 The Commons is a popular gathering place in downtown Ithaca, N.Y. (Photo by Gloria Wright) |
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Posted on 07/23/2008 10:44:08 AM PDT by Incorrigible
The Commons is a popular gathering place in downtown Ithaca, N.Y. (Photo by Gloria Wright) |
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ITHACA, N.Y. — When your town has made more than 25 lists that call it one of the best cities in America, you might be surprised that one magazine would call it one of the "Twelve Great Places You've Never Heard Of."
But along with that 2006 designation from Mother Earth News, Ithaca seems to make the grade no matter what's being ranked. It's one of the "lesbian friendliest cities," has the "best fly fishing" and is one of the "greatest places to retire."
Outside Magazine has released its August issue and ranked Ithaca sixth in its "20 Best Towns in America." Five years ago, Outside picked Ithaca, home to Cornell University and Ithaca College, as one of the "40 Best College Towns."
It might seem that getting on one list ups the odds that you'll make another.
"They do feed off each other," said Bruce Stoff, marketing communications manager for the Ithaca/Tompkins Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Magazine rankings should be approached with caution, especially if they claim to be objective and scientific, said David Kay, an economist at Cornell University who studies land use in Upstate New York.
"Many of the magazines do not have as their fundamental mission the creation of a reliable, valid measure," Kay said. "They are trying instead to be interesting and to sell their product.
"Indeed, simply to avoid boredom, they probably wouldn't want to rate places the same every year," he said.
That would get dull, agreed Outside Magazine's Senior Editor Jeremy Spencer.
"You can always put Portland, Ore., back up at the top," Spencer said. "But they're so much more fun when you have a theme."
This year, Outside was looking for cities that reinvented themselves, coming up with creative solutions to economic problems, such as abandoned factories or Superfund sites. It cites the way an old Woolworth's store in Ithaca became the home for the public library.
Next year, a different set of 10 or 20 cities are likely to take their place in Outside's limelight.
That's what happened in other rankings.
Relocate America ranked Ithaca third in its top places to live in 2007, but it didn't even make the top 100 this year.
But Stoff wouldn't be surprised to see it make its way to the top again.
"All these top-10 lists ultimately get back to college towns — places that are young and active and have strong, stable economies," he said. "They have to go through the cycle and make sure they haven't picked you lately."
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Ithaca has garnered a top spot in more than 25 magazine or Web site rankings, among them:
In 2008, Forbes Magazine ranked it third among "America's Smartest Cities."
In 2007, a Farmers Insurance study also listed it third, this time in the "Most Secure Places to Live" in the small towns category.
In 2005, Kiplinger's Personal Finance called it one of "12 Great Places to Retire."
In 2002, Girlfriends Magazine included it in "The Ten Lesbian Friendliest Cities in the USA."
In 2001, Mothering Magazine chose it as one of "25 Terrific Places to Bring up a Family."
(Rebecca James is a staff writer for The Post-Standard of Syracuse, N.Y. She can be contacted at rjames(at)syracuse.com.)
Not for commercial use. For educational and discussion purposes only.
What? They seem to be on the top of the Most Evil City list every year!
Bump!
Prolly also has citations from Pravda, Gramma, and Mother Jones...
But . . . it’s “lesbian friendly.”
High taxes, brutal winters, thousands of annoying college kids - what’s not to love?
City Of Evil BTT.
I think the keyword is "city". My brother lives maybe 20 miles away and it's a beautiful country type atmosphere. Maybe we could get Osama to nuke just the "city".
Well it's better than Harare.
I can’t believe any city in NY is voted one of the best places to retire. Property taxes are outrageous there.
Girlfriends Magazine? With an endorsement like that, you gotta believe it.
when i retire, i need a state that does not tax pensions. i’ll find a good city from that information. hopefully relatively warm with a good school system.
Plan on going back to school after you retire?
“All these top-10 lists ultimately get back to college towns — places that are young and active and have strong, stable economies,” he said. “They have to go through the cycle and make sure they haven’t picked you lately.”
Yeah, and uniformly liberal. These top place to live rankings are usually code for anything goes and worse. Hence, college towns always rank well and are a good place to live if you don’t have to live there.
Read this book if you get the chance. It is a fun, quick read that shows how insane and out of touch leftists are with normal people.
Ithaca: 10 square miles surrounded by reality.
no. i’m stopping at a masters. but when i retire, my kids (who have yet to be born or cenceived for that matter) will at most be in their early teens. so i need good middle/high schools and hopefully good state universitites.
Be seeing you #6.
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