It's not enough that Arcadia is frequently the focus of national TV recognition for horse races at Santa Anita Park, national figure skating champion Mirai Nagasu, and two consecutive Rose Queens; now Business Week has selected Arcadia as the best city in all of California to raise kids.
Word of the happy and unexpected news spread quickly around Arcadia and to Arcadia's Best from many readers. Click the image below to see reaction from City, School District, Chamber of Commerce, and Arboretum officials.

Read the full article below or click here to read entire story and Business Week selections in other states:

The Best Places to Raise Your Kids 2009
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California
Arcadia

Nearest city: Los Angeles
Population: 56,394
Median household income: $81,417
Arcadia, about 20 miles from downtown Los Angeles, has some of the best schools in California. It is also home to Santa Anita Park racetrack and the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden. Peacocks now live in the neighborhood near the arboretum where they walk on lawns or cross the street and, for some, are a bit of a nuisance.

Runners-up:
Diamond Bar
Monterey Park

Kid-Friendly and Cost-Friendly
By Prashant Gopal

Welcome to BusinessWeek's second annual roundup of the best places to raise your kids.

This year we are going state by state. Once again working with OnBoard Informatics, a New York-based provider of real estate analysis, we selected towns with at least 50,000 residents and a median family income between $40,000 and $100,000. We then narrowed the list of towns using the following weighted criteria: school performance; number of schools; household expenditures; crime rates; air quality; job growth; family income; museums, parks, theaters, and other amenities; and diversity. We weighted school performance and safety most heavily, but also gave strong weight to amenities and affordability.

Bear in mind with this list, the organizing principle was affordability. While the median household income varies by state, we purposely weighted the results to prevent pricing out most readers. That's why, for example, Greenwich, Conn., with its good private schools, low crime, and abundance of cultural amenities, was left out. It simply costs too much to live there.

Of course, there are other places that are great for kids which did not make this list. In many states the competition was extremely close. Moreover, we looked for communities that scored well across the board. So, while there might be places that offer more culture, better schools, etc., other factors such as crime or a high cost of living knocked them down.