Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This book is a knockoff of PLACES RATED ALMANAC, a superior book that has gone through several editions since 1981. The authors obviously weren't speaking to each other when they wrote this turkey. There are too many incredible mistakes and contradictions. Previous reviewers here have had a good time pointing out many. Let me weigh in with more.
Rochester, Minnesota feels like a small town, "although the population exceeds 1 million." Huh? Rochester's metro population is 130,000 according to the book. Could they have meant Rochester, New York? For Rochester, New York, we do see that its metro population is 1.1 million and that one of its big negatives is cost of living. Yet the book rates cost of living there at 90 percent of the US average of 100. How is that a negative? Could they have meant Rochester, Minnesota? They also say Rochester, New York is the "fourth rainiest place in the country," yet the book's data show annual precipitation there to be well under the US average.
You want rain? Let's travel to the Gulf South. Houston's annual rainfall is well above the national average, which the book notes. But it also notes that greater Houston "covers 900 miles, more than twice the size of Rhode Island." Could they have meant "more than half the size of Rhode Island?" Look it up: Rhode Island covers 1,545 square miles. Further east on the Gulf, New Orleans has annual rainfalls well above the national average, too, and the book notes the area's flood-prone conditions and hurricane risk. Yet the New Orleans's "inland water" is just 10 sq. miles, according to the book. New Orleans was just drowned by 600 sq. mile Lake Pontchartrain, an inland body of water that is completely surrounded by New Orleans's parishes. Still further east, Gainesville, Florida, "does not have serious problems with hurricanes." On the next page, however, the college town is rated much worse for "hurricane risk" than New Orleans. Whoa!
Nitpicking? Not at all. I'm just casually paging through this book, getting pretty uncomfortable with the multitude of mistakes.
One of Wilmington, Delaware's negatives is a lackluster forecast for "future job growth." But the book says the area, "led by the chemical industry, became a prosperous industrial center and remains so today with a healthy future job outlook." See what I mean? The book is totally unreliable.
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Cities Ranked & Rated: Your Guide to the Best Places to Live in the U.S. & Canada provides timely facts and unbiased information on over 400 U.S. and 30 Canadian cities in an easy-to-access format. Whether you're mulling over the idea of relocating, trying to decide where to start out, or just curious about how your hometown stacks up, you’ll be intrigued by Cities Ranked & Rated. In addition to providing population statistics, each city is ranked on a number of essential factors, many of which are of vital interest in today's economy. Categories include: economy and jobs, cost of living, climate, education, health and health care, crime, transportation, leisure, and arts and culture. Easy-to-use tables help you put this wealth of information to work to find the city that best suits your special needs and interests.
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