New “Best Places to Live” Reference – Who’s on Top?

Bert Sperling is the man behind those “Best Places to Live” lists you see in “Money” Magazine. His newest book came out this week, and the results will be viewed with interest by active adults looking for the “best” retirement communities.

Sperling uses sophisticated tools and databases to come up with his lists. Cost of housing is very important, so recent price run-ups in some parts of the country doomed many communities’ chances of a high ranking. Crime rates, health care availability, taxes,weather, and amenities like being a college town also significantly impact the rankings.

His latest book, “Cities Ranked & Rated: More Than 400 Metropolitan Areas Evaluated in the U.S. and Canada”, has lists of best places for a variety of different groups. The 2 lists of interest to Topretirements’ visitors are shown below, as published in the “New York Times” (communities for which Topretirements.com has reviews for are listed in bold – see “Retirement community reviews“):

Best Places for Empty Nesters (in order)

Best Places for Retirees (in order)