50 best places to live?
My town didn't make it
By Gregg PattersonI'm not living in one of the 50 best places to live.
Hell, for that matter, I'm not living in one of the top 100 best places to live, this according to three magazines recently devoting an issue each to listing the best places to live in the U.S.
The August issue of Outside magazine featured what it called "The 20 Best Towns in America: Make the Move, Live the Dream." The cover photo featured a jogger running on a grassy knoll overlooking Oakland, Calif.
Hmm? Oakland, Calif. has never seemed like a "Make the Move, Live the Dream" sort of town to me.
(Maybe it has changed for the better since I was last there several years ago. I hope so.)
The September issue of National Geographic's ADVENTURE tells me "Where to Live & Play NOW! THE 50 NEXT GREAT TOWNS." Its cover features an energetic-looking couple in Carbondale, Colo., replete with snow-covered Rocky Mountains in the background. While I've never been to Carbondale, I have been to many other Colorado towns that were great outdoor places for fishing, hunting and camping.
I think the other magazine might have been Money, but I can't find it right now, and I always get depressed when I read it.
Like I said, my town didn't make it — and that's somewhat strange, when big cities like Oakland, San Francisco, New Orleans, Boston and San Antonio made the cut. And they aren't really what I'd call outdoors-oriented towns.
I mean, a one-hour drive in any direction outside my town and there are plenty of cool outdoor things to do. An hour's drive from any of the cities listed above, you're still stuck in big-city traffic. Go figure.
My town has a presidential library and a national park and several national wildlife refuges nearby, an outstanding state park and some of the best big-river bass and catfish fishing right down the hill from my house, within the city limits.
The city's water supply lake offers great sailing and fishing, two national hiking trails are nearby and the city and its neighbor across the river provide excellent biking and jogging trails.
Its riverfront amphitheater is great for concerts (Bob Dylan played last night), and some of the world's best duck hunting and trout fishing are within an hour's drive. (You can really get out of the city.)
Add to that two national forests, totaling more that 2.5 million acres of public deer hunting woods, wilderness areas, great caving, rock climbing and filled with streams to paddle.
Should you prefer a more pedestrian outdoors experience, there's an AA minor league baseball team in a beautiful new ballpark and major college football.
And the average median price for a home is actually affordable.
I'm probably forgetting a few other benefits of living here, but maybe the national magazines will get around to visiting my town sometime.
But in the meantime, if you want to set up a base camp for outdoors fun, break out a topo map and look up 34°44'N 92°19'W.
(Google Maps also works if you're in a hurry.)
That's where I'll be enjoying it all.
