Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2005 | ||
Bad Links? | Fayette named 17th best rural place to live in U.S.By J. FRANK LYNCH Try convincing someone stuck in local traffic that anything rural remains, but the magazines editors disagreed, ranking Fayette 11th on its list of the best rural places to live in the Southeast, and 67th nationwide. Fayette was one of five Georgia counties to make the Top 100, including Oconee County just outside Athens, which was ranked No. 2 for the entire nation. The other Georgia counties were Forsyth (9th Southeast, 62nd nationwide); Columbia (10th Southeast, 66th nationwide); and Newton (13th Southeast, 75th nationwide). According to the magazine, the nations top rural community is Fauquier County, Va., about 45 miles east of Washington, D.C. Rounding out the top five, after Oconee County, were McPerson County, Kan.; Callaway County, Mo.; and Grafton County, N.H. Progressive Farmer admits the criteria it used to compile the rankings probably doesnt fit most peoples definition of what defines a community as rural. The magazine started out with 600 counties with rural areas that met our population, density and income criteria, editors explained; or in other words, wealthy rural areas. That was followed by rankings according to health care, quality of schools, climate, pollution, crime and tax burden. Finally, editors looked at things such as quality of life, cultural amenities, scenery and proximity to a major city as the deciding factors. Progressive Farmer, based in Birmingham, is owned by Time Inc. and is a sister publication to Money magazine, which annually ranks Americas Best Places to Live. In fact, the same data source is used for both rankings, the magazine said. The same company also publishes Southern Living. Brian Cardoza, president of the Fayette County Development Authority, wasnt aware of the rural ranking until contacted Monday by The Citizen. But he noted that the magazines research must be fairly accurate because it includes a 2004 population estimate of 101,180, the same figure compiled by the development authority. The article also lists the countys sales tax at 6 percent, which goes into affect April 1 with the implementation of the SPLOST. Cardoza noted the irony in Fayette being recognized for its rural lifestyle, at a time when the county is held up more and more as a model for suburban planning. A year ago, Money named Peachtree City the 17th best place to live in the Eastern United States with a population under 100,000. Previous surveys have also put Fayette County and Peachtree City high among places to retire. Also last year, Fayette was named the 18th best county in the nation in a ranking compiled by City Business Journals, publishers of the Atlanta Business Chronicle. |
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