CNN ranks Claremont Top 5 Place to Live in United States
Really? Number 5? Have you been to Claremont? Sure, I had a decent time attending school and subsequently living and working there but I would never---NEVER---choose to live in Claremont again. The air quality and proximity to the glorious hell that is Los Angeles are deal breakers. Regarding the 'Pro' claim of "tight-knit community with topnotch schools," I agree that the schools are fantastic but the first assertion is a bit strong. Claremont is an affluent and insular city mostly neighbored by poorer communities, and having little tolerance for economic diversity within its borders. Furthermore, the elderly, familial, and collegiate segments of the population are hardly on chummy terms.
Looking over the rest of the list, I'm not sure if I'm uninformed or just have much different selection criteria than CNN, or if they're crazy. Any city at all in Utah is one too many. Where would I say is the best place to live? I mean, I like Seattle. And where is Ashland, Oregon on that list? Ashland cannot be much more expensive than Claremont. They did pick a few nice spots in Massachusetts.
Oh, and one more thing, Claremont as Tree City USA for 19 straight years? It's the effing desert! Stop wasting our water supply on a meaningless award! Well, fine, Claremont is actually chaparral, not desert, but water usage is Los Angeles County is far from responsible. In other words, lawn does not grow in chaparral.
From laura
Commented July 24th, 2007 2:41 pm
The funny thing is that the town next to mine (as in I could hit it with a rock) ranked above Claremont. It is lucky enough to have none of the LA air or traffic issues, but the only discernible advantage over my town is that they don't allow Wal-Mart or big name fast food. Of course, for some people it's worth an extra hundred thousand dollars to price out the working class, but that just means you have to drive to my town for good Mexican food. And, yes, it's yet another Tree City USA. Completely ridiculous - there's hardly a tree above four years old. They also have a math and science magnet elementary school. Why do you need a magnet elementary school?
From Shy
Commented July 24th, 2007 2:47 pm
Dude, I know, that is so goddamn insane. The fact that there is even a lick of grass there pisses me off. I mean of course I love playing on grass, but playing on good turf aint bad either. If there has to be grass there shouldn't be any for beauty purposes I'll say that much...
From laura
Commented July 24th, 2007 3:44 pm
Ha ha, apparently they picked straight from the Tree City USA list. Lake Oswego, Matt's hometown, is number 32, but it actually deserves the title: you can hardly stop trees from growing there. More useful if it had been on the list back before everyone else decided they wanted to live there, too.
Anyways, this list just convinces me that I share none of their criteria for where to live.
From claire
Commented July 28th, 2007 1:06 pm
drew, i was as shocked and well, appalled by the CNN rankings as well. just another example of the absurdness of mainstream media.