Westerville, OH, wins fan favorite
Westerville is most popular of this year's Best Places to Live with Facebook users; in Money's fan favorite challenge, Columbus suburb beats out magazine's top town: Louisville, CO.
Why Louisville, CO is No. 1NEW YORK (Money) -- Louisville, Colo., may rank first on Money's 2009 list of the Best Places to Live, but Westerville, Ohio, is tops among Facebook fans.
The Columbus suburb garnered 3,449 fans from July 13 to July 30, making it Facebook users' most popular town, of the 25 places at the top of Money's list.
That Westerville snagged the most fans came as no surprise to Internet market consultant David Peters, 41, who has lived in Westerville for about 10 years.
"It's a really well-networked city," Peters says. "A lot of us know each other. The small-businesses owners like to work with other small-business owners. It's kind of a viral community in that respect."
Peters became a Facebook fan of Westerville, which ranked 15th on Money's list after he saw a colleague had become a fan. "Westerville is an awesome town," Peters said. "I wanted to support my community."
Comments on Westerville's Facebook page hype local businesses and schools and evoke residents' hometown pride in the city of 35,700. Facebook fan Courtney Osborne wrote about the "small town 'feel' of old Westerville, but big-city accommodations in dining, entertainment, shopping and commerce."
Westerville earned 1,310 more fans than its closest competitor, Keller, Tex., which ranked 10th on Money's list, and more than twice as many fans as Louisville.
Westerville's popularity reflects a concerted effort by city leaders to get the word out about Westerville's status among the Best Places to Live.
In addition to a volley of e-mails to friends and family by local leaders, the Westerville Convention & Visitors Bureau pushed visitors to its Web site to become fans of Westerville's Best Places Facebook page, and the city created its own Facebook page to do the same.
"Our [city] fan page was started in July, in conjunction with CNNMoney's competition," says Westerville Community Affairs administrator Christa Dickey, who created the page. "We used it to generate some buzz around the Money page. Our community really came together. They thought it was fun to take on the challenge."
Louisville started out with an early lead among Facebook fans, then July 16 -- three days into the challenge -- Keller, Texas, took the top spot. A week later, Westerville fans grabbed the top position and kept it till the end.
The campaign even drew media attention. A local news station aired a segment, featuring an interview with Westerville Mayor Anne Gonzales, encouraging watchers to demonstrate their support online by become fans of the city.
"I think it's wonderful, and I can see why there are so many fans," says Facebook fan and resident Susan Haas, 54, manager of a massage therapy clinic. "Everyone that lives in Westerville loves living there."
The top places have continued to earn additional fans. As of Friday morning, Westerville had 3,831 fans, followed by Keller with 2,279 fans and Louisville with 1,371 fans. CNNMoney.com will continue to track the number of fans of each place and post the results monthly.
City officials in Keller and Louisville said they did not know of any organized campaign to attract Facebook fans, but Keller Mayor Pat McGrail said the results did not surprise him. "That's typical of Keller," he said. "The people here are very tech-friendly and they really love this city."
Louisville resident and attorney Jim Tienken, 53, said he became a Facebook fan of Louisville after a Facebook friend recommended that he do so.
"There is a lot of stuff on Facebook that I just ignore, but this one struck a chord because it was something that I believed in," he said. 
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