Fishers named one of
America's best small cities
The Town of Fishers was named the tenth best place to live in the nation
by Money Magazine in its Best Places to Live (Money's list of America's
best small cities) issue released today. The magazine cited Fishers
strong economy, home prices, and good schools as factors placing it in
the top ten. Fishers is the only Indiana community named in the list of
100 municipalities.
To be recognized nationally is an honor, but to receive this unsolicited
recognition for the third time by Money Magazine is remarkable. said
Scott Faultless, Fishers Town Council President. Many individuals have
contributed significant time and effort to build a world-class community
comprised of top notch schools, accredited police and fire protection,
beautiful parks and trails, commercial hubs, and community oriented
businesses. Our residents, who played the biggest role in receiving this
recognition, should be proud of this acknowledgement.
Fishers is one of eight communities in the nation to be named in the
last three Best Places to Live lists for communities with populations
over 40,000. Fishers was ranked as 24th in 2005 and 33rd in 2006. In
2007, Fishers was exempt from consideration because the magazine focused
only on communities with populations under 40,000 people.
Among the long list of community strengths is a vibrant, progressive
economic environment, creating business and job opportunities for our
residents. An educated workforce, good interstate access, demographics,
steady growth and outstanding quality of life factors contribute to a
strong business sector. Any one of these factors by itself is a positive
asset, but not necessarily a differentiation from other places, states
Christi Wolf, President of the Fishers Chamber of Commerce, Putting it
all together creates the Fishes factor where good business and quality
of life mix.
Money Magazine states of Fishers, When it
comes to smart planning and sheer livability, others places could learn
a lot from this little city in the Midwest.
Hamilton Southeastern Schools can attribute a great deal of its
successes, including state and national recognition, to the high
expectations of its community. The districts staff and students also
enjoy an amazing degree of parental participation in school and
school-related activities, said Jeff Sturgis, Hamilton Southeastern
School Board President. With this support and encouragement, the schools
continue to strive to provide all students with opportunities to excel
in academics as well as areas such as music, arts, leadership,
athletics, technology and special interests in and outside of class.
Money Magazine started with all municipalities in the country with
populations between 50,000 to 300,000. Then, it excluded retirement
communities and places where income is less than 85% or more than 201%
of the state median, and those that were 95% white. The list was further
refined by eliminating cities with high crime, big population declines,
significant unemployment or job shrinkage, and long commutes.
The municipalities that remained were then ranked on job growth, income
increases, cost of living, housing affordability, school quality, arts
and leisure options, safety, medical care, diversity, and ease-of-living
criteria. Then, data on the economy, jobs, housing process, schools and
taxes were factored in. The magazine then visited communities and
interviewed residents to assess intangibles like sense of community.
This announcement follows the July 2008 edition of Forbes Magazine
naming Hamilton County as the best county in the country to raise a
family.
Receiving two national recognitions in two weeks by separate and
respected publications using objective criteria confirms what our
citizens and businesses already know Fishers is a great place to live
and work, Scott Faultless added.
