DATE: Monday, March 10, 1997                TAG: 9703080066

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Column 

SOURCE: Larry Maddry 

                                            LENGTH:   71 lines

REGION LEAPS TO NO. 42 IN "PLACES RATED ALMANAC"

WHILE WE WERE all checking our waistlines after that news story in which our region was ranked No. 2 in the country for fatness. . . we have been moving upward faster than a fast-rising biscuit.

Yep, the good news is that ``The Places Rated Almanac'' which ranks the best places to live in North America has ranked Norfolk-Virginia Beach and the Hampton Roads region No. 42.

That's a jump upward of 55 places - from our previous ranking of 97th - which is extraordinary given how fat we're supposed to be.

The almanac - published by MacMillan and Co. - ranks 351 metro areas based on nine factors including cost of living, job outlook, transportation, education, health care, crime, the arts, recreation and climate.

Our region had a higher ranking than Baltimore, Boston, Charleston, S.C., Daytona Beach, Fla. and Honolulu, Hawaii.

``The new ranking clearly indicates that Hampton Roads is gaining nationwide recognition as a dynamic and vibrant community,'' said Norfolk Economic Development Director Rod Woolard.

The bad news - of a sort - was that the Richmond metro area ranked 41. But odds are we jumped ahead of our sister city to the nawth before the ink had dried.

Our metro area has been moving up the rankings faster than the pizza express take-out line.

In 1982 we were 115 among 277 metropolitan areas. We have been moving up - on the average - about five places a year.

``The Places Rated Almanac'' is written by David Savageau and Geoffrey Loftus. Like its predecessors, the 1997 edition is meant ``For people who are mulling over a relocation as well as for anyone who enjoys learning about cities and towns and what they have to offer.

Ratings are not based on observation by the authors but by wading through the hills and dales of computer statistics, using a methodology developed at the Urban Institute, a Washington think tank. This produces a flawed but valuable work which, nevertheless, ignores factors such as scenery and the friendliness of the people.

Rating communities with statistics may have begun with H.L. Mencken - the Baltimore journalist - who once attempted to measure the progress of civilization in each of the states. He mixed the number of Boy Scouts and Atlantic Monthly subscribers with lynchings, ringworm and pellagra cases, adding a dash of Who's Who listings, murder cases, rainfall, divorces and gasoline consumption.

Mencken kept a belly full of Chesapeake Bay oysters, expanding his waistline. Which may explain why he avoided statistics about fatness. He concluded that Mississippi was the worst state.

Many believe it was the best and most accurate statistical survey ever done in the U.S.

Savageau lives outside Boston, a city which just made it into the top 50. I wouldn't want to be in his shoes. Small wonder it is impossible to get him on the telephone. I intended to phone and thank him for coming to his senses, moving us steadily upward in his rankings.

We met years ago. Back in 1982 when he ranked our region 115th in the country I bad-mouthed him in print for weeks. Then the newspaper invited him to come to Hampton Roads and take a look around.

He did. Savageau was impressed by the Chrysler Museum, Seashore State Park, the Virginia Beach resort section and Gary Berry's shrimp salad. (Gary and wife Carol served him a delicious meal at their Thorough-good home.)

About the only thing the Bostonian didn't care for during his stay was collards cooked with fatback. As he walked toward his plane to return home, I vowed to send him a gallon of collards a week. Unless, of course, he promised to move us up in the next almanac rankings.

Savageau said he would if I wouldn't. He was true to his word. Never underestimate the power of Southern cooking. KEYWORDS: PLACES RATED ALMANAC

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