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There's always that moment in Western movies where the sheriff, or the school marm, tells the assembled pioneers: "And we want to make a decent place to raise a family."
Well, it's not Tombstone or Deadwood, but it turns out Attleboro is just the place they were looking for.
The city is the second best community of its size and income level in Massachusetts in which to raise kids, and is in the top 2 percent nationwide, according to the national publication Bloomberg Businessweek.
What? Post-industrial Attleboro with its struggling downtown, vacant factories and unfortunate and lingering nickname of "Paddleboro?"
Yes, that Attleboro. And while the magazine's fifth annual analysis of top child-rearing communities puts Marlboro as the state's top community in which to bring up children, Attleboro comes in as a solid runner-up.
Since this is a national survey that picks two cities in every state for the distinction, that puts Attleboro in the top 100 communities or in the top 2 percent of communities its size and income level nationwide, among more than 5,400 considered.
Marlboro's a lovely community, of course, located just west of Boston and a little smaller than Attleboro, bounded by other leafy suburbs like Hudson and Sudbury. It's no surprise that it would place high in the standings. But second place didn't go to any of the other bedroom communities around Boston.
And for good reason. The publication based its analysis on the number of schools, school performance, cost of living and crime statistics, as well as cultural and recreational opportunities. Other factors included "job growth, air quality, ethnic diversity and access to parks, zoos, theaters and other recreational facilities."
Attleboro measures up. The city's nine public schools have made gains in state and standardized tests over the past year. There are also highly-touted private institutions like Bishop Feehan High School and St. John the Evangelist School.
Activities for children include Capron Park Zoo and the city also has art and industrial museums. This doesn't mean that Attleboro has solved all its problems, but, as Mayor Kevin Dumas said, "We believe that this honor recognizes the hard work and achievements by the city, as well as all the wonderful quality of life features that the city offers. This is yet another indication that Attleboro is on the right track."
We agree.
The city's made important strides in improving itself and, almost as important, its image, both of itself and the one it presents to the world.
And like the heroes of those Westerns, we hope it can ride that new image happily into the sunset.
While Phase I relied on state road money and city labor, Phase II will be mostly paid for by the Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority, which will pick up 80 percent of the tab.
Meanwhile, grants are expected to pay for the replacement of conventional lamps in traffic signals with LED lamps. The reduction in wattage will save the city cash on its electric bill, the mayor said.
New roofs are set for installation at Hyman Fine, Studley and Hill-Roberts elementary schools and a new translucent wall is scheduled for construction in the high school gym.
The total cost of those projects will be about $3.4 million, but the city is expecting to be reimbursed about 58 percent by the state's school building authority, leaving a bill of about $1.46 million.
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