This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Dec. 1, 2009 - After coming across a ranking of major cities that showed St. Louis has the second highest ratio of unemployed residents to online job openings (meaning there’s a whole lot of competition for each position), I began wondering what other under-the-radar rankings are out there.
Turns out, plenty. Why wait until the end of the month, when year-end rankings lists flow like champagne. Here’s a look at how outsiders view St. Louis:
The St. Louis Regional Chamber & Growth Association has no shortage of lists that put the area in a positive light.
- Forbes has paid plenty of attention to the Gateway city. In its rankings this year of best cities for singles, St. Louis comes in at No. 23, just behind Las Vegas and just ahead of Pittsburgh. Seems promising, although only 40 of the largest U.S. metropolitan areas were considered. Of the categories listed, St. Louis was middle of the pack in job growth, night life and singles, and near the bottom in “coolness.” A year earlier, largely because of the number of major employers and low cost of living, St. Louis came in 15th in the magazine's “Best City For Young Professionals”.
- The St. Louis region was recently ranked as No. 92 of 257 by Best Life magazine on its list of best places to raise a family.
The area was more exceptional in some of the rankings listed by the RCGA:
- For the third quarter of 2009, greater St. Louis had the second lowest average cost of living among the nation’s 20 largest metropolitan areas, according to the Council for Community and Economic Research, whose data of key consumer costs is used by the U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- Readers of the Los Angeles Times recently listed St. Louis among the "underrated destinations of the world." The city is lauded as having "the cultural attractions of a large European city, most free of charge."
- St. Louis ranks 9th out of the 71 the largest urban areas in the list of “America’s Most Literate Cities,” published annually by Central Connecticut State University. The study relies on six key indicators of literacy: newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, library resources, periodical publishing resources, educational attainment and online resources.
- Men's Health magazine ranked St. Louis as the second safest city in terms of food-borne diseases out of 101 metro areas, partly due to restaurant safety practices.
But much like colleges, city agencies only publish rankings results when they reflect positively on their hometowns. (Have you ever seen a school mention its ranking in the 300s on the U.S. News top campuses list?)
St. Louis has taken its share of lumps, perhaps most publicly in the area of crime rankings. This year’s list from CQ Press has the city second nationally in crime rate. The rankings have long been disputed, and the mayor’s office was quick to question the findings. But the city regularly makes this list.
- The enthusiasm LA Times readers have for this area as a travel destination is at odds with rankings published by Travel + Leisure Magazine, which puts St. Louis below other major cities in categories like number of independent boutiques and the quality of airport lounges. St. Louisans were even deemed to be relatively unpleasant to look at, fairing at the very bottom in terms of stylishness and attractiveness.
- The same publication that lauds St. Louis for its food safety ranks it as the second worst of 100 cities for both men’s and women’s health in 2009. The city has been ranked as the No. 1 asthma capital by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, due to factors including a higher than average pollen score, poor air quality and a lack of “100 percent smoke-free” laws in public places.
But rather than harp on the negatives, let’s end with one more pat on the back. As you might have heard, Zagat’s 2010 edition of “America’s Top Restaurants” ranks St. Louis (along with Philadelphia) diners as the nation's best tippers, at 19.6 percent. Way to go, foodies.