McKinney named nation's 2nd 'Best Place to Live'

McKinney was the only Texas city to crack the Top 10 on Money Magazine's latest "Best Places to Live in America" list.

The magazine named the city second-best, behind only Carmel, Ind., in its 100-city list released Monday morning.

McKinney has now twice moved up on the list that is compiled every other year. It ranked at No. 14 in 2008, then No. 5 in 2010.

"Ranking among the very best places to live in the country is a distinction we greatly value, especially when you consider how rare it is for a city to consistently rank in the top 15 for several consecutive issues on the 'Best Places to Live' list," said Mayor Brian Loughmiller. "To move from No. 5 to No. 2 is an honor for our community, and we thank Money Magazine for the recognition."

Magazine writers and editors ranked each city based on a combination of its housing affordability, education, arts and culture, public safety, available health care, diversity and local economy, including its city government's fiscal efficiency. Only cities with populations between 50,000 and 300,000 people were ranked on the list.

The publication narrowed its search by screening out places with a median family income of more than 200 percent or less than 85 percent of their state's average, those with more than 95 percent of one race, those with poor education and crime scores, retirement communities and towns with major job losses.

Carrying the most weight in the ranking was a city's economic data.

All data reflect 2011, and projections were provided by Onboard Informatics, a data-services company that works mostly with real estate, media and technology companies. Compiled information was based on U.S. Census and Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The magazine visited McKinney in July to interview residents, and to evaluate its economic landscape, attractions and other community standouts -- that which makes the city "unique by nature."

The list, to appear in the September issue, is already on the magazine's website (http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/best-places/2012/faq/). McKinney's entry says, "The city offers plenty of housing options, from starter homes to old Victorians and 'Texas-style' five-bedrooms. Low taxes have lured companies with white-collar jobs in technology and energy, a new hospital opened in July, and a conference center and hotel complex is in the works."

The description references the Baylor Medical Center at McKinney, which opened in early July off U.S. Highway 380 in western McKinney, and the Gateway development site on which construction of a hotel-conference center could commence in coming months.

Money Magazine's list says, "McKinney's location on the fringes of the Dallas area means commuters have a longer drive downtown, but also easy access to rolling green hills, golf courses, and leafy open spaces lacking in neighboring towns."

Also on each entry was the city's demographic and economic data as compared to other top cities, such as statistics for median family income, job growth percentage, schools' testing scores and crime incidents. McKinney compared favorably in each category to other "Best Places," particularly in job growth percentage. Collin County data showed the magazine that McKinney's percentage had grown almost 150 percent over the last year, nearly six times more than the average growth in other "Best Places."

Allen, which ranked at No. 13, was one of three other North Texas cities on the list. Mansfield ranked at No. 28, and Flower Mound ranked at No. 32. Pflugerville, the only other Texas city on the list, came in at No. 43.

McKinney remains the magazine's top Texas city for families to live. The only place for it to move up is No. 1. With a population growing close to 140,000, and several large-scale economic development projects in the works, Loughmiller nearly predicted another jump.

"Our community has a consistently high quality of life for our residents, no matter how we grow and change," he said. "It's amazing what we have in our city, and it's just going to get better."

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