Sperling's Best Places

Posted By: Alfred Jackson
Date: Monday, 2 October 2006, at 6:47 a.m.

Have you ever wondered how your place of residence stacks up against the rest of the communities in the US?

This site will let you do that as fast as you can type in a zip code or locate a place on a map.

It's called Sperling's Best Places, presented by Bert Sperling. Ever heard of him? Here's his brief bio and site mission:

In 1985, Bert Sperling developed a software program named "Places, U.S.A." which allowed people to enter their personal preferences to find their own best place. BestPlaces.net is a natural extension of our work over the last fifteen years regarding demographics, preferences, and the selection of "Best Places" to live, work, or retire. Sperling's concepts and methodology have been the basic of numerous studies since 1985. Today, Fast Forward, Inc. (the producer of BestPlaces.net) is responsible for more "Best Places" studies and projects than any other single organization.

In other words, if you want to know the best and worst places to live in the country, ask Bert!

Here's some sample data: Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Unemployment rate: 3.3%, compared with 5% for the country. Recent job growth, 6.6%, compared with 1.3% nationwide. Sales and income tax come in higher that the national average. Violent and property crime come in higher than national. That's surprising. Cost of living lower across the board.

Conclusion? Pluses and minuses, but overall a pretty good place to live. The reader comments seem to agree.

So try out this site and see how your own favorite locales rate.

Click here for website

Messages In This Thread

Sperling's Best Places
Alfred Jackson -- Monday, 2 October 2006, at 6:47 a.m.

Re: Sperling's Best Places
Randa Lee -- Monday, 2 October 2006, at 7:43 p.m.

 

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