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Janesville recognized for affordable housing

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Tony DiNicola

Money magazine’s top 10 best places to live

JANESVILLE — Janesville is not on Money magazine’s list of the nation’s most livable towns, but it does rate favorably in one of the components used in the overall rankings.

The city was ranked 16th in affordable housing. With a median home price of $124,700, Janesville was the only Wisconsin community to make the housing list.

“Forget Boardwalk, residents of this Wisconsin city prefer ‘Park Place,’” the magazine says in its short profile on Janesville.

“That’s locals’ affectionate nickname for Janesville, reflecting the more than 2,300 acres of parklands within the city limits. Three-bedroom homes here start at below $60,000.”

In the profile, the magazine—the nation’s largest on personal finance—points out that the community is facing a big question:

“What happens after the planned closing of the General Motors factory here, which will eliminate thousands of jobs?”

It’s a fair question, one that local homeowners and real estate agents have been asking with much more frequency since GM dropped its bombshell in early June.

“I think the shock of the GM announcement is somewhat behind us,” said Dan Kruse, president of the Rock-Green Realtors Association. “Sure, there are still concerns in the community but not nearly to the extent that there were in the two weeks after the announcement.

“For those two weeks, I don’t think anyone in Janesville did anything.”

Kruse said he was pleased but not surprised with Janesville’s ranking. The city’s proximity to Madison, where the median home price is $202,500, makes it even more appealing, he said.

“First-time homebuyers are fueling the market right now, and Janesville offers a great opportunity for people to get into the market with affordable housing and build equity,” he said. “They can get the same home in Janesville for about $75,000 less than they can in Madison.”

Madison was the only Wisconsin city to make the magazine’s list of “America’s Best Places to Live.” It checked in at No. 89.

Missing from the list was Middleton, which last year grabbed the top spot and was named the nation’s most livable city.

This year, that title belongs to Plymouth, Minn., which “reflects robust Midwestern values in a small city that is 30 minutes from a vibrant metropolis, with a low cost of living, rising incomes, and job growth.

“It’s simply a great place to raise a family, join a community, and build a rich life.”

How does Money reach its conclusions?

It starts with all U.S. cities that have populations of 50,000 to 300,000. It excludes retirement communities, places where income is less than 85 percent or more than 201 percent of the state median and communities that are more than 95 percent white.

Then the editors screen out cities with high crime, big population declines, significant unemployment or job shrinkage and long commutes. The remaining places are ranked on job growth, income increases, cost of living, housing affordability, school quality, arts and leisure options, ease of daily life, safety, medical care, and diversity.

Then they find more data to factor in and finally visit the communities and interview its residents.