in mhyyyyy hooooommmeee toooowwwwnnnnn...

The above title in deference to Tom Lerher (please forgive!! (grin))

Where do we rank?

WRITTEN BY REAGAN BRANHAM

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

02/19/2008

St. Louisans have risky sex, but we're well-read. - We drink a lot, but we're lousy tailgaters. - We have dirty air but great-tasting water. - Magazines, universities and think tanks everywhere love to rate cities in just about any category you can imagine. - Where St. Louis stands in those rankings is great fodder for bar and watercooler conversation. - But does it really mean anything? - It depends on your point of view — and your sense of humor. - Just for fun, we've compiled as many recent rankings of St. Louis as we could dig up. - Do they give a fair picture of us? - Though we're ranked as a smart city, we're still not sure.

1- Gonorrhea and chlamydia

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006

The CDC compiled infection rates of STDs among independent cities and counties.

1- Best Tasting City Water in America

U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2007

Hundreds of mayors conducted a blind taste test of tap water for taste, clarity and aroma. Who knew the Mississippi could taste this good?

2 - Most affordable large metropolitan area in the country

National Association of Home Builders, 2006

2 - Most dangerous city

Milken Institute, 2007

Based on statistics in six crime categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and motor vehicle theft.

4 - Most Affordable Places To Live Well

Forbes magazine, 2007

Cities were ranked according to housing affordability, cost of living, quality of life and best arts and leisure offerings.

4 - Most Courteous Cities (Least Road Rage)

In The Driver's Seat Road Rage Survey, commissioned by AutoVantage, 2007

Road rage was defined as an angry or upset driver, including out-of-control drivers and drivers who lose their temper, or bad or aggressive driving, including careless and/or rude driving, cutting into lanes, cutting people off, tailgating, speeding and/or honking, talking on the cell phone, or going too slow in the fast lane.

6 - Spring allergy capitals

Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, 2007

A look at the 100 most challenging places to live with spring allergies based on seasonal pollen counts, allergy medicine use per patient and the number of board-certified allergists per patient.

7 - Most Affordable U.S. Real Estate Market

Forbes magazine, August 2007

The two determining factors were looking at how many years of gross salary the median household would have to spend to buy the median house, and tracking the percentage of homes sold in the first quarter that were affordable to the median income-earning household.

9 - Best U.S. Cities for Relocating Families

Worldwide ERC and Primacy Relocation, 2007

The study looked at large metro areas and was based on factors such as cost of living, crime rates, education, climate, arts and culture, diversity and number of physicians per capita.

11 - Drunkest City

Forbes Magazine, 2006

35 cities were ranked in five areas: state laws, number of drinkers, number of heavy drinkers, number of binge drinkers and alcoholism.

12 - Most literate city

Jack Miller, President of Central Connecticut State University, 2006

Study of major cities (minimum 250,000 population) looking at newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, library resources, periodical publishing resources, educational attainment and online resources.

14 - Best City For Young Professionals

Forbes magazine, June 2007

Based on businesses that call St. Louis home, the number of graduate students attracted to the region, the never-married population and the ratio of salary to cost of living.

18 - Smartest place to live

Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, 2006

50 cities were ranked based on criteria of median home price, cost of living, economic vitality, education, health care, local arts scene and recreational facilities.

24 - Most Ozone-Polluted Cities

American Lung Associated, State of the Air: 2006

27 - Best city for singles

Forbes Magazine, 2008

The 40 largest U.S. urban areas were compared in seven different categories: nightlife, culture, job growth, number of singles, cost of living alone, coolness and online dating.

30 - Best Football Tailgating City

The Bachelor Guy, 2008

Rated the 32 cities with NFL teams. Criteria included: stadium parking lots (sizes, fees, accessibility, hours of operation, special facilities and programs for tailgaters), overall tailgating environment and tailgating-fan enthusiasm.

36 - Sweatiest city in America

Old Spice, 2007

Computer simulations of the amount of sweat a person of average height and weight would produce walking around for an hour in each city's average high temperature during June, July and August.

94 - 100 Best & Worst Cities for Men

Men's Health, 2007

A comparison of top metro areas in health, happiness and abs. Based on 24 categories, including data on cancer, heart disease, stroke, annual income, daily commute, crime rates, college graduation rates, how often, long and intensely men exercise.

Researched by Mark Learman

rbranham@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8120