And now, less on the best-cities rated game

Earlier today, we ran a post at BCR ("More on the Best-Cities Rated Game") that discussed the 2008 Kiplinger's Personal Finance ratings for cities. That post referenced a story which ran online at WRAL's web site.

Only problem? Looks like someone at 'RAL jumped the gun on the announcement. We received the following request from a representative of Kiplinger's this afternoon--

WRAL actually broke an agreement on embargoed information -- in that this story was not to be posted until 9 AM on Thursday, May 29th. I've just spoken with the station's online content manager, and you will see now that the story has been pulled from their Web site....

You correctly stated that information on Kiplinger's Web site is from 2007. It will not be updated until May 29th. WRAL's story was filled with inaccuracies....

At Kiplinger's request, I've pulled the BCR coverage, too. That said, given that the Kiplinger's web site from 2007 contains accurate (and public) info on last year's rankings of Raleigh and Durham, I've retained that below:

[2007's] data list the city with the highest percentage of its workforce in the creative class as, er, Durham -- with 43.6% so qualified, tops in the nation. Raleigh-Cary came in 11th, behind Silicon Valley, Boston-Cambridge, and the D.C. area.

(I'm still going to quibble a bit with the idea that 43.6% of Durham-CH folks, or 36.6% of Raleigh-Cary residents, are actually creative class employees in the first place, and wonder what impact the outsized presence of medical centers and universities in our small metro areas play on this. But, hey, if you're playing the rating game, play it, man!)

Durham also beat out Raleigh on the creative-class salary growth number -- 24.9%, to Raleigh's 10.5% -- and was rated slightly more affordable on the cost-of-living index.

Then again, any study that ranks Fayetteville, N.C. as the fifth-best city for mid-career professionals, ahead of anywhere else in North Carolina for that matter, leaves some head-scratching to be done no matter what else it concludes.

So, we'll see how the 2008 numbers stack up. But in the end of the day, the right place is the place that feels right... a concept many Durhamites are just fine with.

Comments

[Mike Jaquish]

http://activerain.com/blogsview/525044/Blogosphere-scoops-BCR-Kiplingers
Had to make a note on this myself.
Fun little scoop...