The Rating Guide to Life in America's Small Cities

An invaluable compendium of lifestyle factors in 219 "micropolitan" areas--cities with 15,000 to 50,000 residents and their surrounding regions. Each community is graded in terms of its performance in such categories as climate/environment, public safety, health care, economics, recreation, and housing.

For those considering a move to somewhere more livable, this is a useful survey that rates 219 small cities on 10 livability factors. These include health care, housing, public safety, transportation and more nebulous measures of proximity to an urban ambiance, sophistication and availability of diversions. There is also a table of each city's overall quality of life, and a final section giving a summary report card on each city, weighing its relative strengths and weaknesses. This is a companion volume to the Rating Guide to Life in America's Fifty States.