Popularity contests / NYC just cracks list of best

 
It has been a few years since I paid attention to the annual college rankings in US News & World Report, but I remember the head-scratching that the ranking process engendered. CNNMoney.com brought those memories back with its rankings of the 100 best places to live and the 10 best “big” cities.
 
The methodology is transparent to the extent that they cite the statistical categories that they rely on to make these rankings (including things such as median household income, median home price, crime stats, and air quality), but these rankings are always a bit surreal.
 
A national shortage of big cities?
I will not dwell on the minutiae any longer, as the strangest things that struck me about the 10 Best Big Cities is … how small they are. Six of the top ten have populations between three and four hundred thousand, two others are under 750,000. Then there’s San Diego at 1,255,500.
 
New York City squeaks in to the rankings at #10, right behind Wichita. What kind of list of BIG cities is that??
 
I guess they like their big cities small out there in America….
© Sandy Mattingly 2006
 
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