Fortune launched its third annual Fortune 50 Best Places to Live for Families 2024, showcasing the cities and towns across America that best support the unique needs of multigenerational families. Alabaster was named 34th best city to live chosen from a criteria of 2,000 cities that fit its qualification criteria.
Fortune independently evaluated over 2,000 cities, towns, suburbs, exurbs, villages, and townships with approximately 20,000 residents or more in all 50 states. This wide-ranging analysis provided a broad array of places that offer essential resources from health care to education as well as a sense of community.
Ward 5 Councilman Jamie Cole got his start in the media world at Time Inc., and led one of the company’s flagship list programs, the “Best Places To Live In Rural America.” We asked him to provide some thoughts about how these lists come together, and why he believes Alabaster rose to the top.
Were you surprised by this ranking?
“Well, yes and no. Yes, because it’s always interesting to have a national, New York-based media title recognize a Southern city this way. No, because I know how great we have it here. And it’s no secret, really. We were on Money magazine’s list of the 50 Best Places To Live In America in 2020, and to say the city is undergoing change since then would be the understatement of the year.”
Do you think they got this right?
“I do. Back in my journalism days, I worked on lists like this for AOL and Time Inc. and learned from various media outlets about the methodology. Beyond the statistical ways Alabaster meets the criteria they examine, there is also an “anecdotal” element. There is some investigative journalism that goes along with the numbers, and that makes the honor even more impressive.”
Fortune Well editor Jennifer Fields said “In our research, the cities that rose to the top were those that had a range of resources and amenities that appeal to their oldest and youngest residents.” What is your take on what we have to offer on the younger side?
“Mayor Brakefield and many on this council have focused on making Alabaster one of the best cities for outdoor activities in Alabama. Our Parks and Rec department is second to none for youth sports. Meanwhile, the visionary decision to create our own city school district, which was initiated when Mayor Brakefield was a council member, and was executed by a phenomenal school board and a generational superintendent hire in Wayne Vickers, has transformed our schools for a whole generation of kids here. It’s a draw for young families and makes Alabaster a great place to live for young people.”
What do you think Fortune would rank us if they knew about all the projects under way right now?
“I think we’d move right on up that list! I will say, based on experience of working on these projects, that media outlets make an effort to have the lists change year over year. So it’s not similar to, say, a week-to-week football poll or a year-over-year school report ranking. Next year they will likely feature 50 different places. But I almost wish we were gonna be featured a few years down the road. The new amphitheater, the new rec center, the new library, new retail, the expanded commitment to outdoor activities, and essential amenities like our own ambulance care that just make a city safer and more livable… There is so much to come, we would be even higher on the list a few years from now.”
They talk about sense of community?
“You see it at every event, every public place, even in social media interaction. People who live here are passionate and engaged. They want what’s best for our city and want to maintain what makes it unique and special. But that also means having the resources and amenities here that keep our residents near home, and in turn our tax dollars, right here in Alabaster. A lot of people say, “Oh, we are trying to be this city or that city,” naming a place nearby that has experienced growth. Nah, we are trying to keep you from having to drive to that city to do the things you want to do with your family. That’s the difference.”