[Chuckster]

Scrolling through the list a couple of things leapt out. First, why are there so few cities on the list that are West of the Mississippi? Second, Although the criterion is population greater than 10,000, most of the cities are not much over that number with only a handful over 25,000 and only one over 100,000.

The population density factor, to me at least, is self evident but I do not understand why there are so few Western cities on the list.

[grania]

I had another thought as to why there are so many locations in the east. It isn't just the ethnicity; it's a large percentage of the population that's grounded in old-fashioned traditional values and expectations. There are people who've been around for decades, and can tell when things are sliding.

Another observation. The towns I'm familiar with on the list, some have proximity to urban areas. But not to the challenged areas in the nearby city, so there isn't any spillover.