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I ran across this statistic recently, and I have to say, it made me rather nervous. Do you realize that 60% of the bookstores in the entire United States are within 100 miles of New York City? And of the rest, the majority are in or close to Boston and San Francisco.
The first thought I had when I read that was, it doesn't say a lot for many of our fellow Americans.
Wow.. that bothers me a lot, especially since I'm very fond of book stores, and spend a great portion of some of my days in them.. now I'm afraid to move!
I ran across this statistic recently, and I have to say, it made me rather nervous. Do you realize that 60% of the bookstores in the entire United States are within 100 miles of New York City? And of the rest, the majority are in or close to Boston and San Francisco.
The first thought I had when I read that was, it doesn't say a lot for many of our fellow Americans.
I'm not at all surprised. I live in L.A. and for the most part nobody reads here. Bookstores are always so empty. I picked the community I live in because it had the busiest bookstore I'd seen. I thought that said something about my neighbors.
I ran across this statistic recently, and I have to say, it made me rather nervous. Do you realize that 60% of the bookstores in the entire United States are within 100 miles of New York City? And of the rest, the majority are in or close to Boston and San Francisco.
The first thought I had when I read that was, it doesn't say a lot for many of our fellow Americans.
Then why does NYC only rank #63 (62 other cities ahead of us) when it comes to being "America's Most Literate City"? The rankings are based on the number of bookstores per 10,000 people.
Then why does NYC only rank #63 (62 other cities ahead of us) when it comes to being "America's Most Literate City"? The rankings are based on the number of bookstores per 10,000 people.
It's not just based on bookstores. They threw in something about "members of the booksellers assoc per 10,000 people". I wish they'd take that out. I don't know how much that skews the results.
It's not just based on bookstores. They threw in something about "members of the booksellers assoc per 10,000 people". I wish they'd take that out. I don't know how much that skews the results.
Well, it's a bit hard to interpret, but the way I read the chart is to look at BOTH the "rank" and the "overall rank"
I understood the "rank" to be the number of bookstores per 10,000 people, and the "overall rank" to include the other variables, such as number of booksellers assoc. members.
I don't know if I am reading it correctly (I guess this probably proves to them that I come from a city that ranks only 63) but that's my understanding.
And my point for this thread is that I didn't see a link anywhere else above to go with the stats that were quoted in post #1. I don't really believe it because the 100 miles thing didn't make much sense to me. It was just a little weird - could be true, but I would like to see the article or the link where it came from.
I don't know about the statistics but I do know that the evidence of how much New Yorkers read can be found on the streets of Manhattan. How many other cities boast so many street booksellers?
Also keep in mind vast majority of the United States isn't as densely populated as the megaopolis that is the stretch from DC to Boston. In my old hometown of Lake Charles, La the entire parish that it is located in has a smaller population than some neighborhoods in Manhattan therefore there isnt a need for a ton of bookstores. There aren't even that many movie stores or electronic stores in the area.
Hopefully the rest of the country is going to the library instead.
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