Places Rated Almanac: The Classic Guide for Finding Your Best Places to Live in America (Places Rated) 
Product Description: In this unique reference, every one of America’s 379 metropolitan areas is rated by factors that are important to anyone considering a move. Divided into nine thoroughly researched main topics, this guide derives its information as much from private sources as government sources, providing a well-rounded description of all that each metro area has to offer: ambience, housing, jobs, crime, transportation, education, health care, recreation, and climate. With a personalized quiz to help determine the most important factors of an area, this ratings sourcebook provides a wealth of information for those looking to move and the armchair traveler alike.
Customer Ratings: - Unlike previous volumes. While full of arcane but useful info, this edition does not do as good a job of evaluating/comparing taxation and cost-of-living as previous volumes. If $$$ data is important to you I would suggest CITIES RANKED & RATED, 2nd ed. Bert Sperling & Peter Sander
- List-o-philia!. As long as Americans are in love with lists and insecure about keeping up with their neighbors (in some far off state in this case)...books like this will continue to prosper, regardless of whether they actually make sense.
I found the weather section less than helppful as it didn t give any real information (days above 90 degrees snowfall etc) but opted for a 50 page breakdown of regional weather environments??
Not taking into concideration that weather can change signifigantly between neighboring cities just a few dozen miles apart.
I wrote them to express my dissatisfaction with this and other aspects and I was told that a new edition will be on shelves next year and that I should just buy the next one and hope for the best.
I donated the book to my local library.
- A must-read when you re going to move. My family is in process of moving, and this book has been a great help in figuring out where is a good place, and where isn t based on what we think is important (crime rates, school systems, etc) and things we don t think are important. Other lists from magazines are loaded with totals of what they feel are most important, but that doesn t mean it s relevant or most important to us. With the breakdowns by category of the best places and why, it makes it easier to understand, too. And, it s nice to see that where I grew up rates so well, too. The only thing I thought that should be added or different: growing up in the Northeast, within an hours drive, there are many other rated regions that rated better (or worse) than others. For example, it would have been nice to see that although some areas didn t have a high concentration of universities, that within a 30-mile drive, there actually were a lot, might help people who aren t as familiar with the areas as some that lived there or grew up there.
- Great Resource. I ordered this book to give me some idea of where I wanted to move to and settled down for retirement. It was very informative with a lot of great information. It gives you a wide range of info from traffic, schools, jobs, housing, cost of living, things to do, etc. This is a very useful resource if you are moving or retiring to another area or state. Excellent research tool!
- Better than ever. Savageau has surpassed himself. The new PRA has more criteria, more detail, and more pages. I checked his new data on my city and he s got all the new info in it, which shows his thoroughness. He actually knows more about my city than I do.
I ll be reading this book til the next one, which I did with the previous one. Everytime I open it up I find a new category. There s nothing like it! I m addicted now to demographics.
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Places Rated Almanac: The Classic Guide for Finding Your Best Places to Live in America (Places Rated) (ID: 0979319900)
