Wednesday, June 2, 2004

Fayette ranks #18 in best places to live in America

By JOHN THOMPSON
jthompson@thecitizennews.com

A new study confirms what many Fayette County residents already know: They’re living in a great place.

The study, conducted by the American City Business Journals, said Fayette County has the 18th best quality of life in the country. No Georgia county other than Fayette ranked in the top 20.

“That’s pretty good, considering there are more than 3,000 counties in the country,” said Fayette County Development President Brian Cardoza.

The study used 20 different indicators to determine quality of life. Some of the indicators included income level, affordable housing and number of residents with college degrees.

Topping the list was Los Alamos in New Mexico. In fact six of the top 20 locations were in the western part of the country, including Summit County in Utah and Douglas County in Colorado.

But the South leads the study with seven counties listed. The highest rated Southern county was fifth-ranked Loudoun in Virginia. The suburb of Washington, D.C. has a population of 169,599 and has a median income of $66,305.

“This is really something that helps us in recruiting new businesses to the county,” Cardoza said.

He pointed out the new division of Cooper Lighting that’s moving to Peachtree City has 40 families transferring here from New York.

“That really says a lot about our county,” he said.

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