CNN recently announced its picks for the top 100 places to live in the United States, with Carmel, Indiana taking the top spot. Ann Arbor, Michigan rounded out the top 100 in the yearly piece done by the international news organization.

The specific criteria used by CNN to make these judgements are based upon the size of the city, the economic standing of the city, and a number of different factors. Once the list had been pared down to the “top 29,” CNN dispatched delegates to the cities in an attempt to gauge specific factors that couldn’t be quantified by statistics alone. Things like community spirit and traffic were gauged at this point. In the end, the tie-breaker qualification used to distinguish between equally-matched cities was the extent of job growth or losses in the area. In these tough economic times, job availability is at the top of many people’s considerations when considering a move. Read the rest of this entry »