Group announces best cities for kids

General Colin Powell formed an organization in 1997 that works to provide children with caring adults, safe places, healthy environments, effective education and philanthropy. On October 12, America's Promise Alliance announced its 100 best communities for young people, which may result in an uptick in moving trucks in the winning cities.

Nominees came from more than 300 communities and Washington, D.C., and the winners are in 39 states. The top cities were chosen by a panel of civic, business and nonprofit leaders. The list includes large cities like New York City and Cincinnati down to small communities like Lamoni, Iowa, and Prosser, Washington.

"These communities, while not without their own challenges to overcome, have demonstrated a significant and lasting commitment to their youth for which they deserve to be recognized and commended," according to the America's Promise Alliance website.

One of the cities on the list, Anchorage, Alaska, also is one of just 23 housing markets in the country that officially qualify as "improving" by the National Association of Home Builders. While the average listing price for homes there in the week ending September 28 was down 0.3 percent from the previous week, the median sales price from June to August 2011 was up 34.4 percent from the same period in 2010, according to Trulia.