MONEY magazine and CNN/Money has released it’s 2005 list of best places to live.

So?

Burlington, KY, my current city of residence, is #79 on the list! I know it’s a great area, for me at least, but didn’t realize it was in the top 100 FOR THE COUNTRY!

Here are some stats for Burlington and how it compares to the averages of all “Best Places.”

CNN’s Burlington, KY Snapshot

Low crime, close to many restaurants, and nearby museums and performing arts centers while still being more rural than urban, “mild” weather…those are some of the reasons why I like it here.

CNN listed the rankings for several other stats/categories as well, including Hottest, Coldest, Safest, etc. Among these additional rankings was Most Polluted.

Take a look at those rankings:

1. FL - Valrico
2. FL - Lakeland
3. KY - Burlington
4. OH - West Chester
5. KY - Florence
6. OH - Mason
7. OH - Springboro
8. OH - Loveland
9. OH - Maineville
10. OH - Springfield

Yikes, Burlington is on there! And what’s more, so is Florence, which is 5 minutes away. In fact, eight of these ten cities are within an hour drive of me. These eight cities basically circle Cincinnati. Oddly enough, Cincinnati isn’t on the list! Burlington has an pollution index of 211 and Florence comes in at 209, while Cincy’s index is 167.

Burlington is fairly small and considered “out there” by many city dwellers. There are hardly any factories/industrial sites around, and I’m pretty sure farms and fields and woodlands outnumber them significantly. Nearest I can figure, the Northern KY/Greater Cincinnati Airport is what hurts Burlington’s and Florence’s pollution ranking. The airport is technically in Hebron, though…

But wait, there’s more…Ft Mitchell, KY, which is basically where I used to live before moving to Burlington, is ranked #3 Least Polluted with an index of 18. Yes, that’s right - 18! It’s less than ten miles from here and much more urban, yet the pollution index drops almost 200 points. Who would have thought that air could vary that much in such a short distance?!?

I can see Burlington having some pollution issues with the airport being so close, with the higher prevalence of smog from the larger cities and due to the enormous rate of growth that the area has seen in recent years. I can’t begin to justify it being more polluted than Cincinnati (167), New York (116), Houston (88) or LA (101) though! Especially by that margin!

I don’t know about you, but something isn’t adding up right for me here…