Exit 69: Troy, Michigan = No Place Like Home

I have to admit it, the city where exit 69 is officially the exit for Big Beaver Rd...gives me some mad pride right now. For just a few miles away from this great American road is where my home resides...

Yes, I pay ridiculous amounts of money for taxes and yes, traffic can be quite brutal during rush hour, but still...Troy, Mich. has managed to landed spot #22 on CNN Money's top 100 best small cities to live in America, beating out other great Michigan cities -- Ann Arbor (#27), Novi (#48) and Sterling Heights (#61). And I'm just beaming.

I knew the hubby and I picked here for our landing spot for a reason...and not just for the kick booty public schools that teach Mandarin Chinese and the vast array of shopping and coney islands.

I learned a lot of interesting facts with this list and decided to list the highlights:
Air quality index*(% of days AQI ranked as good)
80.3% (75.9% is best cities avg.)
% students attending public/privateschools (located within town limits)
95.0/5.0 (best cities avg. 89.0/11.0) -- GO PUBLIC!
Restaurants(within 15 miles) -- This is good for the foodie in me!
5,368 (4,094 is best cities avg.)
Divorced
7.2% (sadly, 8.3% is best cities avg.)

So the bags of leaves I'm rakin' is this (thnx, Nicolena):

People in Troy are breathing healthy air, obtaining great educations in a public school system, eating their little hearts out and staying happily married.

Now those are some stats that will make me stay for years to come!

Another point of Troy pride...For those who enjoy Project Runway (as I do), one of Troy's own is a designer on this season's show. His name is Joe Faris and he's described as the "down-to-earth" straight father of two. I can't wait to see how far he can go...

Thanks for making Troy and all of southeast Michigan proud!

And Joe, if I ever see you in T-Town, the drinks are on me. Way to go, brother!

GO JOE!

P.S. Please send my pleasant regards to Tim Gunn!

Love Thy Neighbor -- It Can Be That Simple

I had to laugh when I came across this story about two feuding neighbors and the punishment they received. Taken from freep.com:

TROY
'Love thy neighbor' signs are punishment for pair
March 20, 2008

When counseling didn't work, a judge said he'd "try some embarrassment" on feuding Clawson neighbors.

Troy District Judge Michael Martone sentenced two men Wednesday to 250 hours each of community service, to be spent walking the sidewalks of Clawson with signs that read "Love thy neighbor."

After Michael Lehnert, 41, pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace, and Jeffrey Schachinger, 51, did the same to a nuisance ordinance -- each in violation of probation for earlier misdeeds -- Martone ordered three-day jail terms for the pair.

Then they must start walking with large sandwich board-type signs, "across the street from each other," he said.

In January, Martone had a teen lug a "Don't litter" sign.

Good old, fashioned embarrassment -- exactly what the pair needed in my opinion -- and just by listening to the golden rule they could have come out on top.

Now, if only more judges were like this, our tax dollars wouldn't be spent on jail time for silly reasons!