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Thursday, March 26, 2009
Worcester, Manchester, Bridgeport top ‘quality of life’ study
By Mass High Tech Staff
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A recent report based on U.S. Census data has ranked Worcester; Manchester, N.H.; and Bridgeport, Conn., among the top 30 midsize metro areas for quality of life.
Bridgeport-Stamford, Conn., reached No. 4 while Manchester, N.H., managed a respectable 15th place, to lead among midsize metro areas in New England in the study. Bridgeport-Stamford is one of America’s most affluent metros. Its median household income of $80,241 is easily the highest in any midsize market.
The best of the bunch nationwide is Provo, Utah, according to a new quality-of-life study conducted by Mass High Tech’s parent company, American City Business Journals. Boulder, Colo., and Madison, Wis., are the runners-up, and Springfield struggled to crack the top 80, at No. 79.
America’s 124 mid-sized metros, with populations between 250,000 and 1 million people, have a total of 60 million residents. That puts them in the shadow of the nation’s 51 major metros, those in the million-plus category, which contain 54 percent of all Americans. The study compared the 124 midsized metros in 20 statistical categories, using the latest U.S. Census Bureau data. The highest scores went to well-rounded places with healthy economies, light traffic, moderate costs of living, impressive housing stocks and strong educational systems.
These are the top 10 mid-sized metros in terms of quality of life:
1. Provo, Utah
2. Boulder, Colo.
3. Madison, Wis.
4. Bridgeport-Stamford, Conn.
5. Ann Arbor, Mich.
6. Ogden, Utah
7. Fort Collins, Colo.
8. Boise, Idaho
9. Colorado Springs, Colo.
10. Des Moines, Iowa
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