Huntsville has been named to Money Magazine's annual "25 Best Places to Retire" list.

Huntsville, nearby Fort Payne, Athens, Ga., Summerville, S.C., and the Knoxville suburb of Sevierville, Tenn., were the only cities in the Deep South to catch the magazine's attention. Here's what Money had to say about Huntsville:

"Space buffs know Huntsville as 'The Rocket City' because the Marshall Space Flight Center was the original NASA, and it still plays a major role in civilian and government spacecraft and rocketry.

"Architecture aficionados know it for its 19th-century buildings; nature lovers know this northern Alabama city for its parks, botanical gardens, and nature preserves. While this Southern city seems to have something for everyone, so too does the University of Alabama.

"Founded in 1993, the school's lifelong learning program offers dozens of courses each term on topics as diverse as the volunteers who teach them."

Money's editors noted that Huntsville's $128,408 median home price is well below the $269,768 average home price for cities on the best places to retire list. However, we have more personal and property crimes per capita than many other ranked cities, the magazine found. And the 1,000 restaurants within 15 miles of Huntsville pales with the best-places average of 3,134 eateries.

Also making Money's list were Albuquerque, N.M.; Portland; Louisville; Tucson; Austin; Winston-Salem, N.C.; St. George, Utah; Traverse City, Mich.; Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; St. Augustine; Kalispell, Mont.; Fredericksburg, Texas; Bellingham, Wash.; Bloomington, Ind.; Lynchburg, Va.; Iowa City, Iowa; Danville, Ky.; Prescott, Ariz.; Aberdeen, S.D.; and Ottawa, Kansas.

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source: Steve Doyle

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