CONNECTICUT TOWNS RANKED BY
ATTRACTIVENESS
by Richard MacGregor
Background
This computer-calculated study, completed
in October 2000, ranks all 169 towns and cities in the state of Connecticut
according to attractiveness and quality of life, using ArcView 3.2, a Geographic
Information System (GIS) produced by
ESRI of California. Statistical data utilized in the study were obtained
from the 1998-1999 Connecticut Town Profiles, published by the CT Dept.
of Economic and Community Development,
at http://www.state.ct.us/ecd/research.
Also used were graphical data obtained from the University
of Connecticut Map and Geographic Information Center website, at http://magic.lib.uconn.edu.
I believe this to be the
most accurate ranking of Connecticut towns by attractiveness ever
performed. I also believe that this
could be the first effective use of a GIS to rank towns and
cities by attractiveness, as well as possibly
the most accurate ranking of towns and cities by attractiveness
performed anywhere by any method.
Twelve different criteria were used to
rank the towns. Ten of these criteria were selected from the Connecticut
Town Profiles: Crime Rate, High School Graduates Attending 4-Year Colleges,
Housing Prices, Infant Mortality Rate,
Per Capita Income, Per Capita Taxes, Population Change, Poverty Rate,
Student/Teacher Ratio, and Unemployment Rate.
In addition, I introduced two more criteria which I believe to
be essential in performing an accurate ranking: Distance from Metro Areas,
and Prettiness of Towns. For prettiness,
I grouped the towns into five general categories, from prettiest to least
pretty. I have personally been
to all 169 Connecticut towns, and revisited the great majority of them
in July 2000 as a field check for prettiness
and for several of the other criteria as well, driving over one thousand
miles throughout the state.
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