index index index index As long as Americans are in love with lists and insecure about keeping up with their neighbors (in some far off state in this case)...books like this will continue to prosper, regardless of whether they actually make sense.

I found the weather section less than helppful as it didn't give any real information (days above 90 degrees snowfall etc) but opted for a 50 page breakdown of "regional weather environments"??

Not taking into concideration that weather can change signifigantly between neighboring cities just a few dozen miles apart.

I wrote them to express my dissatisfaction with this and other aspects and I was told that a new edition will be on shelves next year and that I should just buy the next one and hope for the best.

I donated the book to my local library.
My family is in process of moving, and this book has been a great help in figuring out where is a good place, and where isn't based on what we think is important (crime rates, school systems, etc) and things we don't think are important. Other lists from magazines are loaded with "totals" of what they feel are most important, but that doesn't mean it's relevant or most important to us. With the breakdowns by category of the "best places" and why, it makes it easier to understand, too. And, it's nice to see that where I grew up rates so well, too. The only thing I thought that should be added or different: growing up in the Northeast, within an hours' drive, there are many other rated regions that rated better (or worse) than others. For example, it would have been nice to see that although some areas didn't have a high concentration of universities, that within a 30-mile drive, there actually were a lot, might help people who aren't as familiar with the areas as some that lived there or grew up there.I ordered this book to give me some idea of where I wanted to move to and settled down for retirement. It was very informative with a lot of great information. It gives you a wide range of info from traffic, schools, jobs, housing, cost of living, things to do, etc. This is a very useful resource if you are moving or retiring to another area or state. Excellent research tool!Savageau has surpassed himself. The new PRA has more criteria, more detail, and more pages. I checked his new data on my city and he's got all the new info in it, which shows his thoroughness. He actually knows more about my city than I do.

I'll be reading this book 'til the next one, which I did with the previous one. Everytime I open it up I find a new category. There's nothing like it! I'm addicted now to demographics.

Even the older editions give you a lot of valuable information.
I highly recommend it.This blockbuster best-seller makes headlines coast to coast with its candid, fascinating look at all the factors that contribute to our quality of life. Sometimes controversial and always thought-provoking, Places Rated has been completely updated with the latest statistics. It's packed with timely facts and unbiased information on more than 350 metro areas in North America.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 Places Rated Almanac. Places Rated ranks each metropolitan area on a number of essential factors, many of which are of vital interest in today's economy. They include:Easy-to-use charts help readers put this wealth of information to work to find the places that best suit their special needs and interests. Packed with unbiased, reliable and up-to-date information, this one-of-a-kind guide offers something to amuse or intrigue on every page. Newly redesigned this year with a two-color interior!Looking to live somewhere where houses are cheap? Head to Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Iowa, where the average home costs $75,700, and annual property taxes for that home are about $960. Perhaps a good job market is a higher priority. In that case, pick Phoenix, Arizona; Las Vegas, Nevada; or Riverside, California, as they top the list of places projected to have the highest-percentage increase in new jobs by 2005. Most of those jobs, by the way, are expected to have above-average pay. This and other detailed information can be found in the sixth edition of Places Rated Almanac, a helpful resource for people thinking of relocating as well as those with a desire to learn about cities and towns. Metropolitan areas are rated in nine categories: costs of living, job outlook, transportation, education, health care, crime, the arts, recreation, and climate. But don't go looking for statistics on Podunk--the focus remains on 354 metro areas, metro defined as a city or urbanized population of at least 50,000, located in a county with a total population of at least 100,000.

Places Rated is laced with intelligent and, unexpectedly, witty writing. The whole concept of judging places, the author notes, may seem the utmost of brass. "Yet everyone does it, privately. Some suspect that culture in Omaha or Des Moines or Saskatoon is a contradiction. Others surmise that daily life in Miami consists of surviving drug-trade shoot-outs..." Organized intelligently, Places Rated acknowledges that "livability" and "quality of life" are moving targets. Livable for whom? The artist who wants mountain vistas? The entrepreneur who wants low taxes and no red tape? With these limitations in mind, the book ends with a chapter titled "Putting It All Together," where the reader is invited to rate cities with a customized list of priorities. Arriving at your customized list, however, requires answering 72 questions that force you to decide once and for all what you value most--a low cost of living or good school districts or mild winters or some other criterion. And should you find that climate matters most, head for Santa Barbara, California, where winters and summers are mild and natural hazards are few, and stay away from Rochester, Minnesota, unless you're willing to endure 35 days when it's 0 degrees Fahrenheit, and 165 days of 32 degrees Fahrenheit, annually. --John Russell suria review reviews analysis analyze