Longview in U.S. Top 50? (Dallas, Fort Worth: how much, buy, schools)

[ripley]

Longview's economic vitality earns top 50 spot on Wall Street Journal list
By MIKE ELSWICK (Longview News-Journal)

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Longview's inclusion in a list of the top metropolitan areas for economic vitality offers validation the city is doing lots of things right, a local economic official said.

John Stroud, executive director of the Longview Economic Development Corp., said the ranking should carry lots of weight with national decision makers.

Longview was ranked No. 45 out of 379 metropolitan areas in the nation in a listing in Monday's Wall Street Journal. It was one of five Texas metropolitan areas to rank in the top 50 for economic vitality based on criteria developed by Moody's Economy.com, the Journal reported.

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Longview's economic vitality earns top 50 spot on Wall Street Journal list (broken link)

[Born in CA, Raised in TX]

Yeah, Longview!!!

[lonestar2007]

I've always wondered about polls, surveys, etc. Just exactly how do you get on the list and in what order. I can't say for sure, but I have my suspicions a lot of these "surveys" are played out according to just how much money is "donated".

I contend this practice is played out in all aspects of our society. Ever wonder about those magazines whose front cover displays the picture of a dentist, i.e., with the caption, "voted the most outstanding dentist in the metroplex for 2006"? How about the trade magazines which are made up of articles on the different manufacturers and filled with ads from the dealers. Ever wonder about the full page picture of a certain dealer, be it an automobile dealer, a tractor dealer, and the list can go on, that is displayed on the entire front cover of a magazine with the large caption, voted the best (automobile, tractor, motorcycle, etc) dealership in the metroplex for the year (fill inthe blank) This can be applied to dentists, doctors, furniture dealers and I guess to anybody who wanted to shell out big bucks for it. I guess I could buy the front cover of a magazine and paste my picture on it with the caption, voted best citizen of 2007 in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.

Exactly who votes??

Think cities are any different than private enterprise? They have their advertising budgets too. Some have more money to play with than others. All in all, it amounts to this, we're the best, come do your business with us, spend your money with us, help us grow so we can get even more money. I think it boils down to that age old answer, MONEY, the answer to everything, well not quite.

I'm just saying, I've always wondered. I've always wondered about other issues that come up, say schools bonds for example. Everybody in town with an exception of a handful of people are against it, yet it passes. It is starting to be a joke, no one vote at all, and let's see how many votes "they" tell us it passed by.