Eden Prairie and 4 other 'burbs crowned "best small cities"

Photo: bubzillion

Lovely

Here's something that the Twin Cities suburbs of Eden Prairie, Plymouth, Woodbury, Eagan and Apple Valley all have in common besides cul-de-sacs: They all made Money magazine's Top 20 "best small cities" list for 2010.

Eden Prairie placed first in the country because of scores related to jobs, crime, housing prices and quality of life.

Sadly, none of the "small cities" broke into the "rich and single" Top 20. Oh well. You can't have everything.

Major employers include Fortune 500 trucking company C.H. Robinson, hearing-aid maker Starkey Labs, and the Minnesota Vikings, whose practice facility and front office are here. As for fiscal strength, Moody's gives the town a perfect AAA bond rating.

While it doesn't have much of a downtown, there's plenty of outer beauty: from gently rolling hills to 17 lakes that residents flock to year-round for swimming and ice skating. Town parks are laced with 125 miles of running, hiking, and biking trails.

The Top 20 (including population):

1 Eden Prairie, MN 64,000
2 Columbia/Ellicott City, MD 155,000
3 Newton, MA 82,000
4 Bellevue, WA 124,000
5 McKinney, TX 125,000
6 Fort Collins, CO 141,000
7 Overland Park, KS 175,000
8 Fishers, IN 69,000
9 Ames, IA 60,000
10 Rogers, AR 57,000
11 Plymouth, MN 76,000
12 Highlands Ranch, CO 98,000
13 Woodbury, MN 58,000
14 Carmel, IN 67,000
15 Eagan, MN 64,000
16 Allen, TX 84,000
17 Shawnee, KS 61,000
18 South Jordan, UT 51,000
19 Broomfield, CO 55,000
20 Apple Valley, MN 50,000

The full list is here.