Outside Magazine compiles their top 25 U.S. towns for outdoor adventure. Considered alongside the availability of great kayaking and biking were stats like percentage of college graduates and cost of living.
In the end, Outside's staff boiled the decision down to two questions:
"Would we be excited to move there? And can you walk-not drive-from your home and, a few minutes later, engage in the sport you love most?"
Best in the West, according to Outside? Boise, Idaho, chosen for its 2,000 acres of parks and 25-mile greenbelt. "There's also a healthy triathlon community and a robust road-biking scene."
Interestingly, the commenters all agree- no one has a bad word to say about Boise -- unlike runner-up Grand Marais Minnesota/Michigan, which one commenter says has "Mosquitoes the size of pigeons and black flies big as turkeys for months" and "bad beer."
FULL STORY: Best Towns 2010

Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage
Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees
More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

Seattle Voters Approve Social Housing Referendum
Voters approved a corporate tax to fund the city’s housing authority despite an opposition campaign funded by Amazon and Microsoft.

The Five Most-Changed American Cities
A ranking of population change, home values, and jobs highlights the nation’s most dynamic and most stagnant regions.

USDOT Repeals Emissions Monitoring Rule
A Biden-era regulation required states to report and plan to reduce transportation-related emissions.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Ada County Highway District
Clanton & Associates, Inc.
Jessamine County Fiscal Court
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service