Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Money Magazine Top 100 Places To Live Include 5 NJ Towns

Money Magazine's list of the top 100 places to live in the U.S. was announced yesterday and five NJ towns made the Top 100, Montville (17th), South Brunswick (No. 22), Ridgewood (No. 26), Madison (No. 33) and Hillsborough (No. 53), were all named in the top 100.

The overall top town to live in this year according to the editors of Money Magazine, Louisville, CO, population 18,400.

(2)Milton, MA, (3) Solon, OH,(4)Leesburg, VA, (5) Papillion, NE, (6) Hanover, NH (7) Liberty, MO 29,100 (8) Middleton, WI (9) Mukilteo, WA (10) Chanhassen, MN, round out the top 10.

Alas, Middletown will have to wait until next year to see if it qualifies for a return trip to the list next year. The town wasn't mentioned anywhere in this years survey nor is there an App in which you can compare Middletown to other communities that made the Top 100 list unlike Middletown, CT, Middletown, DE or Middletown, PA.


31 comments:

Anonymous said...

Maybe you should have read that these towns all had populations under 50,000. Middletown NJ would not qualify this year. Nice try though...

MiddletownMike said...

Yes I did read it and if you reread what I wrote you will see that I said Middletown did not qualify for this year's survey. I was fully aware that the survey this year was geared towards smaller towns.

But isn't strange that after being listed in the survey 3 out of the last 6 years, there is no app to compare Middletown NJ with other towns list in this years survey? There are hundreds to choose from.

Anonymous said...

I doubt any of the top 100 had their very own methadone clinic.

Disgusted and Unafilliated said...

Mike.

Thanks as always with getting the news out to this communitie's interested citizens.

I'd bet money, with the political climate and the attacks on our school system, this town would not have a crying chance in Hell to make any list,anywhere.

This town feels more like a lousy city everyday !

Anonymous said...

when you have a high school dropout as your BOE president, that tends to make the community look not so smart.

Anonymous said...

Well, Middletown is still a great place to live for heroin addicts, political hacks, teenage boozers and high school dropouts. Every cloud has a silver lining.

Anonymous said...

Hey Now.....This is a great Town. In fact in just year our TC managed to steal Library Money, allow beautiful open land in an desirous section in town to be zoned for low-income row-type housing. We fired all of the Parks & Recrecration staff (leaving 100's of childrens programs to fall by the weighside), and the best of all Opened our arms and welcomed a Meth Clinic. Imagine what we can do in 5 years. Money Magazine....here we come!!!

Anonymous said...

Hey Now.....This is a great Town. In fact in just year our TC managed to steal Library Money, allow beautiful open land in an desirous section in town to be zoned for low-income row-type housing. We fired all of the Parks & Recrecration staff (leaving 100's of childrens programs to fall by the weighside), and the best of all Opened our arms and welcomed a Meth Clinic. Imagine what we can do in 5 years. Money Magazine....here we come!!!

Anonymous said...

What a shocker! I moved her 5 years ago. I am appalled with the degeneration of the town. The weeds are growing around rt 35, there is litter in the tennis courts, and graffiti down by the junction and on various properties. TOMSA is a holding tank for past & present politicians (only they are fed with taxpayers $). There are groups of teens, boozers and drug addicts everywhere. The best is the Meth clinic!!! That is crazy, just how did that get approved? We can say goodbye to Money Magazine top places to live.

Anonymous said...

That's right Anonymous, what better way to have a flourishing town than get rid of the programs that kept 1,000's of children occupied with meaningful activities over the summer months! Yes, good idea.....Idle children. They have had a busy summer with the graffiti, getting busted at McMahon for alcohol & vandalizing the empty Pathmark store. Memories of summer months. How did Money pass up this gem?

Anonymous said...

Question for the first Anonymous: Do you really believe if our population was under 50,000Middletown would have made the cut? What is your point?

Anonymous said...

Fiore is very silent on quality of life in Middletown, which is the only issue he ran on in 2008. His most recent Patch blog focuses on state level unemployment and pension issues to avoid addressing Middletown quality of life issues. Money Magazine shows a declining trend --39% -- in the quality of life in Middletown.

The Appletree Farm neighborhood and the people living in Lincroft don't need a magazine survey to tell them that life in Middletown is on a downward slide.

