Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 26, 1993 TAG: 9310260324
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Chicago Tribune
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
The almanac gave the Ohio city its top rating after comparing it with 342 other metropolitan areas in its quadrennial survey.
The urban centers were evaluated on 10 equally weighted criteria: cost of living, projected jobs growth, affordable housing, transportation, higher education, health care, crime, availability of art and culture, recreation and climate.
But how did Philadelphia, which has some neighborhoods far more dangerous than New York's infamous South Bronx, get in the Top 10? And how did Washington, D.C., make the desirability grade when its mayor is begging for National Guard troops to fight crime?
David Savageau, coauthor with Richard Boyer, admits having "a few scars" from defending some of his choices. But his methodology, developed in 1970 by the Urban Institute, a Washington think tank, still is the best available, he said.
Based on the criteria used by the almanac, small urban centers dominated the bottom 10. No. 343, last place, was Yuba City, Calif.
\ A SLICE OF THE LIST\ THE TOP 10, AND WHERE VA. CITIES STAND
1. Cincinnati
2. Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash.
3. Philadelphia, Pa.-N.J.
4. Toronto
5. Pittsburgh
6. Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C.
7. Washington, D.C.
8. Salt Lake City-Ogden, Utah
9. Indianapolis, Ind.
10. Louisville, Ky.-Ind.
77. Richmond-Petersburg
83. Charlottesville
86. Lynchburg
89. ROANOKE
97. Norfolk-Virginia Beach
262. Danville
- Associated Press
by CNB