Hold everything! Us News & World Report just rated Iowa as the best state in the country to live in. There goes the moving to Michigan idea. Err, well not so fast.
Here is their criteria and ranking among the 50 states:
- Infrastructure: 1st…. yes, great roads and not much traffic
- Health care: 3rd… Absolutely
- Opportunity: 4th… umm, opportunity for what? Jobs… probably, always hard to recruit people to move to Iowa
- Education: 5th… Yes, good K thru 12 schools, and colleges/universities
- Quality of life: 9th… depends on your definition of quality and life
- Crime: 15th... Yes, huge amount of rural/small town areas keeping crime low on average
- Economy: 17th… yes, pigs, cows, corn, and a surprising amount of industry
- Fiscal stability: 21st… Yes, a bit above the average with high taxes and government not gone too wild
So, with those criteria, I can understand the ranking. My criteria are much different.
Further, you don’t live daily in a state, you live in neighborhoods, and surrounding areas. Life on the state average doesn’t happen. Iowa doesn’t have a Detroit pulling the averages down.
As I am sure you know by now, for daily living and quality of life (yes, even considering Michigan’s winters), Grand Haven is my #1.