Sugar Land 3rd on "best places" list

If you live in Sugar Land, there's really no reason not to be happy — unless, of course, you sit around dreaming about live in Fort Collins, Colo., or Napierville, Ill. See, Sugar Land is the third-best place to live in the United States, according to Money magazine and CNN/Money (only Fort Collins and Napierville came in ahead of the Houston suburb). The ranking represents a huge leap for Sugar Land, which placed 46th on the list last year.

Money looked at financial figures, housing prices, education, quality of life, leisure, health, weather and neighbors in coming up with its top 100 places to live in the U.S.; Sugar Land had the other best places beat in most of those categories. The weather, as you might expect, was a downside for the city, but diversity and affordable housing worked in its favor. "In few desirable cities does a buck go so far: $200,000 buys a roomy house in a landscaped neighborhood with a community pool," the magazine said. And where else can you find such a charming fake downtown?

The other Houston-area cities that made Money's top 100 list were League City (No. 65) and The Woodlands (No. 73). Overall, Texas did very well, with 10 cities in the top 100. Houston didn't make the cut; you can compare it to the 10 best places and see where we fall short.