Last year Lincroft had to fight off a Fiore, Scharfenberger, Brightbill and Massell attempt to sneak a sports complex into that part of Middletown.

Let's not forget the Bayshore where it has taken over a decade to start a project to protect homes from the physical dangers and costs of flooding. A project that Pat Short and Sean Byrnes got on the drawing board. Unfortunately, after Patrick left the Republican majority scaled the scope of the project way back, probably to use some of that money to improve fishing, boating and swiming on Shadow Lake. The choice was safety for one part of verus recreation for another part of town; the Republican majority chose recreation.

How taxes are spent is a big issue in Middletown; the bigger issue is how the tax dollars have been prioritized and managed by the Republican majority -- Fiore, Brightbill, Scharfenberger and Sentembrino.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 12:51 p.m..,

Collectively these four inept actors have absolutely nothing to offer the citizens of Middletown but SICK POLITICS and a constant DETERIORATION of the QUALITY OF LIFE in this community.

There is not a clue amongst any of them about how to administrate a town of some 68,000 residents but you can bet they know how to take care of the "PARTY" and themselves !

Anonymous said...

Whoaaa! Last comment on the blog, "Last year Lincroft had to fight off a Fiore, Scharfenberger, Brightbill and Massell attempt to sneak a sports complex into that part of Middletown". Can anyone tell me what is wrong with a sports complex in town? You mean Lincroft fought off those 'crazies' who wanted to keep our youth playing ball, staying fit & out of trouble? Yet we let the "meth clinic" slide right in? We've got serious problems. It was nice knowing you "Money Magazine"

Anonymous said...

Anony 8:26,

Hey stupid, the people in this township did not want the kind of money spent during these economic times on a "sports complex" where NO ONE WANTED IT. It was merely grandstanding by the inept actors masquerading as "representatives of people" . These actors are deficient in the ability to comprehend the financial straits a great deal of the residents find themselves in because of the nation's economy. The last thing we need is a sports complex....

Take care of the parks WE HAVE !!


IT"S THE ECONOMY, STUPID !!!

Anonymous said...

Nice name calling. Perhaps you are one of the children that couldn't play sports and hold hostility towards athletes and team players. The econonmy is this way because of misspending on tenure, benefits for life for all(cops,teachers,township workers ....etc) WHO ARE THE 'NO-ONES' THAT DIDN'T WANT THE SPORTS COMPLEX? Are you speaking for all? Toms River, Brick, Manalapan & Marlboro have sports complex's where Middletown has a bunch of small baseball fields that the hundreds of baseball teams & soccer teams fight over. You know those bad bad politicians that want fields for children.

Anonymous said...

So,Anonymous 10:20 a.m.,please tell us why your illustrious TC saw fit to disband the whole Parks and Recreation committee (except one useless Director who hasn't been seen out doing anything constructive of late either) ? DO TELL US HOW CONSTRUCTIVE that decision is for all the kids in this town.PLEASE DO TELL US !!

Disband the Sewage Authority and get rid of those former TC members who are forever at the public teet for health benefits and retirement credit ( elect them to the TC and be saddled with them for life with appointments to this Authority when their TC servive ends).

Get rid of the baggage of employees who gain employment because of nepotism or political connection ,not necessary to the ranks of employees working in this town.

The jig is up....welcome to the real world !



Build any "sports complex" ,when economic conditions warrant the expense, on LINCROFT ACRES where there are many acres available and where access is also available .

Of course one politically connected Majestic Avenue ,Scharfey cheerleader will certainly rant against that solution. Probably won't want the kids passing in their parents cars on the way to the football fields,baseball fields, soccer fields,etc.

Stop insulting the intelligence of those that live in this town. We know what's going on and it AIN'T for the benefits of the children in this community. IT'S for the POLITICIANS !

Anonymous said...

I wonder if Bamm Hollow would have been the best site for a sports complex?

There is a master recreation plan that cost well over $400,000 to complete. It needs to be dusted off and looked at. We have 44 square miles (says Scharfenberger) of township land, unhfortunately a lot of it is perserved opens space (paid for with Middletown tax dollars) that cannot be used for the kind of recreational activity the would take place at a centralized recreational complex that could be used by all ages.

