Since 2006, Eden Prairie, a suburb 12 miles southwest of downtown Minneapolis and the 12th largest city in the state, has been named by Money magazine as one of the "Best Places to Live" in America. In 2010, it ranked No. 1 in the same survey. "Not only is it family-friendly, it has a dynamite economy too," explains the Money report. And it's true: In addition to beautiful parks, 17 lakes for swimming and ice skating, gently rolling hills and prairie, and bluffs overlooking the Minnesota River, the city's unemployment rate is nearly a point lower than the rest of the county's, and over four points lower than the national average. Numbers and statistics aside, some may decry the recent transition in the area from bucolic rural farmland to branded urban sprawl. Their objections may be quieted, however, by the addition of a number of unique and community-oriented businesses, including the Prairie Ale House, a European gastropub-style restaurant and bar opened in a former Timber Lodge Steakhouse by Town Talk and Strip Club alums co-owner Aaron Johnson, executive chef Tommy Begnaud, and bar manager Adam Harness.