The cities of Cedar Park and Leander are standing out to community-watchers, including real-estate broker firm Movoto, which found Cedar Park the fifth most desirable city in the nation in a report released Oct. 28.

Security corporation SafeWise named Leander the eighth safest city in Texas on Oct. 24, followed closely by Cedar Park at No. 10.

That's coming as good news to both communities' leaders and security officers.

Cedar Park Mayor Matt Powell said the report endorses the city's efforts to draw more restaurants, stores, parks and entertainment venues to Cedar Park. Powell said even a decade ago, more residents felt they could only find such opportunities in Austin.

"It's a little bit of a validation," he said. "This is what the citizens have been asking for."

But the city won't soon stop seeking more ways to appeal to families, he added.

"I think the biggest thing that we could bring in right now are more primary jobs," he said.

As for the SafeWise survey's recent high safety ranking for Cedar Park, Powell credited the city's prioritization of police and fire department spending.

"That's 52 percent of our budget between those two," he said. "Our budget is heavily [geared] toward public safety."

The U.S. Census Bureau has named Cedar Park the fourth fastest-growing city in the nation. But "we've maintained a small-town feel," Powell said. "Citizen diligence and citizen input into the crime-fighting process definitely contributes to that."

In Leander, Police Chief Greg Minton said citizen/officer interaction contributes greatly to area safety.

"It's easier to report crimes to people you know rather than [you] just walking in and feeling like you're wasting our time," Minton said.

That seems to be the case in some larger cities, including Minton's hometown of San Antonio, where he said residents avoided police or felt their concerns didn't matter.

"Please call. That is our time. That is our business. That is what we do," he said.

Explaining its findings, Movoto.com editor Randy Nelson wrote that the firm surveyed the nation's 25 most-populated cities. In each city, they tallied the three largest suburbs amenities, including cost of living, crime rates, dining and shopping opportunities, student/teacher ratios and more. SafeWise's list came from compiling the FBI's crime statistics and its own research.