Mukilteo on best-town list
Published 10:15 pm Monday, July 13, 2009
MUKILTEO — Mukilteo has been named No. 10 on Money Magazine’s list of best small towns for families.
The availability of good jobs was a major factor in the magazine’s criteria for sizing up communities. Other issues were low crime, affordable homes, things to do and strong schools.
“Mukilteo benefits from the Seattle area’s diverse job market, including high tech, aerospace and 2.0 pioneers Amazon and Drugstore.com.,” the magazine noted. “It’s unemployment rate is half that of some other towns along the Pacific.”
The report, which includes a photograph of the Mukilteo lighthouse at sunset, lauds the city’s views of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains and Cascade Range. Good schools and low property taxes were also cited.
The magazine quoted Michael Chun, 47, a neurologist who moved to Mukilteo in 2007. “We considered Seattle, but the cost of living is cheaper here,” he said.
Evan Johnson, branch manager for the Windermere Real Estate office in Mukilteo, agreed that water-view homes are a large part of the community’s appeal. In Seattle, he said, such homes cost 25 percent more than in Mukilteo.
During the last six months, water-view homes sold for just below $200 a square foot in Mukilteo compared to $248 a square foot in Seattle, he said.
The other best small towns on Money’s Top 10 list included Louisville, Colo. at No. 1, followed by Chanhassen, Minn.; Papillion, Neb.; Middleton, Wisc.; Milton, Mass.; Warren, N.J.; Keller, Texas; Peachtree City, Ga.; and Lake St. Louis, Mo.
Other small communities on the list in Washington state included Sammamish, 12th; Newcastle, 17th; Richland, 51st; and Silverdale 92nd.
In February, Mill Creek made a similar list of Business Week magazine’s affordable suburbs. It was ranked No. 2.
On the Web
View the list at money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag.
