Best Places to Live: Top 100
Source: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2007/index.html

10. Suwanee, Ga.

Population: 11,200
Median home price (2006): $293,868
Average property taxes (2006): $2,311
Pros: Green space, affordable housing
Cons: Traffic, I-85 interchange

Six years ago the residents of Suwanee voted to more than double their property taxes. The payoff: a boost from 28 acres of green space to more than 270, and a feeling of investment in their hometown. That's abundantly clear at the newly developed Town Center. Built on a heavily trafficked downtown corner, it meshes park space, retail and office properties and housing into one multiuse plaza - and residents have embraced it in a big way. Housing is reasonable, and schools are topnotch.

Though the town has planned recent development deliberately, the area around Interstate 85, which runs through Suwanee's southeastern corner, lacks for aesthetics but not for congestion. Still, the rest of the city has a lot to offer.

And the other winners are...
Some places have everything any family could want - economic opportunity, good schools, safe streets, things to do and a sense of community. See the top 10 Great American Towns - including homes for sale and million-dollar homes. (more)

1. Middleton, WI
2. Hanover, NH
3. Louisville, CO
4. Lake Mary, FL
5. Claremont, CA
6. Papillion, NE
7. Milton, MA
8. Chaska, MN
9. Nether Providence, PA
10. Suwanee, GA

See the top 100

Best Places to Live 2007: No. 10 town

What do you think of the No. 10 town on this year’s Best Places to Live list? What makes it a great American town? Are real estate prices reasonable? How are the schools? What activities and events does it offer? Is it a place where you can live a low-stress life? If you don’t live there now, would you consider moving there? Tell us what you think. The best replies will be published here, and possibly in a future story on CNNMoney.com.

Atlanta has always been underestimated by people moving here from other states. It is much more affluent, larger, beautiful, contemporary with the worse traffic in the nation. Now it seems word is out in California because every other car plate is CA.

Atlanta is my home but I have lived in NY, LA and overseas. I loved Atlanta for what she is and was before 1980 when growth was unmanaged and people “raped” the landscape and sucked it dry or left (no building codes).

What people do not know is how toxic the toxic air quality is because it causes hundreds of deaths every year. If they did, I am sure a lot of people would move to the beach, austin tx, or other cities that I hope will have answers before they affect the health of children, and old people. I remember when I walked my newborn to our Prius. The SUV in front of us reved the engine and his first breath outdoors was a huge black billow of smoke!

For some reason people haven’t noticed there is a bright read dot that sits over Atlanta at twice the rate of LA and other places (see EPA maps)during the ozone season. Further, most other cities do not have the commute times and/or live near the ocean albeit Denver/Salt Lake.

When I was a little girl the sky was as blue as my MS background. Now it is always grey.

Upon returning from trips the air burns my throat and nose due to high lead levels and the never ending need to drive Hummer’s, SUV’s or the biggest and fastest cars our well-to-do city can afford. It hardly appears there is one grassroots green “thinker” in the entire town. I really gagged when a builder got on the front page of the AJC to pat himself on the back for cleaning PART? of the Chattahoochee after he bulldozed and polluted thousands of acres of land with no thought to green building!

Yes, Atlanta can be great outside of city but too polluted and political and self serving to controll some pretty serious pollution. Atlanta is not such a “mecca” except for those young men who need to stand out for all their peers.
Gee I really can make it somewhere.
Posted By B. Carlton Atlanta, Georgia : July 27, 2007 5:14 pm

Suwanee is a GREAT place to live. We moved here from central PA about 18 months ago and it was one of the best things we ever did. Housing is very affordable, the parks are wonderful, shopping and recreation is plentiful, great restaurants - the list goes on and on. I’m glad to see Suwanee get the recognition it deserves.
Posted By Kate, Suwanee, GA : July 20, 2007 1:22 pm

We lived in Middleton from 1994 to 2004 and it is obvious who wrote what comments and in which part of “Middleton” they live(d). We have moved to a small Wisconsin town which is truly a BEST place to live.

