Ask people the first thing that comes to mind when they hear Marshall, Minnesota, and something about Schwan's will more than likely be part of the response.
Ask Outdoor Life magazine, however, and ice cream and frozen pizza might not be part of the answer.
The national magazine recently published its second "Top 200 affordable, thriving and perfectly wild towns in America," and Marshall came in at No. 167 overall. In a separate list, the magazine ranked the Top 20 towns "where your money goes the furthest" and Marshall was tied with Ogallala, Neb., for 20th overall.
The highest-ranking Minnesota city in that list was Rochester, which came in second behind Pierre, S.D. Rochester and Marshall were two of three Minnesota cities to make the list, with Red Wing coming in at No. 16.
In the Top 200 list, Rochester was No. 9 and Pierre was No. 8. Lewiston, Idaho, home to everything from whitetails and mule deer, to black bears and mountain lions, came in at No. 1. Three of the Top 5 in the overall list of 200 cities are in Idaho.
The list is a spin-off of sorts from last year's Top 200. Data were compiled in two scoring categories: socio-economic and outdoors-related. The surveys factor in population percentage growth since 2000, median home price, median household income, mean commute time, amenities such as schools and hospitals, and unemployment rate.
City-specific data for the survey was taken from city-data.com, which listed Marshall as having a median household income of $43,909 in 2007 (up from $37,950 in 2000), an estimated median house value of $164,032 in 2007 (up from $92,400 in 2000) and a cost-of-living index of 81.2 (the U.S. average is 100).
Oh yeah, and hunting played a factor in the final results, too. In fact, 60 percent of a city's total score was based on hunting/fishing and the outdoors, while the other 40 percent used the socio-economic data for each city. All the cities are within a short driving distance from top-notch hunting and fishing, and are graded on fishable species, huntable species, public land access, trophy potential and gun laws.
The author of the piece, Outdoor Life senior editor John Taranto, admitted to not knowing much about Marshall, but said being on the list means the city "stands up against a lot of other towns in terms of meeting the criteria to be a top city.
"A lot of places, you can go out your back door and hunt, but that doesn't mean there's a great place to send your kids to school," he said. "We looked at that - is there a hospital nearby with an emergency room, is there a theater, things like that."
Taranto started working on the project in January and spent about three months compiling all the data that went into the final rankings.
"It was definitely a labor of love," Taranto said. "It was exhausting and exhaustive at the same time. It was very consuming, but also very rewarding to see it on the page."
Linda Erb, manager of the Marshall Convention and Visitors Bureau, said any positive attention Marshall and the region can garner is a good thing.
"Any time you can get on something that highlights your strengths and offers free publicity " Erb said. "I would expect it would drive people to our Web site, where you can go to our home page and see hunting, golfing in the region. As soon as you draw someone in for hunting, there's also a birding site. When people outside the region see what we have to offer, I see it only as a positive thing."
The Marshall CVB has a partnership with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for its "Hunt Southwest Minnesota" guide and said it's been a big success all over the state. The brochure, which can also be found on the CVB's Web site, has updated local hunting maps for Lyon, Lincoln, Murray and Pipestone counties and highlights area Wildlife Management Areas.
Erb, who distributes the CVB's "Hunt Southwest Minnesota" brochure at the annual Game Fair in Anoka, said Marshall and the region are on hunters' radar.
"At the Game Fair, people comment to me all the time," she said. "The motels will tell you, we have had hunters in the lobby and said they saw our booth at the Game Fair and we can track them to Marshall."