[atari 2600]

Today the second edition of “Cities Ranked & Rated: More Than 400 Metropolitan Areas Evaluated in the U.S. & Canada” (Wiley Publishing), 850 pages by Bert Sperling and Peter Sander, will thud onto bookstore shelves. Gainesville, Fla. (No. 1) will be cheering, and Modesto, Calif. (No. 373) will be fuming.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifesty...p-cities_N.htm


By Bob Minzesheimer, USA TODAY
Gainesville, a "right-sized college town" that's home to the University of Florida, is the best place to live in the USA, according to a new book.

(I suppose college sports championships are more important determinants than the heat, drug crime and persistent hurricane threat...what a fucking joke!)

Cities Ranked & Rated (Wiley, $24.99) gives high marks to several other "satellite cities" attracting telecommuters, including Bellingham, Wash., (No. 2) and Colorado Springs (No. 4).
At the bottom of the rankings of 375 metropolitan areas is Modesto, Calif.
The 848-page book by Bert Sperling and Peter Sander rates cities in 10 categories, from the economy to the arts. It gives the most weight to cost of living, climate and one subjective measure: quality of life.
It updates 2004 rankings by the authors, who have given more weight to affordable housing and reasonable commuting times. Sperling says, "Two-hour commutes, one-way, are no longer uncommon."

Charlottesville, Va., No. 1 in 2004 (in the 1st edition), dropped to No. 17 after median home prices doubled.

(Yeah, thanks a lot for that, Sperling.)

Gainesville (up from No. 56 ) benefits from "a strong concentration of young people and active retirees." With a population of 248,000, its only drawbacks are hot, sticky summers and a relatively high violent crime rate, most of it drug-related.

(The fact that any city in Florida is ranked highly (well, Jacksonville is okay, I guess) is ridiculous. Please note that no other Florida city makes the top 50.)

Sander says "one bad score on one key fact doesn't severely affect the ranking, so long as it isn't outside an acceptable range." But the high-crime rate helped keep Gainesville off Money magazine's 2006 list of 100 Best Places to Live, based on a different methodology.
Modesto and several other central California cities suffer from high unemployment and crime and expensive housing.
The book, the most comprehensive rating of cities, relies on statistics as well as the authors' judgments of physical attractiveness and "ease of living."
The biggest losers since the 2004 rankings are larger cities with lower scores in the book's "three Cs — cost, commute and crime."

Atlanta dropped from No. 7 to 54, Minneapolis-St. Paul from No. 24 to 262, and New York from No. 40 to 251.

"Rapid growth and sprawl are starting to take their toll," says Sander, who lives near Sacramento (No. 183, down from No. 85). He says it's "expanding faster than the infrastructure can support."
Utah has three of the top 15 spots (Ogden, No. 6, Logan, No. 12, and Provo, No. 13), "affordable places with great recreational opportunities and low crime," Sperling says. "They are hot places for the foreseeable future, until overpopulation drives up home prices and drives down livability."

[atari 2600]

THE TOP 50

 

1. Gainesville, FL
2. Bellingham, WA
3. Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR
4. Colorado Springs, CO
5. Ann Arbor, MI
6. Ogden-Clearfield, UT
7. Asheville, NC
8. Fort Collins-Loveland, CO
9. San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA
10. Boise City-Nampa, ID
11. Santa Barbara-Santa Maria, CA
12. Logan, UT-ID
13. Provo-Orem, UT
14. Corvallis, OR
15. Durham, NC
16. Olympia, WA
17. Charlottesville, VA
18. Flagstaff, AZ
19. Indianapolis-Carmel, IN
20. Santa Fe, NM
21. Dover, DE
22. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA
23. Sebastian-Vero Beach, FL
24. Lexington-Fayette, KY
25. Lafayette, IN
26. Napa, CA
27. Salt Lake City, UT
28. Rockingham County-Strafford County, NH
29. Athens-Clarke County, GA
30. Richmond, VA
31. Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point area, NC
32. Iowa City, IA
33. Columbus, IN
34. Medford, OR
35. St. Louis, MO
36. Columbus, OH
37. Spokane, WA
38. Cincinnati-Middletown area, OH-KY-IN
39. Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton area, PA-NJ
40. Fargo, ND-MN
41. Lake County-Kenosha County area, IL-WI
42. Wilmington area, DE-MD-NJ
43. Wichita, KS
44. Louisville-Jefferson County area, KY-IN
45. Ocean City, NJ
46. Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA
47. Winchester area, VA-WV
48. Spartanburg, SC
49. State College, PA
50. Evansville area, IN-KY

 

[atari 2600]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/06/realestate/06cov.html?ex=1336104000&en=fb9cdb535681b4bc&ei=50 90&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

The Guy Who Picks the Best Places to Live

EVERY so often, a report comes out listing the best (or worst) cities to live in, the most romantic, the most child-friendly or the most affordable.
Skip to next paragraph
The cities at the top gloat; those at the bottom ignore the findings or dismiss them as skewed or irrelevant.

But in one part of the country, little changes. The man responsible for many of those rankings, Bert Sperling, continues to plug away, dividing his time between Portland and Depoe Bay, Ore., compiling yet more data for yet more lists, just as he has for the last 20 years.

[Пятхъдесят Шест]

Obviously, they just don't like Omaha.

