PITTSBURGH – Step aside San Francisco, Seattle and San Diego! According to the '2007 Places Rated Almanac,' Pittsburgh ranks first as the best metropolitan area in the United States. "The statistics speak for themselves," said David Savageau, editor of the Places Rated Almanac. "Pittsburgh comes in first place." The 379 metropolitan areas surveyed were evaluated and statistically rated in nine categories: housing affordability, transportation, jobs, education, climate, crime, health care, recreation and ambience.
"The Pittsburgh region has so many positive attributes that this is truly a well-deserved recognition. We’re absolutely thrilled to be recognized in such a well respected and well researched book as 'Places Rated Almanac,'" noted Joe McGrath, president and CEO of VisitPittsburgh.
“As a city, we take pride in this honor, just as we take pride in being named the “Best Arts Destination” among mid-sized cities this year by ‘American Style magazine,’” Mr. McGrath continued. The June 2007 issue calls out the year-long “Pittsburgh Celebrates Glass” celebration and “a large number of museums, from the Carnegie Museum of Art to the popular Andy Warhol Museum.”
In addition, ‘Forbes’ magazine recognized the city’s transformation by recently ranking Pittsburgh among the top 10 of the “World’s Cleanest Cities.” The city also takes pride in knowing that Pittsburgh was also recently named one of North America’s top three “Cities of the Future,” by an affiliate magazine of the ‘Financial Times.’ Add to that is the city’s ranking as one of “America’s 50 Hottest Cities” for business relocation and expansion, too, according to ‘Expansion Management’ magazine. And, PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, is consistently rated among the best ballparks in the nation.
In the 2007 Places Rated Almanac, Pittsburgh ranks in the 90th percentile in several categories, including recreation, education and transportation. The “recreation” category includes such amenities as movie theaters, amusement parks, zoos, professional sports, and outdoor recreational opportunities. The “transportation” category assesses commuting time, public transit and how easy it is to get into and out of each metro area by air, rail and Interstate Highway. The “education” category examines the number of schools, library systems, colleges and universities, among other criterion.
Pittsburgh also scored high – in the 87th percentile – in the “ambience” category, which includes such factors as good restaurants and bookstores, historic districts, cultural and artistic assets.
When sifting through all the categories and rankings, ‘Places Rated Almanac’ came up with the top 40 metropolitan areas and Pittsburgh was at the top of the list!
Pittsburgh is no stranger to this honor, however. The city previously received the coveted No. 1 ranking in 1985.
