ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, June 13, 1996 TAG: 9606130050
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: MADISON, WIS.
SOURCE: Associated Press
It may be oh-so-cold for much of the year, still Madison's small-town atmosphere and solid economy helped make it the best place to live in America, according to Money magazine's annual ranking.
While some residents bluntly admit they think the winters stink, they say the advantages pile higher than the snow.
``The economy is great. I haven't advertised in five years and I've got a volume of business,'' said Dave Carpenter, 43, a painter.
Home to a University of Wisconsin campus with 40,000 students and an economy boasting just 1.5 percent unemployment, Madison beat out the nation's other 299 biggest metropolitan areas to top the best-places list, released Wednesday in the personal finance magazine's July issue.
Madison, called ``Mad City'' by the locals, was 16th last year. Eighty miles west of Milwaukee, the area has a population of 390,300 but, the magazine says, it boasts a range of cultural activities usually associated with cities twice as big.
Carl Boss, 67, who's lived here since 1940, is not surprised that his hometown won the coveted spot this year.
``It's still a pretty clean city, and there's always something going on,'' Boss said.
From the university's Union Terrace overlooking Lake Mendota, you can watch sailing in the summer or cross-country skiing in the winter. You can take a long walk in the UW Arboretum, a 1,200-acre preserve used for plant research and prairie restoration, or catch an outdoor concert on the Capitol Square. The fall brings Badger football.
Walk through the campus business district on a weekday and you're likely to see everyone from bongo-thumping bohemians and latte-sipping intellectuals to lunching lawmakers and rowdy schoolchildren.
``It's a fun town with lots of parties and reasonable rents,'' says Jeff Borowski, 22, a UW-Madison student from Milwaukee.
The only aspect of Madison life to draw criticism is out of its control - the weather. High temperatures during winter average 20 degrees, and snow can linger into May.
Following Madison in the magazine's top 10 were: No. 2 Punta Gorda, Fla. [last year's No. 61]; Rochester, Minn. (2); Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (6); Ann Arbor, Mich. (33); Fort Myers/Cape Coral, Fla. (34); Gainesville, Fla. (1); Austin, Texas (35); Seattle (4) and Lakeland, Fla. (41).
On the opposite end of the magazine's list, but not far from Madison geographically, Rockford, Ill., ranked last at No. 300. Money cited subpar prospects for future job growth and a below-average health-care system.
Rockford's last-place ranking represented a slip from No. 293 last year. Immediately above Rockford at the bottom of the list: No. 299 Yuba City (last year's No. 300); Peoria, Ill. (297); Davenport, Iowa (290); and Lima, Ohio (245).
Rounding out the bottom 10: No. 295 Springfield, Ill. (279); Mansfield, Ohio (235); Albany/Schenectady/Troy, N.Y. (267); Waterbury, Conn. (114); and No. 291 Alexandria, La. (89).
The magazine compiles its ranking by polling readers to see what factors are most important to them, collecting data and using them to rate the 300 largest metropolitan areas.
LENGTH: Medium: 68 linesby CNB