Methodology: New England’s Best Cities 2012

Tuesday, April 03, 2012

GoLocalProv Features Team

To rank New England’s Best Cities, GoLocal assessed the 5 largest cities in each state in the region--Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine--to give each state equal stake in the ranking list.

From there, we collected data from public sources in five areas: Economics/Prosperity, Safety, Culture, Health, and Overall Quality of Life. Each area was quantified with the following data (for the sources for each criteria, see note, below):

Economics/Prosperity
Median Household Income
Unemployment Rate
Cost of Living (percent of national average)

Safety
Violent Crime per capita
Property Crime per capita

Culture
Arts-Related Businesses per capita
Accredited Academic Institutions per capita
Education level (% with BA or higher)
Quality of Public Schools (utilizing the GreatSchools Index)

Health
Physicians per 100K population
Air Quality (utilizing the EPA’s Air Quality Index)

Quality of Life
Number of Wireless Hotspots per capita
Walkability (utilizing Walkscore.com’s Walkability Index)
Average Commute Time
Great Weather (sunny days and precipitation days)
Parks and Recreation Spots per capita

From these data points, GoLocal calculated statistical analyses that compared each of these cities to each other, providing regional averages against which each city was subsequently assessed. A proprietary weighting formula was then applied to yield the final rankings.

For the full rankings list, go here. For profiles of the Top 10 New England's Best Cities 2012, go here.

The following sources were utilized to provide the most recent and consistent data for all 30 cities in the survey: Median Household Income/US Census 2010; Unemployment Rate/Sperling’s BestPlaces (www.bestplaces.net); Cost of Living (percent of national average)/Sperling’s BestPlaces; Violent Crime/FBI 2010; Property Crime/FBI 2010; Arts-Related Businesses/Americans for the Arts (www.artsusa.org); Accredited Academic Institutions/US Census 2010; Education level (% with BA or higher)/US Census 2010; Quality of Public Schools/GreatSchools Index (www.greatschools.org); Physicians per 100K population/Sperling’s BestPlaces; Air Quality Index/EPA; Number of Wireless Hotspots/JiWire Global registry (v4.jwire.com); Walkability/Walkscore.com; Average Commute Time/US Census 2010; Weather (days with some sun, days with some precipitation)/Sperling’s BestPlaces; Parks and Recreation Spots/municipal Web sites & personnel.

For more coverage of New England's Best Cities, don't miss GoLocalTV, fresh every day at 4pm and on demand 24/7, here.

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Comments:

J. Ferreira

10:12am on Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Shouldn't all communities designated as cities throughout New England have been included in the survey? Wither Newport (you know, the City by the Sea)? What about Pittsfield, Lawrence, New Bedford, Quincy? If you are to make a credible comparison, shouldn't there have been a comprehensive list, including all capital cities (hello, Montpelier?)

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2:43pm on Saturday, April 28, 2012

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Methodology: New England’s Best Cities 2012

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