Have there been any studies done to determine what qualities make a
location a good place to live? Are there any magazine, newspaper,
and/or journal articles that describe if and how Leesburg, Virginia is
a good place to live?

Dear Bowman, 

The CNN/Money site has a place where you could see a survey of the
"Best Places to Live" in the United States.
Best Places to Live
<http://money.cnn.com/best/bplive/>  

You could see the details about Leesburg, VA and how it ranks out of
1260 cities nationwide, and how it compares with the national average
at this page:
Leesburg, VA
<http://money.cnn.com/best/bplive/details/5144984.html> 

Now, "best" is a definition that depends on what you as an individual,
are looking for. For example, they rank fairly good in lower crime
rates, the population's economic condition; but rank poorly in
cultural and leisure opportunities. That is up to you. If you have
children, the most important thing might be the level of the local
schools (they rank 336 of 1,260 in teacher/student ratio, which might
be good, but in the case of schools it is always worth to make triple
checks...).

Other city ranking sites: 
Best Places.net 
<http://www.bestplaces.net/> 

MSN - Compare Cities
<http://houseandhome.msn.com/pickaplace/comparecities.aspx> 
Based on the abovementioned site (bestplaces.net), and could give you
a cost of living comparison.

CityRating
<http://www.cityrating.com/> 
Does not contain Leesburg, VA. 

I hope this answered your question. My search terms: 
["best cities to live"]
<://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22best+cities+to+live%22>
(but it is not entirely fair, because I knew about this type of sites
;-)

Please contact me if you need any further clarifications on this
answer before you rate it.

There is also a book called ?Cities Ranked and Rated: More than 400
Metropolitan Areas Evaluated in the U.S. and Canada.?  I?m not sure if
Leesburg is in it, but it might give you ideas about what to keep in
mind as you research the city.

You can purchase the book at:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/076452562X/103-4205369-6223847?v=glance

I am planning to relocate after receiving a graduate degree in a
couple years. I like to play around with a site called Find Your Spot.
www.findyourspot.com. You answer 8 screens of questions and it builds
a list of 24 cities you might like to live in based on your criteria.
You can also add cities that you already like that don't come up in
your profile.