Madison reaches top of 100 best places to live list

Eau Claire No. 59; La Crosse No. 95

LA CROSSE, Wis. (WKBT) — Madison has reached the top of Livability’s 2015 list of the Top 100 Places to Live.
The website announced the rankings on its website on Monday.

Madison ranked fifth on the list last year.

Mayor Paul Soglin told Liveability.com that he wasn’t satisfied with the No. 5 ranking and convened a task force to determine how to improve the ranking and make Madison a more livable place.

Livability makes the rankings based on the local economy, health, housing, civic engagement, education, amenities, diversity and infrastructure. Madison has appeared in previous Livability rankings for top college town, foodie city and top music destination.

Eau Claire (59) and La Crosse (95) are the other Wisconsin cities on the list.

Rochester, Minnesota; Arlington, Virginia; Boulder, Colorado; and Palo Alto, California round out the top five.

More than 2,000 cities were ranked, so Liveability said every city on the list is in the top 5 percent of livable communities in the U.S.

In August, La Crosse finished in 11th place on Outside Magazine’s top-16 finalists for Best Towns in America.