CHARLOTTESVILLE - If Charlottesville were a beauty queen, she would be Miss America.

She's healthy, beautiful, smart and knows a fine wine.

She was named best city to live in -- in the United States and Canada -- in 2004 by Frommer's.

That was in the midst of getting the best place to live nod from Money Magazine from 2001 to 2005 and before making Relocate America's top five places to relocate.

In fact, Thomas Jefferson's country has been tapped by 20 different lists -- and those are just the ones the city has kept track of recently.

The kudos make some city officials and residents proud but leave others nervous that the attributes the city gets credit for may not last if lots of people relocate there. The listings range from best tennis town to best small-college town to a retiree's haven.

But which attributes make the city so attractive depends on whom you ask.

Tonisha White, a 19-year-old Norfolk State University student, attended high school in Charlottesville and wants to return someday. She noted the history in the area and thought the presence of the University of Virginia made the city more economically stable.

"I think it's a good place to settle down -- peaceful, real laid-back," she said.

Randy Page, who recently slowed on the city's pedestrian mall to let his two dogs sniff a canine friend, pondered what he likes about the city.

"It has a Southern cosmopolitanism that I think is hard to get, and it's small enough so it's accessible to everyone," said Page, a resident for more than 50 years. "I can catch a bus now and go anywhere in town."

A few restaurant facades away, Sarah Freedman and Lee Ann Kinkade were sitting on a couch in the popular Mudhouse coffee shop and chatting. Freedman, eight-year Charlottesville resident, rattled off a list of things that make her love the city: good schools, beauty, a substantial but not overwhelming downtown scene, a strong music scene and good restaurants.

For Kinkade, who grew up in the area, the cultural arts scene is a big draw.

But there are downsides to any city, and lots of residents talk about Charlottesville's heavy traffic and its lack of affordable housing. Freedman mentioned those, and a lack of shopping -- shoe shopping, specifically.

Which brings us back to the praise. Anyone with shoe-peddling aspirations may want to consider Charlottesville.

It was named by the Forbes/Milken Institute in 2001 among the best small places for business and career.

Just add it to the list.