Most Literate City - Pittsburgh pulls in at #5 (Washington: university, live)

[escilade18]

We used to have a Borders in E. Liberty which I was hoping would become a Barnes and Nobel, but in the end didn't. Also the Water Works complex is technically in Lincoln-Lemington-Balmar although one would never guess it in a million years Lincoln

[wpipkins]

Originally Posted by Blackbeauty212

Nope you have B&N at Waterworks...also another thing that surprises me is Pittsburgh utilizing of its Public Library system has to be very high, plus its overhaul to a more modern system is very inviting, a lot cities dont put the effort into their library system that the burgh has.

You can now download books and movies to you personal pc or netbook free of charge. If you go this route, you will never have late fees and it is available to you for 2 weeks.

[Tinare]

Originally Posted by jay5835

Does Caliban's sell new books?

Caliban's specializes in rare books, 'tis true, but they are a store that sells books within the city limits.

I personally rarely buy a physical book these days, but I read voraciously. I pretty much only buy e-books now.

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by jay5835

You think Pittsburgh is ridden with bookstores? Though I'd love to be proven wrong, I believe Pitt's is the only bookstore within the city limits.

I can think of 5 off the top of my head.... but regardless, amazon is the way to go, free shipping, no tax & prices half of what the bookstore charges.

[ditchdigger]

Also the Water Works complex is technically in Lincoln-Lemington-Balmar although one would never guess it in a million years Lincoln

Off topic I know, but that's only because back around 1900 the city built its water filtration plant on the property. (That space literally was the waterworks.) Prior to that it was part of O'hara Twp. Being part of the city, somewhere along the line, somebody must've decided to include it with Lincoln, just for administrative purposes.

I know that because I'm from Pittsburgh, and I'm literate.

(Do ya like how I folded that back into the topical discussion? )

[Debbie1125]

Congrats Pittsburgh! No other Pennsylvania citiy is in there...at least not in the top 20. I am surprised that NYC and Chicago aren't in there, however.

[Blackbeauty212]

I have to believe its NYC and Chicago's high immigration that holds them back as others have said...If NYC was just Manhattan it probably would shoot to the top.

[Katarina Witt]

Oh, heck, Denver has a high immigration rate and is #8.

https://www.city-data.com/housing/hou...-Colorado.html

17.4% foreign born population, with 65% of those from Mexico.

[escilade18]

It isn't really the immigrants holding down cities like NYC, it is the huge swaths of ghetto (i.e., the South Bronx) which blows it down. Only thing is that Atlanta and DC are very high on the list and they both have notorious ghettos so there must be other factors as well. Another thing that I can think of is numbers, NYC is well over 8 million while cities such as Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and D.C. have relatively small numbers so the student populations in city limits make a larger dent in the percentage of the population than they do in NYC or Chicago or even Philly

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by escilade18

It isn't really the immigrants holding down cities like NYC, it is the huge swaths of ghetto (i.e., the South Bronx) which blows it down. Only thing is that Atlanta and DC are very high on the list and they both have notorious ghettos so there must be other factors as well. Another thing that I can think of is numbers, NYC is well over 8 million while cities such as Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and D.C. have relatively small numbers so the student populations in city limits make a larger dent in the percentage of the population than they do in NYC or Chicago or even Philly

Only a guess, but I wonder if what shoots DC up, is that it's population isn't THAT high - 600,000 maybe?

But you probably double that (at least) with employees during the daytime...and they could easily buy up all kinds of books and magazines and everything else. Especially commuters who'll read on the train rides home.

Just purely speculation though.