Customer Reviews

Best Places to Raise Your Family, First Edition (Rated)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

There is a lot of information here. We especially liked the 100 `family' places around the country, but isn't that what any suburb is anyway? Still, the selections are interesting.

There are just a few maps in the book and they are quite cheesy. Plus, a lot of the figures they use are recycled from the Census of six years ago. Any good web surfer can dig that stuff up.

I don't know about you, but I could have used less information on Starbucks outlets and `picture postcard' settings and a lot more on the schools. Isn't that why families move?

This book is an OK start. But there must be a better book out there on how a family in North Carolina can find a good school system in suburban Phoenix.

Somehow I live in one of these places and I know several others very well. I trying to move from one of the best places to raise my family. This book just didn't have the information needed to make a sound decision.

This is a dishonest book.

The authors claim to have invented a `diversity measure' for each place, giving the percent odds the next person you meet on the street will be of a different ethnic origin than your own. They peg the U.S. average at 54 percent.

They say, ". . . diversity makes a place a better place to live," and that it "brings value in differing points of view, differing interests, and different cultures to learn from."

Now for this book's dirty little secret: By their own figures, almost all of the 100 places they feature are less diverse than America.

You can't have it both ways. If you're going to piously celebrate diversity, stop steering readers away from diverse Dallas or Charlotte or Chattanooga to lily-white Flower Mound, Matthews, or Hixson.

The book is really the only book out on the market right now. I havent been able to find any other books like it. The book gives you everything you would want to know about the cities plus it gives you an area view. So just because a city you might be looking for isnt in the best cities to live, chances are they are listed for the area view. So some of the cities are suburbs of the larger city and they will give you the larger city as the area view.
However, the book is slightly outdated because of the 2008 recession and economic times that hit. This book was made in 2006 but it gives some info based on the 2003 census which makes some of the information almost irrelevant now because of the recession. BUT if you take the info in the book for what it is and decide on like 5 cities to live based on the info in the book, you can then go on the web and get current info for each city. and some of the info will remain the same and some will change.

This book gives you a great starting point in your search for the best places to raise your family. Now some of these places I was suprised made the list and I was suprised to see that other places that typically make the list of best cities to live in didnt make the list. But overall this book was really helpful and I recomend it to anyone looking to move with their family, so that you know what your getting into and don't get yourself into a hole!

I have not seen an updated book and I don't even know if its possible to update this book now because of the recession and things change almost daily. An updated book would be more useful than this one as like I said some of the info is from the 2003 census. Just be cautious when reading and using this book and always remember to go on the web to a place like www.wikipedia.org and check the info for current information. All you have to do is go to the wiki website and type in the city you want and it will give you updated info about the city. Wiki is always updated by peer users and those users must have citations on where they got their information and wiki webmasters update it too.

As a father of 5, this book is a great resource if you are looking to relocate your family. Where you live makes a big difference in your quality of life. The facts shown in this book will help anyone look for that ideal place for them. I highly recommend this book to anyone with kids looking to relocate. The information will save your family a lot of time and money.

This book is perfect for people interested in moving to better places to raise families. It is well organized and represents choices throughout the country. The one complaint I would offer is that many of the best places chosen are on the expensive side, but that is probably unavoidable, as people pay more to live in nice places. There are many inexpensive options described, as well. This book has been hugely inspiring for my family and we don't regret the purchase.

This book is excellent for families looking to relocate.

Rather than just look at big metropolises, the authors pin-point a great mixture of towns. They included the little farming town of Winters, CA, for example. And with it's proximity to Sacramento and the possibility of finding an affordable house with land, it's obvious they did their homework.

As just one component of your relocation research this is a great tool. While it is hard to question the underlying research presented in the book you have to look for nuances in the recommendations the authors make to gain a better understanding of a particular area. These carefully worded nuances are a critical part of gaining a true picture of the "Best Place" being rated.

Having lived in a few of the cities rated as "Best Places" the subtle comments reveal a much more accurate picture of the area than the statistical data.

Great Book! Where each city is broken down and reviewed I would like to see a map of the city/state and surrounding area to see exactly where the city is located and what it is close to...

I can't begin to imagine the work that went into putting this book together. I'm on my second time reading it through and I've already learned about the ins and outs of 20 or 30 neighborhoods that weren't even on my radar before.

I'm a college professor with two young ones and as they approach school age, making sure they have the best environment to learn and thrive is of paramount importance to my husband and I.

I really like the detail level involved in this work and the fact that the data is so up-to-date and fresh. Now comes the hard part of choosing ONE of these great neighborhoods!