Kaitlyn Foti of Montgomery News writes:

Abington Township is once again beaming with pride after being named by Money Magazine as one of the top 100 Best Places to Live.

This year, the township was listed as Number 29 on the magazine’s selective list.

“I’m so proud to live in and represent Abington. It truly is an extraordinary place to live and work,” said state Rep. Josh Shapiro, D-153, in a press release congratulating Abington on the news.

“This recognition is largely due to the commitment of so many in our schools, local government, community organizations and religious institutions to strive for better each and every day.”

The magazine calls Abington “a family-oriented suburb with a Philadelphia attitude” and lists the Keswick Theatre and Willow Grove Park mall among its assets.

In describing its selection process, Money reported that the selection took place among U.S. cities and towns with a population of 50,000 to 300,000 residents. The magazine used factors such as housing affordability, school quality, arts and leisure, safety, health care and diversity to make the list.

“All the criteria they looked at has to do with the diversity of the community, diversity of housing stock; people of all income levels can afford to live here,” said Township Manager Tom Conway.

“They also discussed the fiscal management of the government, which made me happy, and the education system, law enforcement, all of those things coming together to really keep us in an elite group of small cities in the country.”

Abington is the higher-ranked of the two towns in Pennsylvania to get the distinction. The other, Millcreek, which is found clear across the state near Lake Erie, was ranked at Number 79.

The news elated Abington officials.

Commissioner William Lynott said enthusiastically, “I was so thrilled; I can’t tell you how thrilled I was. I love this community. When something like that happens, it makes all the frustrations you have to deal with as a commissioner, it makes it all worthwhile. I am absolutely thrilled.”

But beyond the statistics, there is an intangible aspect of Abington that helped put it in the top 30, according to Conway.

“It is an elite group to be honored and recognized. There’s only one other community in Pennsylvania. I think it’s a credit to everyone in the community working together. Community sprit is one of the intangibles, and it is something that everyone has an opportunity to participate in,” he said. “The intangibles make it a good place to live.”

Read the full article here.