RI’s Best Communities 2011: How We Got the Rankings
Thursday, June 23, 2011
In evaluating the 39 cities and towns of Rhode Island, GoLocalProv looked at five broad categories: affordability, economic condition, education, safety, and arts and culture, which were further broken down into indicators of how well the cities and towns performed in each area.
Affordability
To evaluate the affordability of the city or town, GoLocalProv applied a relatively standard set of formulas, incorporating data on median housing price, tax rates, and median household income. GoLocalProv used down payment percentage, mortgage rate, hazard insurance, and private mortgage insurance rate data from HousingWorks RI. Together, these data generated monthly mortgage payment amounts, monthly property tax payment amounts, typical monthly housing payment amounts, and household income required to afford a house. The actual affordability percentage is a ratio of median household income to household income required to afford a house.
Economic Condition
It was difficult to decide on the most representative indicators for economic condition, but GoLocalProv decided to keep it simple, looking at both the median household income and the effective tax rate, as assessed by the State of Rhode Island Municipal Finance Department of Revenue.
Education
For education, GoLocalProv evaluated the most basic levels, using 4th, 8th and 11th grade reading and mathematics NECAP scores for the 2010 testing year. Like its Top High Schools ranking methodology, GoLocalProv looked at the percentage of students at Level 3 (Proficient) or Level 4 (Proficient with Distinction), which signifies students’ ability to meet or exceed grade-level expectations.
Safety
Safety is high on everybody’s priority list, so GoLocalProv wanted to make sure the sources were reliable. Therefore, we first looked at the most recent FBI Crime in the United States tables for Rhode Island, which broke down crime into two main categories, violent crimes (murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault) and property crimes (burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, arson). The total offenses in these two categories signifies crime incidence, and, to take population size into account, GoLocalProv compared the ratio of crime incidence to population numbers from the 2010 US Census.
Arts and Culture
For arts and culture, GoLocalProv took into account the availability of restaurants and bars (from a proprietary GoLocalProv directory), theaters, museums and historic properties, libraries, and golf courses. The availability of different venues where residents can experience local arts and culture is an important indicator of the liveability of a city or town, and was weighted accordingly.
Related Articles
- RI’s Best Communities 2011
- Best Community #39: Faded Star
- Best Community #38: In the Capital City’s Shadow
- Best Community #37: Too Rich for RI?
- Best Community #36: City in Turmoil
- Best Community #35: Feisty Contender
- Best Community #34: More Than Big Hair
- Best Community #33: Mill Village Pride
- Best Community #32: Sandwiched Between Riches
- Best Community #31: River Beauty
- Best Community #30: Not All About the Summer
- Best Community #29: The Overlooked Community
- Best Community #28: True Island Life
- Best Community #27: Up and Comer
- Best Community #26: RI Rural
- Best Community #25: Country Living
- Best Community #24: Stuck in the Middle?
- Best Community #23: Beach-Blessed Beauty
- Best Community #22: The Enclave
- Best Community #21: Star in the Making
- Best Community #20: City of Contrasts
- Best Community #19: Good Schools, Quiet Living
- Best Community #18: Countryside Charm
- Best Community #17: Northern Gem
- Best Community #16: Brains and Beauty
- Best Community #15: Town on the March
- Best Community #14: Small-Town Seaside
- Best Community #13: Northern RI Surprise
- Best Community #12: Blackstone Valley Standout
- Best Community #11: RI’s Big Apple
- Best Community #10: Aquidneck’s Best
- Best Community #9: The Good Life
- Best Community #8: Historically Rich
- Best Community #7: RI’s Best Small Town
- Best Community #6: The Hub
- Best Community #5: Main Street Powerhouse
- Best Community #4: West Bay Winner
- Best Community #3: The Icon
- Best Community #2: The Best of South County
- Best Community #1: Having It All
- CHART: RI’s Best Communities 2011 from #39 to #1
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Comments:
eugene fry
1:06pm on Monday, June 20, 2011
I don't see a damn thing here.
Joyce Bryant
5:11pm on Monday, June 20, 2011
So where's the list, Idiots?
Bonnie Large
12:02am on Tuesday, June 21, 2011
the links are right above your posts...
Jennifer Thibodeau
8:56am on Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Not only are the links above the comments, but from the website it's easy to see that GoLocal is releasing a new town everyday. This article is just an explanation of how they created the list, as per the headline. But really, what I want to know is: Joyce, why so much hostility? You couldn't find what you wanted so your first reaction was to call someone a name? To insult them? Why? I'm so not trying to be sarcastic here, I really want to understand your motivation... Thanks in advance for your consideration.
Joyce Bryant
10:07am on Tuesday, June 21, 2011
My apologies, you are correct in calling me out. Unfortunately we can't go back and edit our comments.
Jennifer Thibodeau
1:37pm on Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Fair enough.... thanks for the reply. Hope you have a good one!
Phil Hirons Jr
12:25pm on Friday, June 24, 2011
It looks like Arts & Culture was based on raw count while the others are per person. Seems a bit biased toward larger land area.
Gary Arnold
1:10pm on Friday, June 24, 2011
Total it up and RI is only hanging on due to it's coast line and has everything bad due to it's economic (lack thereof), taxes (high) and dismal education performance. Of course high crime rates are not good either.
The state and all towns are hocked up to their ears and it is only getting worse.