Least Likely To Suck Badly In Any Area
Wow, so there is this big hoopla about Pittsburgh being voted “Most Liveable” city for the first time since 1985 (out of 379 cities). This seems shocking until you check the criteria. There are a bunch of categories, and so well-rounded cities do well. I’ve never even heard of Places Rated before.
The seven-county area that makes up Pittsburgh failed to finish in the top 20 in any of the categories, ranging from a competitive 21st in recreation and 29th in education to a less-than-stellar 111th in housing and 135th in climate. But when the numbers are added up, the one that counts is the final total.
I can understand that. Pittsburgh is definitely the nicest city I have lived in so far (I’d say Toronto is the nicest I have visited), and the weather is never great but usually isn’t terrible. I’m not sure why it ranks so high in recreation, as it doesn’t seem like there is that much to do here, but maybe the sports teams are worth a lot of points. Here’s the top 10:
- Pittsburgh
- San Francisco
- Seattle
- Portland
- Philadelphia
- Rochester, N.Y.
- Washington, D.C.
- San Jose-Sunnyvale, CA
- Boston
- Madison, WI
Probably not how I would have ranked them, but oh well. I visited the website, and some of the choice pictures are amusing. I mean, if half the picture is covered by seagulls, what does that say about your city? Also, all the best areas are in the Northeast and Northwest…
This is the seventh edition of the “Places Rated Almanac,” and Pittsburgh hasn’t always finished first, dropping as low as 14th in 1997 and 12th in 1999, the last year that the listings were done. But the city is the only one to finish in the top 20 every time.
If you buy the book, you can also find out other gems like:
• Dangerous resort: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
• Car theft capital: Fresno, CA
Speaking of which:
Some cities, he said, have found that they get just as much publicity out of being ranked last. So, this year, the folks in Goldsboro, N.C., should be pleased.
QQ some more Goldsboro!
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Elsewhere Online | Kabitzin 04/27/2007
By Tochi, 04/27/2007 @ 3:31 pm
Interestingly enough, Foreign Direct Investment, the business magazine of the Financial Times of London, also released a similar study for “Cities of the Future” for North America.
http://www.gdi-solutions.com/fdi/2007future.htm#winners
Both Toronto (#2) and Pittsburgh (#3) placed really well.