Product Description

Cities Ranked & Rated: Your Guide to the Best Places to Live in the U.S. & Canada provides timely facts and unbiased information on over 400 U.S. and 30 Canadian cities in an easy-to-access format. 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 Cities Ranked & Rated. In addition to providing population statistics, each city is ranked on a number of essential factors, many of which are of vital interest in today's economy. Categories include: economy and jobs, cost of living, climate, education, health and health care, crime, transportation, leisure, and arts and culture. Easy-to-use tables help you put this wealth of information to work to find the city that best suits your special needs and interests.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #369665 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03
• Released on: 2004-03-30
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 832 pages

From the Back Cover
The Latest Facts & Figures on the Best Places to Live in North America!

For anyone thinking about relocating-or interested in the demographics of American life-Cities Ranked & Rated offers unbeatable insights into more than 400 metropolitan areas in the United States and Canada. Data is provided by Bert Sperling, creator of Money magazine's original "Best Places to Live" list.

This unique guide combines honest opinions and objective facts to help readers compare cities quickly and comprehensively.

• Data on the 45 fastest growing U.S. cities
• Seperate rankings for Canadian cities-and comparisons to their U.S. equivalents
• Easy-to-read charts showing the best and worst U.S. cities in over 50 categories
• State-level comparisons of population densities, taxes, government expenditures, educational testing, and more
• Details on how to find more information at Bestplaces.net/CRAR

Highlights Include:

• The strongest job outlook
• The lowest cost of living
• The most days of sunshine
• The best educational opportunites
• The best air and water quality
• The lowest healthcare costs
• The lowest crime rate
• The shortest daily commute
• The lowest automobile costs
• The most leisure amenities

About the Author
Bert Sperling has been choosing our country’s Best Places for 20 years. He created Money magazine’s original “Best Places to Live” list, and his work continues to appear in the media on a monthly basis. His studies have become part of our national culture, appearing in The Simpsons, Jay Leno jokes, and questions on Jeopardy. His website, Sperling’s BestPlaces (www.bestplaces.net), has become a popular Internet resource, and provides content to other sites such as Yahoo!, MSN, eBay, and the Wall Street Journal.
Annually, his “Healthiest Cities for Women” study is featured in SELF magazine. Other recent projects include “Best Places to Retire” (MSN), “Best Cities for Women” (Ladies’ Home Journal), “Great College Towns” (Newsweek), “This Town Rocks! Best Cities for Teens” (Seventeen), “Best Places to Buy a Second Home” (Smart Money), “Best Places to Raise an Outdoor Family” (Outdoor Explorer), “Hot Dating in Small Towns (MTV), “America’s Best City to Live” and “Most Energetic City” (USA Weekend) and features in Men’s Health, Men’s Journal, Men’s Fitness, and Kiplinger’s.
Bert currently makes his home in Portland and Depoe Bay, Oregon, after living in Kodiak (Alaska), Carmel Valley (California), Key West (Florida), San Diego (California), Brooklyn, Hempstead, and East Meadow (New York), Norfolk (Virginia), and Oslo, Norway.

Peter Sander is a professional author, researcher, and consultant in the fields of business and personal finance. He has written eight books including Value Investing For Dummies, The Pocket Idiot’s Guide to Living on a Budget, Everything Personal Finance, and Niche and Grow Rich. His educational background includes an MBA in Logistics Management from Indiana University and a BA in Urban Affairs and Administration from Miami University of Ohio, and professional training and examination as a Certified Financial Planner (CFP™). His career includes 20 years as a marketing and logistics specialist for a major high-tech firm. Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, and now living in Granite Bay, California, he has traveled in all 50 U.S. states.

Customer Reviews

Must read for anyone moving to a new city or wanting to
I've been looking for a place to settle down for a few years now and it's much easier to read a book written by those who have researched every major and medium sized city in the country and Canada than to try and do it myself. This book also includes small cities but obviously not EVERY one. It is very informative and it ranks the cities in an easy to understand way. This book includes details most people trying to relocate want to know about such as - weather, crime rates, what kind of crimes occur the most, water quality, air quality, population, job growth rates, #of hospitals nearby, airports nearby, colleges, sports and culture nearby.

where should i be?
I bought this book in hopes of finding my ideal location. The book is useful but almost all statistical. Also, the real estate and economy sections are very much out of date - then again, our economy in general is always changing. I found the sections on Canada very helpful. For more stats, try the US Census website, talk about all the right tools!

Fat book of facts
I found this book a delightful conglomeration of every fact you might want to know about a city and it's livability. The catagories were population,economy& jobs, Cost of living, Climate, Education, Healthcare, Crime, transportation, Leisure,arts& culture, and quality of life.The charts, tables,and maps kept me in a sense of discovery! The info is really easy to understand and not too abstract. Peter Sander and Bert Sperling, the authors have a great background and created a very flowing publication.