[cryptowonderdruginvogue]

 

til the day i die

H-TOWN, STAY DOWN
THROWED FOR LIFE

[Danny Himself]

Bellingham, WA is a nice place. I've only whizzed through it in a car but it was very nice.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by atari 2600

THE TOP 50

 

1. Gainesville, FL
2. Bellingham, WA
3. Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR
4. Colorado Sprigngs, CO
5. Ann Arbor, MI
6. Ogden-Clearfield, UT
7. Asheville, NC
8. Fort Collins-Loveland, CO
9. San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA
10. Boise City-Nampa, ID
11. Santa Barbara-Santa Maria, CA
12. Logan, UT-ID
13. Provo-Orem, UT
14. Corvallis, OR
15. Durham, NC
16. Olympia, WA
17. Charlottesville, VA
18. Flagstaff, AZ
19. Indianapolis-Carmel, IN
20. Santa Fe, NM
21. Dover, DE
22. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA
23. Sebastian-Vero Beach, FL
24. Lexington-Fayette, KY
25. Lafayette, IN
26. Napa, CA
27. Salt Lake City, UT
28. Rockingham County-Strafford County, NH
29. Athens-Clarke County, GA
30. Richmond, VA
31. Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point area, NC
32. Iowa City, IA
33. Columbus, IN
34. Medford, OR
35. St. Louis, MO
36. Columbus, OH
37. Spokane, WA
38. Cincinnati-Middletown area, OH-KY-IN
39. Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton area, PA-NJ
40. Fargo, N.D.-M.N.
41. Lake County-Kenosha County area, IL-WI
42. Wilmington area, DE-MD-NJ
43. Wichita, KS
44. Louisville-Jefferson County area, KY-IN
45. Ocean City, NJ
46. Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA
47. Winchester area, VA-WV
48. Spartanburg, SC
49. State College, PA
50. Evansville area, IN-KY

i wouldn't want to be caught dead in most of those places. i'm going back to a blue state as soon as i get my shit together. which may take some time. i'm not letting a magazine tell me what i like. gainesville florida better than glorious new york? in what universe?

[Danny Himself]

In the universe of statistics and facts!

[atari 2600]

Originally Posted by Пятхъдесят Шест

Obviously, they just don't like Omaha.

He's big on college towns. I happen to agree.
Omaha ranked highly on Money magazine's list last year (in the top ten, I think, for larger cities).

Sperling is competent, although the Gainesville, FL, thing irks me a bit. And that's not because Charlottesville fell to number seventeen on his list. When Charlottesville was ranked number one in his first book (2004), it was the worst thing that could have happened for this town.
Gainesville is a cool college town with lots to do and is affordable; still I wouldn't want to live in Florida. If forced, I would pick Jacksonville on the Atlantic a little further north. In Jacksonville, the Einstein a Go Go was (it's closed down now) a block away from the beach. I can dig that. Some other club is there now. Virgina Beach, for instance, has a boardwalk-ish atmosphere, but all those clubs suck.

NYC is a wonderful place to visit, but it's not feasible to live there unless you're loaded. And, as I've maintained before, although NYC has some fo the world's greatest museums and galleries, Central Park and so on, there is very little to do there that's affordable and fun. There is really no music scene except for the occasional Brooklyner show and Greenwich Village/Alphabet City/SoHo area is dead as a doornail. It's all a tourist-trappy, cheese-laden, yuppie-haven now. Case in point: something's definitely wrong when the hip place to be is the Tower Records by NYU or some place like Joe's Pub. And please spare me any rap about Kim's or Bleecker Street. All those street vendors they allow that sell the bootlegged shit are quite the smelly eyesore too. They do have Conan and Letterman there though; there's something for free to do if you want to stand around all day hoping to be let in, that is.

As much as my fantasy would be to be a New York artist, I still would prefer to move to Chicago if forced to choose. Chicago has all the great things New York City does, only there's actually several thriving music scenes and more to do overall. It's also a hell of a lot more affordable to live there, and the people, in general, are cooler.

I cannot speak for this new edition (it's probably good though), but the first one is a fun read and is very well-written. It's too bad it brought a curse upon the town I live though.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by Danny Himself

In the universe of statistics and facts!

There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.

[Danny Himself]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.

30% of people know that, !@#$%!.

[!@#$%!]

Originally Posted by Danny Himself

30% of people know that, !@#$%!.

ha ha ha ha

[atari 2600]

The saying is a generally true one.

Although the list does take into account many relevant statistical factors, the primary author visits places all the time as research. His calculations are based on more than just statistical analysis, which is evident once you've read one of the books.

[Silent Dan Speaks]

As someone who lives in Indiana, I wonder how the hell so many Indiana cities got on there.

[atari 2600]

Silent Dan has spoken.

A moment of silence, please.

I know people in Carmel/Indy area...it's okay, but can't speak for the rest of Indiana.

[demonrail666]

The only place I've visited on that list is Columbus Oh, which sort of makes me fear for those ranked beneath it.

[atari 2600]

I've lived in three places (four, sort of) on the list, visited several (although it's been years), and been through many.

In the top 10, I'm not so sure about Gainesville or Asheville, although both should make a top 50. Chapel Hill-Carrboro should be there instead.

For 11-19 I'm not gung ho about the inclusion of Durham, NC. (You get a lot for your money in property or home value in NC, but it's still North Carolina. Then again, I suppose it's okay; there are worse places (such as South Carolina)).

For 20-30, Dover, DE stands-out as a misplaced pick.

30-40, I don't know why Allentown is on there.

As for 40-50, I think any of them could be replaced. Ocean City, NJ is probably the best of that particular bunch.

[nature scene]

Spartanburg, SC? Seriously?

I lived there for 4 years, and I'm still waiting for something good. The only reason it should be there is because it's only 40 minutes to asheville.

- it does have a nice small town feel, and it really should be an artsy place, but all the independent-minded people stay hidden away from the larger community.

I'll pick a bone with atari on NC. North Carolina is definitely in my top 3 states.