One of the issues with the sports complex in Lincroft was the way it was mishandled by the Republican township committee -- their usual 'behind closed doors' approach to getting their business and not the peoples' business done.

Anonymous said...

Charger Field in River Plaza wanted the sports complex. Their engineer countered T&M saying there was sufficient space to accommodate it.

I understand a couple of politicians live in Shadow Lake Village and they are the reason it was not built there.

So once again our young athletes lose out.

Anonymous said...

If Middletown occupies about 40 (maybe 44) square miles in it's entirety,how can that be "township land' HUH ? or preserved land ? That's impossible because the residents own much of the property within the confines of Middletown's borders,except land that has been preserved under Green Acres and those lands dedicated to township parks.

LINCROFT ACRES is township park land,acres of it. USE IT !!!!!

It would be ideal for a sports complex with entrances that exist and possible entrances available when funds are available to utilize this acreage !!1

USE IT for what is designated to be used for and let the children of Middletown BENEFIT !

Anonymous said...

Middletown owns Lincroft Acres. It DOES NOT OWN the Bamn Hollow Country Club..........Four Ponds LLC does....

Middletown cannot afford the Bamn Hollow Country Club acres.....and therein lies a HUGE DIFFERENCE that no recreation master plan can change.

NONE !!!!

Anonymous said...

How about putting a sports complex on the Coe property that cost over $2,000,000, which the township contribute at least $900,000 to?

Anonymous said...

Anon 8:26 PM,
You don't need to spend millions of tax dollars on a sports complex to keep children fit and occupied. There are plenty of parks and recreational opportunities in Middletown without spending more taxes on children.

The sports complex should be seen as an opportunity for all Middletown residents, not just children.

I think the emphasis was on the word "sneak" -- the Republican township committee's behind closed doors usual way of operating -- in the comment you were responding to.

Anonymous said...

Anon 5:34 PM,
OK, Middletown only owns the portion of Bamm Hollow that was given to the township as part of the deal that only has high end homes being built on Bamm Hollow land. Read Brian Nelson's letter/press release where he spells it out.

The recreation master plan identified multiple sites for a sports complex. How about approaching the Azzolina family to see if the old Town Center land could be made available for a sports complex?

Anonymous said...

Anony 2:43 p.m.....

When are you going to get it....Middletown already owns ENOUGH land for a sports complex and IT CANNOT AFFORD TO PURCHASE MORE LAND for any sports facility.It should start to take care of what we do have !

There are more pressing needs for money in this township,e.g. the flooding in the Bayshore....

Get real....there's plenty of acres in Lincroft Acres for any sports complex this town will ever need and the land is already OWNED by the township.About time the people in the area that borders Lincroft Acres became team players in that part of the township instead of thinking they have a "private enclave" because they do not!

Anonymous said...

Someone please tell us why the Azzolina family should ever give Middletown anything after the way Middletown has treated the Azzolina family ?????

Got to be delusional to even think it!

Anonymous said...

OK, got to weigh in here. Who's the geek that really dosen't want a sports complex? He is really really dead against it and claims he speaks for ALL. There are NOT plenty of "parks and recreational opportunities in Middletown without spending more taxes on children"....MOST of the Township programs were canceled this summer. The MIDDLETOWN MATTERS newsletter used to advertise these programs...they are gone. Perhaps anon 2:43 before you speak for "ALL" you should get your facts straight.

Anonymous said...

If Abe Lincoln was here in Middletown ...the Middletown government is of the politicians, by the politicians and for the politicians until they perish from the earth. For anyone who wants to point their silly finger at any Republican or Democrat for the demise of this once "Top Place to live" go ahead. They are all in it for their personal greed. BOTH parties are wrong & selfish. Neither side will right this ship. Stop taking sides and fighting each other all.

Anonymous said...

It's impossible for anonymous 2:43,aka Legion and many others aliases ... to speak for all of anything......not many agree with this poster but she,he or it never gives up trying to stuff he,she or it's opinion down the throats of the rest of us !!

This geek has only self interest in mind !!

Anonymous said...

What democrats have ruined Middletown anon 6:11?

Disgusted and Unafilliated said...

The only party that has been capable of ruining anything ....is the majority party...the Middletown Republicans, who have been the majority for OVER thirty (30) years !

That is the FACT of the matter!! The plain BARE FACED FACT !!!