Shhhh! . . . Charleston, West Virginia Is A Good Place To Live

Congratulation to Charleston, West Virginia for its ranking in Kiplinger's Best Citites for Every Stage of Your Life cover story. The ranking includes the top 25 places to launch a career, raise a family, retire in style, and more.

Charleston was ranked under the Best Cities for Empty-Nesters. Although my nest is still full its still a great place to live. Here is what Kiplinger had to say about Charleston in its online content (you can view this via the slide show feature linked in the article):

CHARLESTON, W.V.
BEST CITY FOR EMPTY-NESTERS

Population: 301,716
Cost-of-Living Index: 93 (100 being national average)
Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 27.9%
Bohemian Indicator: 69
Creative-Class Salary Growth (2000-2005): 9.8%

Charleston has an interesting combination of a low cost of living with a relatively strong creative class. The city is surprisingly cosmopolitan, with fine restaurants, art galleries, specialty shops and cafés along its tree-lined downtown streets.

For those looking into Charleston don't miss local photo bloggers, ImageSmith (Tom Hindman) and Rick Lee, for some super shots of Charleston and West Virginia. Check out just one of the fantastic photos of downtown Charleston and the Kanawha River. The photos from the two local photo bloggers sure beat the photo Kiplinger used in its online content from the Charleston Visitors Bureau.

UPDATE: Skip Lineberg does a follow up post, Living In Charleston Rates High With Kiplinger, at his Marketing Genius from Maple Creative blog.