Of the 50 best small towns in America to live, La Palma–yes, THAT La Palma–comes in at No. 31, according to CNN and Money Magazine.
That makes La Palma–swear to God, THAT La Palma–the highest-ranking California town on the list.
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Here's the justification:
31. La Palma, CA
Top 50 rank: 31
Population: 15,879La Palma, about 20 miles from Los Angeles, is the archetypal California suburb: Think palm trees, sunny weather, and easy access to the beach.
But these attractive amenities come at a cost. With a median home sales price of $500,000, La Palma is an example of why Orange County has a rep as one of the most expensive counties in California.
Yet some are willing to invest for access to La Palma's high-ranking schools and safety: The town has the lowest police response time in the O.C.
Um … OK. Way to go, La Palma! The northwestern Orange County town, which kisses the Los Angeles County city of Cerritos, is sandwiched on the list before No. 30 Windham, NH, and No. 32 Coppell, TX. (And yet, no love here. WTF?)
It's nice that the town previously known as Dairyland received the recognition, but one cause for concern is that in 2007 La Palma was ranked 16th best place to live in the U.S. You're slipping, La Palmaniacs!
The only other California small town to land in the Top 50 is Walnut, way down there at No. 49, ahead of only Simsbury, CT.
The top three, in order, are Sharon, MA; Louisville, CO; and Vienna, VA.
Email: mc****@oc******.com. Twitter: @MatthewTCoker. Follow OC Weekly on Twitter @ocweekly or on Facebook!
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.