Keene, New Hampshire

Population: 22,563
Located in Cheshire County

Parenting Magazine's Tenth Anniversary May 1997 issue highlighted an article entitled "10 Great Places to Raise a Family", by William Green. The City of Keene, New Hampshire was chosen as one of those ten. Cities were chosen because parents felt they could create "a healthy lifestyle for their kids." Quoting from the article:

"This town of about 22,000 offered a "less stressful lifestyle...But the real bonus...is living in a smaller community where you can make more intimate connections to people...Keene is the type of place where people come together to do things for the community."

Keene is also profiled in a book called The New Rating Guide to Life in America's Small Cities by Kevin Heubusch (Prometheus Books, 1997) That book rated small cities on many different criteria, including climate, diversions, economics, education, health care, housing, safety, and transportation. Keene was given a national rank of 57, out of 193 cities. Keene's strong points were listed as: "Crime rates are low in Keene and juvenile crime is not a problem. The arts, shopping, and sports of Boston are within a two-hour drive." Its highest ratings are for urban proximity, public safety, climate/environment, and community assets. Keene also tied with Cortland, N.Y. as tenth best small city in the East!

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