Money recently released their 2009 list of America's best small towns(which, living in a small town, I was curious about). Their Top 100 List includes towns in 32 US states. I've long felt that the Midwest is an excellent place to live in terms of quality of life and cost-of-living, and likewise I've always preferred living in the suburbs over urban life. I've done both, but I much prefer the privacy and convenience of the low-traffic, free parking, actually having a yard lifestyle found outside of concrete jungles.

In any event, in looking at their list, I noticed that Ohio, while not in their Top 10 Towns, did do well as a state. Ohio tied with Texas for the most cities in the Top 50 list of America's best small towns, with 6 each. Several of the listed towns (Twinsburg, Solon, Medina) are within 30 minutes of our Hudson office building, and honestly many of the communities in this area are very similar those listed.

Especially in light of the current economy, areas that have a lower cost of living, more reasonable real estate prices, etc. are a much safer bet than those where the real estate boom/bust hit hardest. While the unemployment rate in some parts of Ohio is quite dismal, the overall real estate prices didn't take too much of a dip, and people are still able to buy and sell (and build) homes here.

For software developers, we have a great community here. We have conferences like CodeMash, smaller events like the Central Ohio Day of .NET, and loads of user groups like the Hudson Software Craftsmanship group that is starting up next month. Check out sites like ClevelandTechEvents.com for more info on area tech groups and meetings.