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While number one would have been ideal, Attleboro took the slot of runner up in the Bloomberg/Businessweek.com list of Best Places to Raise Kids in
Massachusetts.
Attleboro is being recognized for its family-friendly community. The city didn't make the final cut in
Businessweek.com (http://www.businessweek.com) and Bloomberg (http://www.bloomberg.com)'s Best Places to
Raise Kids in Massachusetts, but it came close. While Marlborough was named the Best
Place in Massachusetts to Raise Kids, Attleboro was named runner up.
"Naturally we are proud to having been named runner up to the Best Place to Raise Kids list out of
351 communities in Massachusetts," said Mayor Kevin Dumas. "We believe that this honor
recognizes the hard work and achievements by the City as well as the wonderful quality of life features
the City offers. This is yet another indication that Attlebor is on the right track!"
The ranking of best places, now in its fifth year, uses data from sources including the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics
(http://www.bls.gov) (http://www.bls.gov), the IRS, (http://www.irs.gov)
(http://www.irs.gov) the FBI, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(http://www.noaa.gov) to evaluate 5,418 locations throughout the nation with populations larger than the state median, but no larger than
50,000.
Another detail that goes into the formula of deciding which community is best is by considering only locations where the median income is within 20 percent
of the state's median.
School performance and the number of schools, crime statistics and cost of living held the most weight in deciding which community was best. Other factors
included job growth, air quality, ethnic diversity and access to recreational amenities such as parks, zoos, theaters and museums.
Attleboro scored high in those factor since it is rich with recreational amenities including the Capron Park & Zoo,
(http://attleboro.patch.com/listings/capronpark-zoo) (http://attleboro.patch.com/listings/capron-park-zoo) and the Industrial (http://industrialmuseum.com) (http://industrialmuseum.com), Art
(http://attleboroartsmuseum.org) (http://attleboroartsmuseum.org) and Women at Work
(http://www.womenatworkmuseum.org) (http://www.womenatworkmuseum.org) museums.
"It is an honor that Attleboro was named as a runner-up," said Attleboro Schools Superintendent Pia Durkin. "No family can separate out the decision where
to raise their children from the status of that community's schools. Our city's success is critically intertwined with the success of our schools."
"The vision for Attleboro's Journey Toward Excellence hold the factors that we want families to consider in deciding to come to live, invest and remain in
Attleboro."
Durkin said those factors include a relentless pursuit of high performance at every level from administrators to custodians.
"Attleboro Public Schools (http://attleboro.patch.com/listings/city-of-attleboro-school-department) (http://attleboro.patch.com/listings/city-of-attleboroschool-
department) is on a mission to continually improve itself," she added. "Excellence is not a just a goal, but a journey – so, in that spirit, we hope that
next year, Attleboro will be named to be the Best Place to Raise Kids."
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