California Business Minute™

Hi, I am Tim Johnson and welcome to the California Business Minute

Business Week released their annual ‘Best Places to Raise Kids list for 2010. 
Business Week again teamed up with OnBoard Informatics, a New York-based provider
of real estate analysis, to select one town and two runners-up for each of the
50 states. The selections were limited to towns that have at least 45,000 residents
and a median income of between $40,000 and $125,000. Vermont was given a pass on
the population restrictions because none of its cities would otherwise have made
the cut.

Arcadia, located about 20 miles northeast from Los Angeles, is the state's best
place to raise kids for the second consecutive year because of its low crime and
excellent schools. The population of Arcadia includes a number of peacocks that
hang out in the neighborhood near the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanical
Garden.  Monterey Park and Diamond Bar were runners up. So apparently, living
east of Los Angeles,  between the Inland Empire is a good location.

The methodology used includes statistics on total crime risk," an index of the
combined risks of rape, murder, assault, robbery, burglary, larceny, and vehicle
theft. Crime scores were based on demographic and geographic analyses of crime
over seven years. School performance was based on state reading and math test
scores and came from Great Schools. Zoo data came from the Association of Zoos
& Aquariums and museum, theater, park, and recreation information came from
InfoUSA. Air quality information came from the Environmental Protection Agency,
household expenditures and diversity data were collected from the U.S. Census
Bureau, and job growth data came from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

I am Tim Johnson and this has been the California Business Minute.