Money magazine lists Milpitas among nation's top 50 small cities

MILPITAS (KGO) -- Money magazine says the city of Milpitas is among the best small cities in the country.

In 1954, a group calling themselves the Minute Men fought against the annexation of Milpitas to San Jose and won and now the city has been voted 29, on a list of 50, of the best small cities to live in in the country.

The city has a population of 69,000 and a median household income of $106,000 dollars. The average home price is just over $500,000.

Cindy Ingram knows all about that. Her parents bought the family home in 1966 for $15,000.

"Now, it's half a million dollars," Ingram, said.

There is a lot of Silicon Valley money in Milpitas. Tech giants like Sandisk and Cisco are big employers. The city is centralized and convenient to other cities. It's also a magnet for a well-educated diverse population.

"Each one is proud to contribute to the plate," Milpitas Mayor Jose Esteves said. "They bring in the best of their culture."

According to census data, 60 percent of Milpitas is Asian.

Bill Chou has lived in the city for 10 years.

"I'm Chinese," Chou said. "A lot of Chinese stores and Chinese restaurants are right here."

It's also home to great schools. Milpitas High is a distinguished school.

There's no real downtown area, but the hub of the city is the Great Mall, with more than a million square feet of shops and restaurants.

Longtime residents like Diego Hammet, who has lived in the city of 26 years, can speak of the city's virtues.

"It's clean, people are friendly and all the entrepreneurial people are here," Hammet said. "Lots of jobs, you know."

Milpitas has changed a lot too from its country beginnings. The scent of orchards no longer wafts through the air.

"In the fall, you'd smell the apricots once they dropped to the ground," Helen Verna, a 47-year Milpitas resident, said. "It scented the air very heavily."

Pleasanton was also included in Money magazines list. It was listed as number 31. The authors of the article liked the city's eclectic downtown area.

Rounding out the list's top three were Carmel, Indiana; Maple Grove, Minnesota and McKinney, Texas took the top spot. The magazine said McKinney's great schools, affordable housing and mix of European, East Coast and West Coast culture gave it the most value for families.