snoreview no more!

well, here's some news that will definitely bring me cred among urban colleagues and big city buddies on the nation's crinkly edges. those hipsters at family circle just ranked my hometown among the top ten towns for families. dang. you know you've got it made when your town makes the circle.

shoreview joins such tony burgs as south burlington, oro valley, brunswick, wheeling, rocklin, webster groves, broken arrow, royal palm beach, and, of course, ankeny ("this river don't go to ankeny, boys"), iowa. geez, i hope angelina and brad don't read the circle. the farmer's market and running trails will soon be overrun with paparazzi.

my sense is that the top ten towns may have been the only communities yet to be identified on one of those money magazine "best places to --" lists. here's the methodology, according to the unbiased observers at the shoreview press.

Family Circle chose the cities with the help of OnBoard, a New York City research firm that provides real estate and demographic data. The magazine assembled a list of 1,850 places with populations of between 15,000 and 150,000 and average incomes of around $65,000.From that, 800 localities were selected based on their family-friendliness, using criteria including cost of living, number and type of jobs and quality of schools. The magazine also looked for "green" communities with good environmental policies and a high percentage of residents who recycle.

hmm. the honor doesn't seem quite so prestigious now that i know the selection criteria. still, shoreview has been a wonderful place for my family. like me, the circle was most impressed with the water:

Shoreview is a family-friendly town where housing is affordable, crime is low, and student test scores are way above average. But what residents rave about is the water -- 1,400 acres of wetlands, 11 lakes, and a community center with an indoor water park (hottest attraction: the Shark Attack waterslide). Families who live on the shorefront, like the Maseks, landscape with eco-friendly coconut fiber logs, switch grass, and flowers to prevent erosion.

hey, i rave about the water too -- especially when its not frozen.