The Right Place for your Child

I was recently looking at key words and looking at how most people have found this blog. Surprisingly, the most active key word has been "Best Place to Raise Children". I blogged about Fort Collins being named the best place to raise children by a magazine back in November. Check it out here.

But that got me thinking about where is the best place to raise children. What is important for a town or city to have to truly be a great place to raise children in a conscious way? Obviously many people are looking for that perfect spot and they want to give their kids the best place to learn and grow into conscious adults.

In my personal life, I have been thinking a lot about this topic. I chose to move into the mountains at 19 years old and get away from the boring flat lands where I just didn't see the right opportunities for me. After living very happily in the mountains of Colorado for a number of years I found myself married with a baby. As a family we discussed how we wanted to raise our children and what opportunities we felt were important for our baby.

We eventually made the decision to move to Colorado's Front Range and live in a nice suburb with nice mountain views and a short drive to hiking, skiing, etc. The reason we chose this particular community was because it reminded us of the way we had been raised.

Oh my gosh. I hated living in the burbs and got out as soon as I could as a child. Now I am doing that to my child. Where did I go wrong? Where did I catch this 'American Dream' and how do I get rid of it?

Are kids better off in the city with museums, parks, and stressed parents? Or are they better off in the mountains with excellent skiing, hiking, camping, rafting, and fresh air where they learn from the adults in their life to just take a deep breath and take it slow. You don't have to rush to where you're going.

I'm not sure I've always been on the right path. Even though I've lived consciously with recycling, composting, buying organic, give my kids natural toys, and more; I think I could do better in a quite little mountain town. What do you think?