SOUTH WEBER — When you're small, it's nice to have people take notice of you. Like if you're South Weber, some people forget you are actually part of Davis County.
But then someone like BusinessWeek takes notice that you're one of the top 10 affordable suburbs in the United States, and you beam with the pride of the biggest cities out there.
BusinessWeek ranked South Weber, population 5,676, No. 6 on its list of 10, falling between No. 5 East Norriton, Pa., and No. 7 Cornelius, N.C. Pewaukee, Wis., landed in the magazine's top spot.
South Weber's median home price of $210,000 compared with its median income of $89,355 weighed most heavily with editors. But the magazine also considered its unemployment rate of 2.6 percent, average commute time of 17 minutes and violent crime index of 57, meaning the city's violent crime rate is slightly more than half of the national average.
According to the magazine's citation, South Weber, known for its occasional Bigfoot sightings, is a rural area in Davis County, known as "The Garden Spot of Utah" because of its rich agricultural land.
South Weber city manager Matt Dixon said the city's slogan is "Improve the Quality of Life for Our Residents."
"We take a lot of pride, as far as the city is concerned, in making life as affordable as possible for our residents," Dixon said.
The honor is exciting, he said, because the most recent big news in the city has included mudslides in 2005 and '06 and a natural-gas explosion that destroyed a home in 2006.
But many positives highlight the community, Dixon said, including its proximity to major transportation routes, major employment hubs and shopping.
"But we have that rural small-town feel that makes this attractive," he said.
South Weber Mayor Brent Petersen, who grew up in the city, praised it as family-friendly. He was pleased BusinessWeek pointed out that 58 percent of residents are married with children.
Located at the mouth of Weber Canyon, South Weber wants to capitalize on its proximity to prime fishing and skiing areas as the "Gateway to the Great Outdoors." City officials say they would like to bring more retail to the city, but that will have to wait until the economy recovers.
"We don't always please everyone, but we work hard trying to," Dixon said.
E-MAIL: jdougherty@desnews.com