Hilton Head Island Named One of the Best Places to Live

Tristan O'Grady — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 19:19:13 +0000

BY JIM FABER, The Island Packet Published Wednesday, August 9, 2006 Hilton Head Island is used to being honored for a lot of things. It makes lists for best beaches, best golfing, best resort and even best small art town. Now the island and surrounding area have been named one of the top places to live by bizjournals.com, the Internet presence of American City Business Journals, a national chain of business newspapers. Hilton Head ranked 19th overall of 577 small cities ranked in the study. The island and Beaufort County ranked third in the south, behind just Kill Devil Hills, N.C., and Oxford, Miss. The study looked at micropolitan areas, which are areas headed by a central municipality of between 10,000 and 50,000 residents. Some 2 million people per year move out of metropolitan areas and into rural or "micropolitan" areas, said Scott Thomas, projects editor for bizjournals.com. American City Business Journals runs business newspapers in 41 markets, including Atlanta. Many of the cities at the top of the list had something that gave it access to resources far beyond the typical small town, Thomas said. Bozeman, Mont., which led the list, and Laramie, Wyo., which was fifth, are college towns. Jackson, Wyo., the second-place city, is a popular resort area. No. 8, Pierre, S.D., is a state capital. Hilton Head's resort fame means it has amenities, like dining and theater, far beyond what a typical small town would have, said Charlie Clark, director of communications for the Hilton Head-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce. Clark said it was no surprise the Hilton Head area held its own in per-capita income, small-business growth, concentration of professional jobs, college-degree concentration and a number of other factors looked at in the study, although the town failed to rank in the top five of any specific category. "There is a reason this area is the fastest-growing area in South Carolina," Clark said. "There is an enviable quality of life here people are drawn to." Contact Jim Faber at 706-8137 or jfaber@islandpacket.com. To comment on this story, please go to islandpacket.com.

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Hilton Head Island Named One of the Best Places to Live