Henderson makes ‘the list’

Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2006 | 7:36 a.m.

"We're No. 20!" may not sound like much of a boast, but on a list of 90 "Best Places to Live," that does mean Henderson beat 70 other cities.

So take that, Bellevue, Wash. (21)! Eat our dust, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. (42)! And Fayetteville, Ark. (90)? Poor baby.

But then, Henderson did lose to such luminaries as Fort Collins, Colo. (1), and Boise (8).

But what about New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco or Seattle? You know, big cities? Not on this list.

Money magazine, the makers of this ever-changing, fuzzily qualified list, heavily weighs crime rates and school scores, factors that seem to sabotage big cities. So this list is dominated by the suburbs and exurbs of Denver, Chicago, Houston and the like. (As a salve to the urban ego, Money makes a separate list of the 10 best big cities, topped by Colorado Springs. Henderson, population about 230,000, may be competing next year in the big-boy category of cities with more than 250,000 residents.)

The person responsible for the list - Money's special projects editor, Tara Kalwarski - says she did her best to keep mere subdivisions off the list.

"We set a bar - we didn't want bedroom communities," Kalwarski says. "The place itself had to have jobs outside of retail and service."

And because many of the civic virtues measured by the magazine- restaurants, universities, libraries, air quality and the like - are counted even if they are merely near it, much of what makes Henderson a good place to live are equally true in the rest of the valley.

For instance, according to Money's data, compiled by an outside firm, Henderson has 2,746 restaurants either inside the city or within 15 miles of it. That 15-mile footprint covers most of the valley, so every restaurant on the Strip is credited to Henderson. And if 2,746 still seems high - and it should - you should know that the numbers Money uses seem to count buffets, fast-food joints and snack bars. Zagat's it is not.

Luckily for Henderson, it wasn't burdened by some other valley facts, including its higher crime rate and middling test scores. Henderson's crime rates and test scores were better than average for the Money list.

Henderson's fine showing is good news for Mayor Jim Gibson, who is running for governor. He's quite proud. His enthusiasm extends, naturally, to his campaign staff, which is touting the results in a Gibson-centric sort of way.

"It shows the vitality and strength of Jim Gibson's leadership in Henderson," spokesman Adam Candee said. "And all of this has been accomplished without raising property taxes even once."

So, given that it's been making these lists for almost 20 years and presumes to know a lot about superior locations, where does Money make its home?

Manhattan.