The City of New Albany was ranked No. 1 of 50 best American suburbs in a report by the website Business Insider.
Photo courtesy of Kristin Ferguson
New Albany Farmers Market
Suburbs with populations between 5,000 and 100,000 within 40 kilometers of the nearest metropolitan area were considered. Business Insider used the 2008-12 American Community Survey to find average commute times, median household income, poverty rates and measure of housing affordability. The website examined public school ratings for high schools from greatschools.org and also looked at crime data for all cities.
City Public Information Officer Scott McAfee says there’s a fantastic quality of life in New Albany.
“It’s great that an outside organization recognizes our community,” McAfee says.
New Albany’s public schools were ranked 10 out 10, and the city was also ranked high for its extremely low poverty rate of 1.2 percent, according to Business Insider.
Likewise, crime statistics also helped put New Albany at the top of the list. Twenty-five instances of violent crime per 100,000 people in the city was recorded via crime data from the FBI. The New Albany Police Department’s September report cited 4 cases of theft/larceny, 2 domestic violence cases and 1 disorderly conduct case.
Business Insider’s article lists a variety of recreational opportunities and landmarks that have long been part of New Albany’s identity, including The New Albany Walking Classic, the New Albany Classic Invitational Grand Prix, the New Albany Country Club, the Jeanne B. McCoy Community Center for the Arts and the New Albany Farmers Market.
Many things within the city have changed within the decade, McAfee says, including the
Photo by Wes Kroninger
Philip Heit Center for Healthy New Albany
McCoy Center and the construction of the Philip Heit Center for Healthy New Albany, the latter of which not only brought new recreational opportunities to residents but also helped transform the downtown area.
McAfee also cites the New Albany International Business Park as an important city fixture, providing a substantial amount of money through tax revenues to the city and the New Albany-Plain Local School District. From a land use perspective, the park creates a variety of economic benefits to the city without adding students to the school district.
Eight Ohio suburbs made Business Insider’s list. Other Columbus area suburbs included Bexley (35), Upper Arlington (26), Dublin (16) and Powell (12).
“Each one of those communities brings a real strength to this region,” McAfee says.
