150 best-run cities in USA.

[eddie gein]

Originally Posted by Mr. Zero

OKC is also much less dense than other "big cities". OKC has a population density of around 950 people per square mile, while cities like DC (with a similar population) have a population density of over 7000 per square mile.

OKC "density" is misleading due to the fact that a decent chunk of it is farm land.

[dozerbear]

Originally Posted by bus man

Interesting that all of the "lowest quality of roads" cities are in California, the car capital of the known universe. And it's amazing to me that Baltimore didn't "win" that one.

I noticed that too. It's even more surprising considering that roads don't freeze in any of those places, and they don't have studded tires chewing them up for almost half the year.

[hbdwihdh378y9]

Originally Posted by in_newengland

I scrolled down the entire page looking at cities with which I am familiar. Something is wrong when they say highest high school graduation rate is Virginia Beach. My sister lives there and it's mostly military/Navy base. Unless they mean high school but didn't go to college. Then they have VA Beach with the highest median annual income???? It's a Navy town--and that has nothing to do with the mayor. Non military can hardly afford to live there because the housing costs are high due to military housing.

None of that makes any sense. The fact that housing costs are high certainly doesn't suggest that incomes are low. And a military presence would suggest higher high school graduation rates, not lower.

[in_newengland]

Originally Posted by hbdwihdh378y9

None of that makes any sense. The fact that housing costs are high certainly doesn't suggest that incomes are low. And a military presence would suggest higher high school graduation rates, not lower.

I don't think that's what I said. Incomes ARE low. I never said it had anything to do with housing costs. The incomes are just low and the jobs are mostly things like retail and call centers except for the military. Low incomes. BUT the military apparently pays a lot towards housing and that jacks up the housing costs for everyone, including all those low income non military people. A huge naval base doesn't have a lot of highly educated people. Sure, most of the higher ups are well educated but the vast majority are not. My sister with just a BA degree is more educated than almost anyone she knows in Virginia Beach. Most of her daughter's graduating class didn't go on to college.

[Quick Enough]

Originally Posted by travis t

I know nothing about Wallet hub, but if you look at the link they seem to be pretty transparent about their methodology. Do you have any specific criticisms of the methodology used?

" Do you have any specific criticisms of the methodology used?"


" We constructed a “Quality of Services.....”

[Quick Enough]

Originally Posted by in_newengland

I scrolled down the entire page looking at cities with which I am familiar. Something is wrong when they say highest high school graduation rate is Virginia Beach. My sister lives there and it's mostly military/Navy base. Unless they mean high school but didn't go to college. Then they have VA Beach with the highest median annual income???? It's a Navy town--and that has nothing to do with the mayor. Non military can hardly afford to live there because the housing costs are high due to military housing.

Highest unemployment rate is Hartford, CT. That's near me. It's ghetto, has been for years and never changes whether it's a Dem or a Repub. Probably will have the lowest income too.

Lowest long-term debt? Baltimore? That's supposed to be a good thing? Baltimore???

Rutland, VT is drugs. Don't know whether the mayor is Dem or Repub.

Springfield, MA is ghetto. Doesn't matter who the mayor is.

I don't understand what this is supposed to prove. Cities are stuck with their own demographics and that's what makes them what they are more than anything. Elect a new mayor and he/she will try to turn things around but it could take generations. One snapshot in time to see who is the major doesn't tell us very much.

" Non military can hardly afford to live there because the housing costs are high due to military housing."
You do NOT know much about Va. beach.


MY sister-in-law has lived here for over 50 years. Her husband is a native of Norfolk.

[censusdata]

In Kentucky Louisville and Lexington both have Democrat mayors and majority councils but Louisville is a corrupt mess while Lexington runs like a well oiled machined.

[Bureaucat]

My town (Lexington, Ky.) was ranked #5. In Lexington we have non-partisan municipal elections. At the local level, we don’t get so tied up in partisan politics. Our old mayor, Jim Gray, was a gay Democrat. Our current mayor, Linda Gorton, is a registered Republican who held non-partisan elected positions for years. She was Vice-Mayor under Gray. Her primary mayoral opponent was the recently retired sheriff who tried to make a point that Linda was a registered Republican while he was a registered Democrat in a county that actually votes blue in national elections. It didn’t work. Lexingtonians knew Linda Gorton as a familiar face who had served her city well over the years and elected her. Not everything has to be politicized nationally. At the local level, we can concentrate of basic needs and who can get things done. I’m as rabid a Democrat as anyone posting here, but I voted for Linda, because she was the best qualified candidate and not so rabid or partisan that she would do anything to adversely affect the community.

A number of years ago we had a divisive situation where the Mayor was a liberal Democrat attorney (Teresa Isaacs) while the Vice Mayor (Mike Scanlon) was a conservative Republican who was a VP at Thomas and King which held the franchise rights for Applebee’s and other restaurants. That was the exception though. Normally the Lexington model works very well.