Forbes names Minneapolis safest city in America

November 2, 9:14 AMMinneapolis City Guide ExaminerLori Wilson

Forbes has officially named Minneapolis the safest city in America for 2009. The metropolitan area grabbed the Number 1 spot of America's safest cities and also ranked in the top 10 in all four categories, including number of workplace fatalities, low crime rate, traffic-related deaths and natural disaster risk. Minneapolis is also one of America's best places to live cheaply and offers easy access to some of the most scenic drives in the country, according to Forbes.com.

The Forbes.com 2009 list based the rankings on the country's top 40 metropolitan areas. In a look at the rankings behind the numbers, they considered 2008 workplace death rates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2008 traffic death rates from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; and natural disaster risk, using rankings from green living site SustainLane.com.

Other cities who made the top five safest cities in the country include Portland, OR, Boston, Seattle and Milwaukee, WI. 

While Minneapolis has had its fair share of violent crime over the years, crime has fallen at its lowest level in close to a decade, thanks to community outreach programs and proactive police involvement, Read how one of the city's most violent neighborhoods became the city's newest 'Gayborhood of the Year'.