Trick or Treat on the Square / File photo
Fayetteville has made another “best of” list.
The city this week was named one of the 10 best places to raise a family by Livability.com.
To come up with the rankings, Livability.com analyzed all U.S. cities with a population between 20,000 and 300,000 and removed places with high childcare costs and low Great Schools scores.
From there, list was made based on number of potential playmates using the percentage of the population that is under age 6, quality of public schools, measures of children’s health, affordability of housing and transportation options, cost of childcare, number of daycare options, parks and libraries, walkability and other factors related to the physical environment, and finally, the number of candy stores.
“Families who live in Fayetteville can take advantage of 37 city parks, 84 miles of trails, 15 natural areas and tons of other places to play outside,” the list states. “The city also has a thriving arts scene, plus lots of fun traditions that all generations can appreciate at University of Arkansas sporting events. On top of that, the Fayetteville metropolitan area has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country at 2.5 percent.”
Fayetteville ranked eighth on the list behind: Moscow, Idaho; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Beaverton, Oregon; Fort Collins, Colorado; Bloomington, Indiana; State College, Pennsylvania; and Oak Park, Illinois. Morgantown, West Virginia and Bozeman, Montana rounded out the top 10.
Livability.com’s 10 Best Places to Raise a Family
1. Moscow, ID
2. Ann Arbor, MI
3. Beaverton, OR
4. Fort Collins, CO
5. Bloomington, IN
6. State College, PA
7. Oak Park, IL
8. Fayetteville, AR
9. Morgantown, WV
10. Bozeman, MT
