.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} I like Urbandale just fine. If I had any friends, some of them probably would live in Urbandale. I’ve enjoyed several outstanding cultural experiences in Urbandale, most of them around noon at B-Bop’s. But every year I wonder how that particular suburb manages to land such a nice spot on Money magazine’s list of “best places to live.”

It’s pleasant. Well-kept. Safe. But a place that ranks No. 39 among the very best towns in the United States should be a place with unique features and distinct character, shouldn’t it? Rather than kind of a basic suburb without a center. Urbandale seems like a fine part of Greater Des Moines, but it doesn’t seem all that different from the rest of America’s vast collection of suburbs. OK, it has Living History Farms, but Money didn’t mention that.

Money magazine is impressed by money. The list says Urbandale has a median family income of $82,269 compared with the national best-places average of $90,316. However, the Urbandale family’s purchasing power is $88,843, compared with the national best places average of $82,867. A nice argument for living here instead of on the coasts.

Urbandale’s quality-of-life scores look good, too. One personal crime incident per 1,000 residents, compared with a national best places average of 13. A median commute time of 17 minutes compared with 23. The total of 911 restaurants within 15 miles sounds like plenty – although it’s dwarfed by the national average of 2,899.

I wondered what West Des Moines leaders thought about the list, which is notably West Des Moines-free. Just last year, that suburb ranked No. 71. But community development director Clyde Evans noted that this year’s criteria included a population cutoff at 50,000, just barely eliminating his city from consideration. Good point.

But let’s compare the two anyway.

Around here, West Des Moines is the place that has achieved the kind of success and self-confidence that inspires snippy comments from other cities. If it were a person, it would smirk, and not much beats smirking.

Nobody ever says: “Oh, those Urbandale people. I can’t stand them, with their constant bragging about the Parkwood Plaza shopping mall.”

Cutting comments about West Des Moines? There might be a few.

According to Money, however, West Des Moines actually trails Urbandale in median family income, median home price and vacation spending.

Plus, the statistics reveal that the average high temperature in July is one degree cooler in Urbandale than in West Des Moines. Something to think about as you make your vacation and retirement plans.

All that aside, the bottom line is that we should be glad Urbandale gets noticed every year, because it makes Central Iowa look good.

So does this: A few hours after Money released its list, the city of Des Moines announced that it ranked in the top 25 percent of large cities in the 2007 Resident Satisfaction Survey. A spokesman for the survey noted that Des Moines ranked at or above average in 20 of the 22 major areas and called it “a great place to live.”

Des Moines received a satisfaction rating of 83 percent for its quality of life, a mere percentage point below the highest recorded rating for cities with a population over 150,000.

That tells us that Des Moines residents are happy with what they have and feel no desire to move. At least, not until they happen to drive through Urbandale.