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Shoreview: One of the most family friendly cities in U.S.
Town selected as one of 10 best by Family Circle Magazine in its August issue
by Stephen Harding
Staff Writer
SHOREVIEW — People have been saying it for years: Shoreview is a great place to live and raise a family.
Now a nationally distributed magazine has validated those sentiments.
In the August issue of Family Circle Magazine, Shoreview was named one of the 10 best towns for families to live in.
The city never applied for the honor. Family Circle chose the cities with the help of OnBoard, a New York City research firm that provides real estate and demographic data. The magazine assembled a list of 1,850 places with populations of between 15,000 and 150,000 and average incomes of around $65,000.
From that, 800 localities were selected based on their family-friendliness, using criteria including cost of living, number and type of jobs and quality of schools. The magazine also looked for "green" communities with good environmental policies and a high percentage of residents who recycle.
It assessed which towns best met those standards and ranked them according to state, then chose the winners from the highest-rated towns in the top 10 states nationwide.
Shoreview was picked thanks in part to its 1,400 acres of wetlands, its 11 lakes, its community center, its indoor water park and its affordable housing (the median house price was cited as $250,569; the city places the number at $262,000.) Low crime rates and high test scores in the Mounds View School district also help Shoreview make the grade.
Family Circle was also impressed by the Shoreview Green Community annual awards it gives to residents who use the best water-friendly management practices in their yards.
Shoreview City Manager Tery Schwerm said this is the first award that he is aware of in the area.
"While we have received some recognitions for certain projects and initiatives, being one of the top ten cities to raise a family which speaks to our livability is a first," he said.
Schwerm said the article correctly portrays Shore-view, but it only covers a limited number of things about the community.
"It does not talk about our 50 plus miles of trails/sidewalks, events like the Farmers Market, Concert Series or Slice of Shoreview, or all of the facilities that are available at the Community Center," Schrewm said.
Schwerm also said the numbers the article gives are a bit a low. The article said about 51 percent of resident recycle. Schwerm puts that number closer to 90 percent since Shoreview has moved to single sort collection.
Schwerm believes the award is a testament to the strong political leadership throughout Shoreview's 50 years and its vision for the type of community that they wanted to live in.
"It is through our leaders' vision and commitment that cities develop their identity."
The selection of Shoreview should be a great source of pride to all who have played a role in the city's development over the past 50 years, Shoreview Mayor Sandy Martin said.
"It really validates what we have always heard from our residents through the community survey and individual communication," she said.
She said Shoreview was likely selected because of the way its elected officials and city staff work together. The elected officials set the course and establish the vision and the staff carry out that vision, she said.
"We have both those elements in Shoreview, and we recognize that neither group can be successful without the other," she said. "It is teamwork at its best and is largely responsible for our success."
However, the brevity of the article — it only mentions a couple of brief paragraphs about Shoreview — also disappointed Martin. She said a great deal of research was involved and many factors considered in the magazine's decision.
"In my opinion, they could have written several pages about Shoreview," she said.
Stephen Harding can be reached at 651-407-1229 or shoreviewnews@presspubs.com.
Now a nationally distributed magazine has validated those sentiments.
In the August issue of Family Circle Magazine, Shoreview was named one of the 10 best towns for families to live in.
The city never applied for the honor. Family Circle chose the cities with the help of OnBoard, a New York City research firm that provides real estate and demographic data. The magazine assembled a list of 1,850 places with populations of between 15,000 and 150,000 and average incomes of around $65,000.
From that, 800 localities were selected based on their family-friendliness, using criteria including cost of living, number and type of jobs and quality of schools. The magazine also looked for "green" communities with good environmental policies and a high percentage of residents who recycle.
It assessed which towns best met those standards and ranked them according to state, then chose the winners from the highest-rated towns in the top 10 states nationwide.
Shoreview was picked thanks in part to its 1,400 acres of wetlands, its 11 lakes, its community center, its indoor water park and its affordable housing (the median house price was cited as $250,569; the city places the number at $262,000.) Low crime rates and high test scores in the Mounds View School district also help Shoreview make the grade.
Family Circle was also impressed by the Shoreview Green Community annual awards it gives to residents who use the best water-friendly management practices in their yards.
Shoreview City Manager Tery Schwerm said this is the first award that he is aware of in the area.
"While we have received some recognitions for certain projects and initiatives, being one of the top ten cities to raise a family which speaks to our livability is a first," he said.
Schwerm said the article correctly portrays Shore-view, but it only covers a limited number of things about the community.
"It does not talk about our 50 plus miles of trails/sidewalks, events like the Farmers Market, Concert Series or Slice of Shoreview, or all of the facilities that are available at the Community Center," Schrewm said.
Schwerm also said the numbers the article gives are a bit a low. The article said about 51 percent of resident recycle. Schwerm puts that number closer to 90 percent since Shoreview has moved to single sort collection.
Schwerm believes the award is a testament to the strong political leadership throughout Shoreview's 50 years and its vision for the type of community that they wanted to live in.
"It is through our leaders' vision and commitment that cities develop their identity."
The selection of Shoreview should be a great source of pride to all who have played a role in the city's development over the past 50 years, Shoreview Mayor Sandy Martin said.
"It really validates what we have always heard from our residents through the community survey and individual communication," she said.
She said Shoreview was likely selected because of the way its elected officials and city staff work together. The elected officials set the course and establish the vision and the staff carry out that vision, she said.
"We have both those elements in Shoreview, and we recognize that neither group can be successful without the other," she said. "It is teamwork at its best and is largely responsible for our success."
However, the brevity of the article — it only mentions a couple of brief paragraphs about Shoreview — also disappointed Martin. She said a great deal of research was involved and many factors considered in the magazine's decision.
"In my opinion, they could have written several pages about Shoreview," she said.
Stephen Harding can be reached at 651-407-1229 or shoreviewnews@presspubs.com.
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