Parenting Magazine's Best Places To Raise A Family. Yep, Washington, D. C, Is Tops; Louisville (10) And Lexington, Kentucky, (18) Make Top 20 List.

Any place you choose to put down roots will have pros and cons. How to sort through them all? Don’t worry, Parenting magazine has crunched the numbers for you. They recently examined American cities to come up with the best paces for families.

Factors included great schools, affordable homes, low crime rates, plenty of jobs, and lots of parkland. Here are the top 20 cities to raise a family in 2011, according to Parenting magazine:

1. Washington, D.C.

2. Austin, Texas

3. Boston, Mass.

4. St. Paul/Minneapolis, Minn.

5. Des Moines, Iowa

6. Madison, Wis.

7. Honolulu, Hawaii

8. Omaha, Neb.

9. Seattle, Wash.

10. Louisville, Ky.

11. St. Louis, Mo.

12. San Antonio, Texas

13. Portland, Ore.

14. Kansas City, Mo.

15. Colorado Springs, Colo.

16. New Orleans, La.

17. Richmond, Va.

18. Lexington, Ky.

19. Lincoln, Neb.

20. Wichita, Kan.

Editor's note: Check it out.

Editor's comment: No wonder those politicians don't want to go home.