The 100 Best Places to Raise a Family

[mohawkbaseball#1]

1. Honolulu, Hawaii
2 Virginia Beach, Virginia
3 Billings, Montana
4 Columbus, Georgia
5 San Diego, California
6 Des Moines, Iowa
7 Minneapolis, Minnesota
8 Madison, Wisconsin
9 Colorado Springs, Colorado
10 Santa Rosa, California.......................................

http://www.webmd.com/parenting/features ... ise-family

[orange-n-brown 365]

the trailer park wasn't in the top ten?

I think I will be moving to the number one spot if I can figure out how to drive there

wow Ohio is low on the list

47 Akron, Ohio
90 Cincinnati, Ohio

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

I NOMINATE THE GREATER IRONTON/KITTS HILL AREA.

[LICKING COUNTY FAN]

Give me a small town bigger places stink.

[Mouth's Better Half]

I would like the Virginia Beach, VA area. I also wouldn't mind the Wisconsin or Minneapolis area but my better half would hate the cold. He hates the cold but can't stand the sand at the beach. What am I gonna do?

[Boo-Duh]

I just got back from Va Beach a few weeks ago. I love the area...The traffic to and from the beach is murder..4 1/2 mile backup from the Hampton Roads tunnel...Just crazy..64 from Richmond to Newport News is 80-85 mph bumper to bumper..those people are freaking nuts!!! Give me the orange barrels on 52 any day!!! LOL!!!

[Mouth's Better Half]

Boo-Duh --- You reminded me of another reason my betterhalf wouldn't move there --- traffic! He did seem to enjoy vacation at the beach this year when he saw the "big screen t.v. and the lazy-boy" in the beach house he had no complaints.

[bulldog21]

Over my dead body would I ever stay in a dump like Cincinnati, Ohio. Haha.

[henrysteele]

The entire Tidewater area is so pretty. However, I would say that Virginia Beach is one of the Most Dangerous Cities in America. I lived in that area for two years and would NOT recommend Virginia Beach as the best place to rear a family.

Folks, it's not Myrtle Beach with population of 30,000. The Tidewater area is roughly the size of Columbus, OH. It's an urban area with urban crime. I recall watching the Tidewater evening news doing the year-to-date murder totals and seeing whether DC was still leading in "most killed".

However, it is a great place to visit. There is plenty to do in that area besides the beach. Norfolk offers some cool stuff. I loved the MacArthur Memorial.

http://www.macarthurmemorial.org/

The Chrysler Art Museum in downtown Norfolk is one of the finest art museums on the East coast. It's Tiffany glass collection was very special when I was there.

http://www.chrysler.org/

You can also see the cannon ball that St. Paul's in downtown Norfolk. What a war relic! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:1434 ... bcd58c.jpg


The U.S. Navy in Norfolk and the naval air station at Oceana (Virginia Beach) offered tours before 911. I am not sure what they do now, but it is well worth doing if still available. Simply give the base a call and ask.

http://www.norfolkvisitor.com/norfolknavy/

The Tides play high-level AAA baseball. Harbor Park is a great baseball park too. http://www.norfolktides.com/

Virginia Beach has a nice aqaurium. http://www.vmsm.com/

Over in Hampton, you should see Ft. Monroe. Jefferson Davis sure saw enough of it. http://www.hampton.va.us/fort_monroe/index.html

The Nauticus is a cool place ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Wisconsin_museum.JPG

I don't think any tour of that area is complete without driving around a little in Norfolk's historic neighborhoods (daytime ONLY!!!). Ghent is popular (but over-rated in my opinion. Personally, I like other areas of Norfolk better.

Also check out Sandbridge. It's a very unusual beach that most tourists miss.

http://www.sandbridgebeachva.com/