Talking to both students and teachers it seems much more institutionalized than a learning environment. I really enjoyed my public schooling and it seems like a much different era now.
I am a renter so I can't really comment too much on cost of living as it corresponds directly with "how nice of an apt. do we want?" According to those numbers it seems like despite being the smallest city on that list, the cost of living is quite high. Most of the teachers I know teach in much smaller districts though.