By Carol Cole
The Norman Transcript

In a town used to winning national championships in everything from football to Botball, Norman leaders were ecstatic Monday to be No. 40.

Norman scored a ranking of 40th on Money magazine's newly released "Best Places to Live" list, the highest-ranked Oklahoma city to be recognized among the 90 finalists.

Other Oklahoma cities making the cut include Edmond at 52nd and Broken Arrow at 66th.

"Americans are flocking to places that offer big-city opportunity and amenities -- with a lot more green space and a lot less stress," headlines the article in the August issue of Money, just hitting newsstands and mailboxes.

Mayor Harold Haralson was surprised and excited as the news made it around town Monday.

"Very pleased to be ranked," Haralson said. "We know it's a great place to live. Now other people do too. ... That's pretty cool."

The list took into account dozens of quality-of-life factors, including job opportunities, schools, low crime, arts and leisure, parks and green space, ambiance, housing prices, weather and health-related issues.

The magazine worked with data provider OnBoard of Brooklyn and BestPlaces.net. They started with cities with populations more than 50,000 and less than 300,000. Retirement-oriented cities were screened out.

And cities with low education scores, high crime rates, high housing costs, employment declines and low incomes were eliminated.

Norman fared especially well in housing prices, reading and math scores, a college-educated populace, air quality, sunny weather and health indicators, comparing well to an average of all of the best places to live.

But characteristically, the news also brought out the city's proud, feisty and slightly competitive side.

"That's good news. I think we're better than that," said City Manager Brad Gambill. "There is a lot of great things going on in Norman. I think it's a great place to live. So I'm kind of disappointed, but at the same time, it's nice to be recognized."

Don Wood, executive director of the Norman Economic Development Coalition, said the ranking was "much needed recognition for the quality of life we have here in Norman." He said it portrays what a third-party, non-biased organization thinks of Norman.

He said it would be a good tool to use in recruiting efforts.

"We'd like to be No. 1," Wood said, tongue-in-cheek. "We obviously want to see Norman to strive to be better and better and move up the ranking. But being the No. 1 city in Oklahoma is a pretty good kudo for us."

He said what is especially nice is the "real people" factors evaluated by Money, contrasted to some of the other magazine lists that skew more toward high-income considerations.

"This list seems like it is a lot more oriented towards normal people," Wood said, who he said appreciate good jobs, reasonable housing costs and lots of arts and leisure opportunities.

Wood said he believes this is the first time Norman had been ranked on the "Best Places" list.

Anna-Mary Suggs, Norman Chamber of Commerce executive director, said the city stands out on education and cost-of-living, with Norman's median home price of $124,500 compared to the Best Places average of $256,659.

"I think it's just a combination of lots and lots of things," Suggs said. "A lot of quality of life things."

Suggs joked that what Norman needs is a ski resort to move up in the rankings.

"We're just going to have to go out and get one," she said, referring to Fort Collins, Colo., being named the No. 1 Best Place to Live.

More details on factors on Money's Best Places to Live are on the magazine's Web site at http://money.cnn.com.

Having three cities make the list was also a boost for the state, as no Oklahoma cities made the 2005 list.