Some lists, like Dave Letterman’s Top 10 list, are just for fun. Others, like the increasingly popular best-or-worst places lists — to retire, for singles or to start a business — are more serious.

Many such listings are debatable but, still, some lists are worthy of attention. That’s certainly the case with Cranberry Township making Businessweek.com’s Best Places to Raise Kids list for 2013.

The ongoing economic development in Cranberry is a familiar story to anyone in Butler County. And with easy access to Pittsburgh, combined with lower Butler County taxes compared with neighboring Alle- gheny County’s, the area continues to offer many appealing qualities that attract both businesses and residents.

The Businessweek survey of 3,200 places across the country with populations between 5,000 and 50,000 ranked Cranberry tops in Pennsylvania and 39th in the United States. That’s something worth celebrating.

All the expected ingredients considered to be part of quality of life were used in the rankings. Cranberry boasts relative affluence, quality education, good transportation systems and township-supported recreational facilities. It also offers generally short commute times, a good percentage of families with children, as well as some cultural diversity. All of these qualities factored into its top ranking.

Many qualities contributed to Cranberry’s top ranking. But it’s unlikely most of them would have materialized without the township’s strategic location at the crossroads for two major highways, Interstate 79 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike. That key ingredient fueled development, both commercial and residential, that continues today.

In recent years, the ongoing development along Route 228 and the construction of the Westinghouse corporate headquarters that brought with it 3,000 jobs have made the most news.

The latest buzz has been over the construction of a new Catholic high school and the planned development of a hockey-focused sports-medicine center involving UPMC and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Both of these projects will continue to keep plenty of attention — and traffic — on Route 228.

Quoted in a Pittsburgh newspaper, Perry O’Malley, executive director of the Butler County Redevelopment Authority, said, “Location drives development. Ten years from now, you’ll see building spreading up toward Slippery Rock.”

It is likely that as building density and real estate prices combine to limit further development in Cranberry, growth will spread along highways — mostly east, along Route 228, and north, along I-79 and Route 19.

Some parts of Butler County will likely see growth as that happens, but the core Butler area will likely miss out because of the limited highway connections between the city and Cranberry. The best and most viable option that would benefit both Cranberry and parts of south-central Butler County would be funding for the much-discussed expansion of Route 228 between I-79 and Route 8.

In the meantime, Butler County can take pride in Cranberry’s top ranking by Businessweek — and find ways to capitalize on the growth in the southwestern part of the county as it spreads.