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08/12/2008
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Staff photo by Jim Evans
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Staff photo by Joe PhelanBY KEITH EDWARDS
Staff Writer
In your face, Hilton Head Island-Beaufort, S.C.
The 18th best place to live in the country?
The Augusta-Waterville area has you -- and all but 16 out of 140 "micropolitan" areas across the country -- beat.
In a recent story published online and in various business newspapers throughout the nation, Bizjournals, which calls itself the nation's largest publisher of metropolitan business newspapers, ranked the combined Augusta-Waterville area as the 17th-best place to live in the country, out of 140 micropolitan areas.
"The study's objective was to identify the nation's most attractive micropolitan areas," said G. Scott Thomas, author of the report for Bizjournals, the online media division of American City Business Journals Inc., which publishes 41 weekly business papers around the country.
"It gave the best marks to well-rounded communities with light traffic, healthy economies, moderate costs of living, impressive housing stocks, strong educational systems and easy access to big-city attractions," he said.
Thomas cited the strengths of the Augusta-Waterville area -- the only Maine area making the rankings -- as: a low unemployment rate; strong concentration of management and professional jobs; low poverty rate; fairly high income levels; a decent stock of large houses; and, strong educational systems.
"The Bizjournals ranking confirms what many of us have felt intuitively already, that this is a terrific area in which to work, live, and raise a family," Augusta Mayor Roger Katz said. "The study gives us something tangible to use as a marketing tool, and we'll be working on ways to do just that.
"The ranking also reminds us that we need to think of ourselves not just as a city but as a region," Katz said. "Augusta's fortunes are tied to Waterville's. And vice versa."
"We may not be the most affluent community in the country, but this is an area with low crime, good schools, expanding higher education opportunities and a growing cultural life," Katz said.
In the report and story, titled "America's Dreamtowns that offer refuge from big cities and congested suburbs," Bizjournals compared 140 micropolitan areas in 20 statistical categories, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
A micropolitan areas consists of a central community with 10,000 to 50,000 residents, along with the surrounding countryside.
The study was inspired, Thomas said, by the heavy public interest in small-town life. Its aim was to identify communities that would be most attractive to people considering a move from the city to a micropolitan area in search of a better quality of life.
The Augusta-Waterville area is the only combined micropolitan area in Maine.
It obtained micropolitan status, as designated by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, in 2003, an effort led by the local chambers of commerce.
The Kennebec Valley and Mid-Maine Chambers of Commerce began moving toward the micropolitan concept several years ago when they initiated the "People of the Kennebec" project, aimed at defining the Augusta-Waterville area as a single region.
The "Augusta-Waterville micropolitan area" contains Augusta, Waterville, and 29 satellite communities.
A micropolitan designation encourages data collection by the federal government and other organizations. Businesses use such data as retail sales figures and labor market numbers when making expansion decisions. The data is also used by government agencies, advertisers, families on the move and even tourists.
"I'm pleased we were able to develop a relationship a few years ago that helped Augusta and Waterville become identified as a micropolitan," said Peter Thompson, president of the Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Waterville Mayor Paul R. LePage acknowledged, for people who've lived in central Maine for a long time, thinking of Augusta-Waterville as a single region is a relatively new concept.
But thinking regionally, he said, is good for both communities.
"They're 20 miles apart," LePage said of Augusta and Waterville. "What we have, we share, and what they have, they share. Augusta, in recent years, has become a great mecca for shopping. Waterville is a great area, with three colleges, a strong medical system. ... Throughout the region, school systems are very strong, crime is low. It's relatively small, so you get to know a lot of people. In this day and age, that's a nice thing to have."
Katz said that he and LePage, coincidentally, are to discuss ways to improve ties between the two communities.
The highest-ranked micropolitan in the report was Torrington, Conn., followed by Bozeman, Mont., and Lexington Park, Md.
Statistics used in the rankings included:
• average commuting time
• median household income
• percentage of management and professional jobs
• homeownership rate
• percentage of adults with bachelor's degrees
• air mileage to closest major city
• population growth since 2000
• poverty rate
• median home value.
"I obviously feel this region is a fine place to live and raise a family," said Kimberly Lindlof, president of the Waterville-based Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce. "We're glad to see this organization agrees. There is a sense of community, an intimacy, around here you can't find in big urban centers. People care about each other.
"This is just one more indicator about something we already know. This is a great place and we need to be talking it up."
Keith Edwards -- 621-5647
kedwards@centralmaine.com
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