Newtown Is ‘Hot’ According To

‘Money Magazine’ Survey

By Jan Howard

It is nicer in Newtown, but you probably did not know you are living in one of the hottest towns in the United States. Money Magazine knows it, and it is telling all its readers.

In its December 16 issue, Money Magazine named Newtown as the 16th most desirable place to live in the eastern region of the United States, including it in its “Hottest Towns” under 100,000 in population category. There were 26 eastern region towns in the category.

Newtown, with a population of 25,407, grew 22 percent from 1990, according to statistics cited by the magazine. It has a median household income of $97,723 and a median home price of $358,500.

Newtown and North Andover, Mass., were the only two municipalities listed from the New England region.

“It was a very pleasant surprise,” First Selectman Herb Rosenthal said of the town’s ranking. “It confirmed what people already think of Newtown and why so many people are moving to town. It reaffirms what most of us already know.”

He said the magazine pointed to the town’s low crime rate and student/teacher ratios, among other statistics, in determining the town’s ranking.

“They were clearly talking to their readers,” he said. Being one out of 87 towns ranked is “very impressive,” he added.

There is a downside, he said. “I hope this doesn’t spur more residential development.”

On the upside, he noted, “it was good to see positive press about the town.”

Money Magazine’s lists include communities over and under 100,000 in population that are the hottest places to live in three regions of the country: eastern, central, and western. The magazine based its decisions from statistics on 271 United States cities provided by OnBoard LLC, a real estate information company. Cities on that list had the highest median household incomes in the nation and above average population growth.

Money Magazine then combined OnBoard’s statistics with Mosaic lifestyle segmentation data provided by Applied Geographic Solutions.

The list was narrowed by identifying towns with demographics closely mirroring those of the typical Money Magazine reader: college educated, working professional, and well-above average median income. In addition, the town had to be located no more than 60 miles from a major city to ensure reasonable access to art and culture resources. Only cities with median incomes above $50,000 a year and unemployment rates below the national average were included in the search.

The municipalities were then divided by population level and ranked based on population growth and the cost of residential real estate relative to local income levels. The list was narrowed down to 87 cities.