Every year since 2005, Money magazine has joined with CNN to develop a list of “Best Places to Live.” The list includes what the magazine refers to as “America’s best small cities” and evaluates communities based on job availability, schools, amount of affordable housing stock, overall quality of life, and other factors. ICMA reviewed the list of 2008 communities and found that 66% of the top 100 operate under the council-manager form of government, strongly suggesting that professional local government management plays a key role in the success of small communities throughout the U.S. That percentage compares with other forms of government as follows: · Council-Manager 67% · Mayor-Council 20% · Commission 1% · Unknown 12% (includes combined communities, metro districts, and other entities that do not list a specific form of government.) A press release on the 2008 top-100 communities and a list of the top 100 cities with their form of government is available below. To review the entire CNN/Money report, visit http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2008 (Council-Manager Form Resource Package)