Richard Florida, the guy who wrote Rise of the Creative Class has a new book, Who's Your City, How the Creative Economy is Making the Place Where You Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life. In it he argues that "Globalization is not flattening the world; on the contrary, the world is spiky. Place is becoming more relevant to the global economy and our individual lives. The choice of where to live, therefore, is not an arbitrary one. It is arguably the most important decision we make, as important as choosing a spouse or a career. In fact, place exerts powerful influence over the jobs and careers we have access to, the people we meet and our 'mating markets' and our ability to lead happy and fulfilled lives."
Luckily (or was it our inherent life strategy genius? not sure people who know us would buy that…), we ended up in one of the cities that Florida ranked as tops for our life stage. ("Who’s Your City provides the first ever-rankings of cities by life-stage, rating the best places for singles, young families and empty-nesters.")
Manchester topped the list for Best Cities in Small Regions for Families With Small Children. According to the story in UL, it also ranked "the fifth-best small region in America for mid-career professionals, the best small region for gays and lesbians with children, and the third-best small region for gay and lesbian retirees."
And although it's nice to have the validation, we really didn't need it. We knew Manchester, and really all of Southern New Hampshire, is a terrific place to live — especially for families with small kids. It's a big part of what brought us back here after our time in Vermont (a chance to return to a great, innovative newspaper company also played a role), and what makes it feel like home.
