,310 $28,109 Median Disposable Income   $54,833 $78,721 $48,847 $47,909 Average Total Household Expenditure View $60,048 $77,013 $53,210 $53,932 Sales Tax Rate   6.70% 7.15% N/A N/A White Collar Jobs View 80.84% 83.08% 78.71% 78.89% Blue Collar Jobs View 19.16% 16.92% 21.29% 21.11%  Ethnicity Details  Fort Collins 80525  Minneapolis 55442  Colorado  Minnesota  White   42,965 12,375 4,020,425 4,556,910 African American   329 535 170,833 226,562 Hispanic   3,710 279 972,520 203,680 Native American, Eskimo, Aleut   111 42 39,631 55,100 Asian / Pacific Islander   1,189 730 129,905 198,876 Hawaiian / Pacific Islander   36 6 4,549 2,748 Other   1,065 142 298,686 72,957  Education Details  Fort Collins 80525  Minneapolis 55442  Colorado  Minnesota  Less than 9th Grade   406 86 129,075 105,568 Some High School   648 143 206,958 175,200 High School Graduate   5,790 1,169 754,064 956,797 Some College   5,503 1,687 648,546 762,920 Associate Degree   2,193 924 254,221 352,931 Bachelors Degree   10,156 3,630 742,654 747,009 Graduate Degree   6,504 1,835 400,802 354,000  Climate Details  Fort Collins 80525  Minneapolis 55442  Colorado  Minnesota  Average January High Temperature   42.00ºF 23.10ºF 37.82ºF 19.22ºF Average January Low Temperature   15.30ºF 2.80ºF 9.19ºF -0.82ºF Average July High Temperature   85.50ºF 82.80ºF 83.73ºF 81.62ºF Average July Low Temperature   56.90ºF 60.00ºF 51.16ºF 59.05ºF Annual Precipitation   15.84 30.50 15.85 27.74 Earthquake Risk   46 11 48 12 Weather Risk View 80 63 85 43 Air Pollution Index View 98 91 94 90  Crime Details  Fort Collins 80525  Minneapolis 55442  Colorado  Minnesota  Total Crime Risk   89 45 104 80 Personal Crime Risk View 72 24 71 53 Property Crime Risk View 81 55 109 85  Residential Details  Fort Collins 80525  Minneapolis 55442  Colorado  Minnesota  Average Home Sale Price   $215,000 $288,750 N/A N/A Homes Owned   12,991 4,482 1,278,479 1,575,533 Homes Rented   6,282 786 601,815 492,237 Vacant Homes   1,935 330 266,617 255,143 Median Dwelling Age (Years)   16 14 24 31 Median Years in Residence   2.63 4.58 2.84 3.68 Annual Residential Turnover   26.53% 16.31% 22.14% 18.61% Median Travel Time to Work   15.08 21.08 20.30 18.65 Transportation to Work: Public   1.00% 3.00% 3.00% 3.00% Transportation to Work: Drive / Carpool   89.00% 91.00% 87.00% 88.00% Transportation to Work: Walk / Bike / Other   4.00% 2.00% 4.00% 4.00% Transportation to Work: Work at Home   6.00% 4.00% 5.00% 5.00% Recycling Likelihood Index   98 95 93 90

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