When we first moved to Middleton we enjoyed living there, but over those ten years it changed from a sleepy suburb to a sprawling, out-of-control, miserable place to live. Not only are the real estate prices out of control, the place is being taken over by mediocre track homes with almost zero lot lines. Our beautiful “farmland” view went to solid rooftops in 3 years. We could not even get out of our subdivision of cul de sacs because the traffic was so constant and heavy. Traffic lights are not installed until AFTER someone loses their life. The stress level was the same as when I lived in Arlington, Texas, a much bigger city. While real estate prices may seem reasonable to others around the country, take into consideration that the average home price in the rest of the state is only $150,000 and the average household income is less than $60,000. As time went on we had to get an equity loan, as most people in Middleton, just to maintain our lifestyle which was much less than opulent. We were being priced out of the market. Because we had young children, I wanted to work part-time, but it was becoming increasingly unmanageable. The cost of recreation, extracurriculars for the kids and the inconvenience of the traffic situation made life unbearable. The school personnel were so overworked with the huge influx of new families, that they were completely unresponsive to our needs. Bigoted? As kids from Chicago and Milwaukee moved into an apartment complex that was changed to Section 8, the teachers were campaigning to redistrict the schools to prevent them going to their particular school. Every year from Kindergarten to 4th grade my kids had a different principal at their Middleton school. Getting a meeting with the principal became nearly impossible, and he literally NEVER sat down. The population growth caused my kids to be moved from one school to another which required them to spend an hour and a half on the bus everyday. And we lived in the city! We never felt like we fit in with the community which tends to be the wealthier branch of the Madison workforce, ie, doctors, lawyers, business owners, high level executives, and I graduated from UW Law School and my husband got his Master’s at UW. But materialism ruled the day and if you don’t drive the right car or wear the right clothes, dont expect to have anyone talk to you much less sit by you at the school events. An AfterSchool director told me that of all the schools she operated in, she had never seen such cliques as in Middleton. And the parents didn’t care; of course, they didn’t want their kids socializing with “him” or “her”. Children in Middleton are not allowed to be kids; they are expected to be little adults. Middle and lower income kids are completely priced out of sports, even the ones operated by the Park and Rec dept. Middleton was a miserable place to live for all but the most elite stay-at-home moms and double-income-no-kids couples, ie, shopping, eating out at restuarants, sporting events, the theater and Civic Center, things the typical Wisconsinite cannot afford to enjoy.
Posted By Maria B., Fort Atkinson, WI : July 19, 2007 10:30 pm

We have been there since 1999, and I have seen our city grow into a lovely, green, vibrant place to live through the careful planning of our city officials and the deep involvement of our residents.
Posted By Kathy and Terri, Suwanee, GA : July 18, 2007 12:33 pm

My family and I moved to Suwanee in May and I can say it is the best place to live. Coming from Chicago now I can say there is no place like my new HOME Suwanee.
Posted By Jaycee, Suwanee, GA : July 17, 2007 8:17 pm

My wife and I moved to Suwanee from Atlanta a few weeks ago and we love life in the suburbs. With The Town Center, Lake Lanier,Chattahoochee River, and The Bear’s Best golf course near, we are never short of having something to do.
Posted By Kevin, Suwanee, GA : July 17, 2007 4:42 pm

My husband and I are Realtors who specialize in Suwanee. We’ve been saying it’s the best place to live in Metro Atlanta for years. Now it’s official!
Posted By Debbie Dewey, Suwanee, GA : July 17, 2007 2:32 pm

My husband and I relocated to Suwanee, Ga., in 2002, from Port Deposit, Md. Our home borders George Pierce Park and Suwanee Greenway, where we can walk or bike for miles and enjoy the beauty of the park, greenway, and wetlands. Shopping at the Mall of Georgia is only a 5 minute drive from our home. Lake Lanier is a short drive from Suwanee and offers abundant fishing, boating, and family fun. Our town park hosts concerts, farmer’s market, and family fun year round. Taxes are moderate and housing is plentiful, but not crowded. Would I move back to Maryland…never!!
Posted By Ed & Shirleen Philpot, Suwanee, Ga. : July 16, 2007 7:52 pm

Suwanee truly does have it all. Shopping, restaurants and parks, parks, parks. And, did I mention the parks? As a resident and a Realtor who specializes in Suwanee, I’m thrilled to see our small town receive this honor. Now, everyone knows what we already know!!
Posted By Beverly Hart, Suwanee GA : July 16, 2007 6:34 pm

We moved to Suwanee this past December and absolutely love it! Our family is so much happier here than in our previous city, Flower Mound (Texas). The people are warm and friendly, the city has fabulous parks and schools. We rode our bikes on the Suwanee Greenway yesterday and were blown away by how nice it is!
Posted By Amy Bennett, Suwanee, GA : July 16, 2007 11:07 am