Real Estate & Construction  June 6, 2016

Louisville named one of 10 best small U.S. towns

LOUISVILLE — The Boulder County town of Louisville has been named one of the 10 best small towns in the United States for 2016 by Livability.com.

“These towns offer a certain charm coupled with amenities you’d expect to find in larger cities,” according to a Livability.com release announcing the recognition on Monday.

Louisville ranked seventh on the list. Traverse City, Mich., was atop the list, followed by Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.; Sebastopol, Calif.; Lebanon, N.H.; Los Alamos, N.M.; Amherst Center, Mass.; Louisville; Ellensburg, Wash.; Canyon, Texas; and Sitka, Alaska.

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To select these towns, Livability editors analyzed more than 20 data points on thousands of communities. Factors included indicators of health, affordability, diversity and safety, as well as the amount of entertainment and civic engagement. Places that are growing and thriving also stood out. Once the numbers were crunched, Livability’s editors combed through the short list, to find cities, towns and hamlets with a range of sizes and geographic diversity.

“These aren’t places that are big enough to make anyone else’s lists,” said Matt Carmichael, Livability’s editor and chief trend analyst, “but they’re great places to live and they deserve our praise.”

Louisville is no stranger to national recognition, however. The city placed fifth on Money magazine’s list of the 100 best places to live in the United States in 2005, third in 2007, first in 2009 and 2011, and second in 2013. Family Circle magazine in 2012 studied 3,335 municipalities with populations ranging from 11,000 to 150,000 and ranked Louisville among the top 10.

According to the Livability analysis, “Louisville is home to good schools, small-town charm and an abundance of outdoor recreation options. Neighborhoods in Louisville feature wide, winding streets and most are an easy walk to a park or open space, while the town’s infrastructure makes it easy to walk or bike to your destination. Louisville’s Main Street is lined with historic architecture, a variety of small businesses and shops, and locally owned restaurants.”

Livability for 28 years has developed city rankings for a range of topics, including small towns, college towns and an annual Top 100 Best Places to Live list. The company is owned and operated by Franklin, Tenn.-based Journal Communications, which publishes more than 100 custom magazines for chambers of commerce, economic development agencies and corporations. The website’s corporate sponsor is Unigroup Inc., the parent company of United Van Lines and Mayflower Transit.

Dallas Heltzell
With BizWest since 2012 and in Colorado since 1979, Dallas worked at the Longmont Times-Call, Colorado Springs Gazette, Denver Post and Public News Service. A Missouri native and Mizzou School of Journalism grad, Dallas started as a sports writer and outdoor columnist at the St. Charles (Mo.) Banner-News, then went to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch before fleeing the heat and humidity for the Rockies. He especially loves covering our mountain communities.
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