A perfect companion to America's Top-Rated Cities, America's Top-Rated Smaller Cities provides current, comprehensive business and living profiles of smaller cities (population 25,000-99,999) that have been cited as the best for business and living in the United States. This one volume provides important statistical data on the business and living environments of 60 top smaller cities. Each city report includes a Historical Background, an Overview of the State Finances and Statistical details on Employment & Earnings, Household Income, Unemployment Rate, Population Characteristics, Taxes, Cost of Living, Education, Health Care, Public Safety, Recreation, Media, Air & Water Quality and much more. America's Top-Rated Smaller Cities offers a reliable, one-stop source for statistical data which, before now, could only be found scattered in hundreds of different sources.

1970- issued in 2 vols.: v. 1, General reference, social sciences, history, economics, business; v. 2, Fine arts, humanities, science and engineering.

America's Top-Rated Cities is a four-volume set, each book covering a specific region of the United States - Southern, Wstern, Central, and Eastern. Each volume includes narrative city backgrounds, statistical information, rankings, and comparative data in one easy-to-use source, on cities that have scored high marks on economy, education, health care, crime, transportation, leisure activities, and arts & culture. the final list of top-rated cities is derived from our unique rating system, which is based on a number of well-known "best of" lists and firth-hand experience

Managing America's Small Communities charts several key aspects of the largely unexamined world of small city management. This book describes the democraphic trends, structural features, executive behavior and service quality among small communities. Are small cities growing, declining or have they remained untouched by the force of change? To what extent have the structural changes and reforms that have swept through larger cities touched small communities? What are the characteristics and behaviors of small city chief executives and how involved are different executives in the dimensions of the governmental process? How do chief executives in small cities make decisions about local services and programs? Are there differences in the extent to which appointed managers and elected mayors are responsive to community interests? The book also examines the frequency with which small communities provide various services, the quality of services provided and how small city officials can diagnose problems with service quality and performance. The book's theme is the value added to small communities that evidence professionalism in city administration. The benefits that accrue to having a professional city manager are most apparent in the extent to which city managers are engaged in decisions related to each of the dimensions of the governmental process, the level of service quality provided, and the prospects for measuring service performance.

America's Top-Rated Cities is a four-volume set, each book covering a specific region of the United States - Southern, Western, Central, and Eastern. Each volume includes statistical information and other data in one easy-to-use source on cities which have been cited in various magazine surveys as being the best places for business and living. Book jacket.

1970- issued in 2 vols.: v. 1, General reference, social sciences, history, economics, business; v. 2, Fine arts, humanities, science and engineering.

People’s passion for golf manifests itself in many ways. Some enjoy the game so much, they want to make it a prominent part of their retirement surroundings. This work functions as both an informative source for golfing aficionados who are looking for a place to retire, and as a helpful guide for non-golfers in the family. Here, details on golf communities in six southeastern states are presented: North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi. Organized by state, each chapter begins with information on state and city populations; sales, income and social security taxes; and a geographical description. Each state is divided into geographical areas that offer attractive retirement and golfing opportunities. For each city listed, a general introduction (including data from the 2000 Census) is provided. Information on the golf courses, a variety of real estate options, nearby dependable health care services, convenient and varied shopping, favorable year-round climate, continuing education opportunities, nearby recreation, attractions, and dining, and regional artistic and cultural amenities is offered. Lists of both a state’s nationally ranked and overall best golf courses, as determined by Golf Digest, are also included at the end of each chapter.

Before the interstates, Main Street America was the small town’s commercial spine and served as the linchpin for community social solidarity. Yet, during the past three decades, a series of economic downturns has left many of the great small cities barely viable. American Hometown Renewal is the first book to combine administrative, budgetary, and economic analysis to examine the economic and fiscal plight currently facing America’s small towns. Featuring a blend of theory, applications, and case studies, it provides a comprehensive, single-source textbook covering the key issues facing small town officials in today’s uncertain economy. Written by a former public manager, university professor, and consultant to numerous small towns in the Heartland, this book demonstrates the ways in which contemporary small towns throughout the nation are facing economic challenges brought about by the financial shocks that began in 2008. Each chapter explores a theme related to small town revival and provides a related tool or technique to enable small town officials to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. Encouraging local small town officials to look at the economic orbit of communities in a similar manner as a town’s budget or a family’s personal wealth, examining its specific competitive advantages in terms of relative assets to those of competing communities, this book provides the reader with step-by-step instructions on how to conduct an asset inventory and apply key asset tools to devise a strategy for overcoming the challenges and constraints imposed upon spatially-fixed communities. American Hometown Renewal is an essential primer for students studying city management, economic community development, and city planning, and will be a trusted handbook for city managers, geographers, city planners, urban or rural sociologists, political scientists, and regional microeconomists.