Most Caring Cities in America?

The website Wallethub is out with its national ranking of-

Most Caring Cities in America

And wow. It's an eye-opener.

First, the winner, the top of the heap:

Virginia Beach, VA, at no. 1.

"Boston tied with Lincoln, Nebraska, for the most residents working in the community and for social services per capita, and it was in the top five for the most teachers caring for students' well-being."

Lincoln, NE at #4. Minneapolis at #5 and St. Paul, MN, #6, Omaha, NE, #20.

We here in Kansas City...wait for it.... are at a rather lowly #66.

We were beat--trounced--by NEW YORK CITY, for pity's sake, at their number 12 spot. NEW YORK CITY, more caring than Kansas Citians??

It goes on...  Chicago at 30. Geez, folks. I thought we were better than this.

A silver lining, of sorts?

St. Louis was behind us. At 67. Small compensation.

Wichita, KS, 86.  Tulsa, 90.

Worst?

Birmingham, AL at 100.

Ow.

What's It Going to Take to Get Us to Recognize Manmade Climate Change?

I wonder if very many of us in the nation and world are paying attention to all the weather-related events, disasters and catastrophes included, that have been taking place this year. Herewith are just a few of the latest.

This took place the week before the Memorial Day weekend.

Multiple highways across Missouri shut down due to flooding

Check out how many roads were closed across the entire state of Missouri.

This was just last weekend:

Memorial Day weather: Heat wave scorches southern US

Then this happened.

Vehicles stuck in foot-deep hail in Omaha, Council Bluffs area

This one was four days ago.

Snowplows push piles of hail out of southwest Omaha

Then we all know this took place this last week locally.

Large and Dangerous Tornado Touches Down in Kansas City Outskirts

This is going on now, to the South of us, of course, and is still going on.

Record flooding causes levee breach in western Arkansas

These next two are current also.

Rising Missouri River closes I-680, causes renewed problems with water in Council Bluffs basements

Only Four of 10 Missouri River Crossings Remain Open

This is the past month.

Floods, tornadoes, snow in May: Extreme weather driven by climate change across US

This is just how large an issue this is.

The U.S. Has Had 500 Tornadoes in 30 Days

This Is Not “Normal”: There Have Been More Than 500 Tornadoes In The U.S. During The Last 30 Days

You can go here and see just some of the damage.

Tornado Damage: 13 Days of Devastation in Photos

As if all that isn't enough, this story broke two days ago.

Record-Breaking Heat in Alaska Wreaks Havoc on Communities and Ecosystem

"Abnormally high temperatures have led to unsafe travel conditions, uncertain ecological futures and even multiple deaths"

So how long, America? How long until we first accept global warming is happening and it's taking place because we humans are pumping so much CO2, carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere? And then, second, how long until we do something about it?

Interesting Data On How States Are For and To Women

There's an article out this week that ranks the best and worst states for women.

2018’s Best & Worst States for Women

Let's take a look at the highs and lows.

First up is neighboring Arkansas, next to worst at 50.

Also neighboring Oklahoma down there, too, at 48.

Here's where it gets more local and interesting yet.

Missouri?

37     The bottom, worst half

37. Missouri

Total score: 50.85th
Ranking for women’s economic and social well-being: 36
Ranking for women’s health and safety: 38th

Missouri landed in the mid-30s in other Wallet Hub rankings as well, coming in at 38 out of 51 on the list of best states for working moms and 37 out of 51 for best states to have a baby.

Then there's Kansas.

Still in the bottom, bad half, at 28 but at least they’re more in the middle, than the low, low worst ¼

.
28. Kansas

Total score: 56.21
Ranking for women’s economic and social well-being: 33rd
Ranking for women’s health and safety: 25th

Kansas performs better in the category of women’s health and safety than it does when it comes to women’s economic and social well-being.

Texas, still in the bottom, worst half at 42. Shame on you, Texas.

Neighboring Nebraska, in the far more respectable top half

17. Nebraska

Total score: 64.82
Ranking for women’s economic and social well-being: 19th
Ranking for women’s health and safety: 14th

Nebraska shares the distinction of having the lowest unemployment rate for women with four other states.
Going the other way, next door Illinois ranks far higher and better.

11. Illinois

Total score: 69.07
Ranking for women’s economic and social well-being: 7th
Ranking for women’s health and safety: 20th

Only two states have a lower homicide rate for women than Illinois, which also boasts the fourth-highest median earnings for female workers.

Now, to the North? Iowa In the top 10.

9. Iowa

Total score: 69.11
Ranking for women’s economic and social well-being: 10th
Ranking for women’s health and safety: 9th

Iowa boasts the fifth-highest high-school graduation rate for young women.

No. 1 position??

I’m very proud and happy to say my daughter’s adopted state of Minnesota is number 1! Fantastic!

1. Minnesota

Total score: 78.22
Ranking for women’s economic and social well-being: 1st
Ranking for women’s health and safety: 3rd

Minnesota, hats off to you! The Land of 10,000 Lakes topped the list of best states for women by three points. It’s easy to see why — and tough to find a positive economic marker this state doesn’t possess. Minnesota has the third-highest life expectancy rate for women, the fifth-lowest rate of women without insurance, the fourth-highest women’s high-school graduation rate, the fifth-lowest percentage of women in poverty and the second-highest median earnings for working women. Go, Gophers!

One interesting side note, North Dakota came down at an extremely respectable 4 on the list while neighboring South Dakota was far tougher on women at 24.

The conclusion?

Missouri and these other low-ranking states would do well to look around and see just what, precisely these other, higher-ranking states are doing to get these results. Not only is this for 1/2 of our population but it's for our mothers, daughters, sisters, cousins, all. 

It's not like we have to go far for the answers, after all.

Worst State Tax Rates for Retirees?

There is an analysis out today on GoBankingRates.com that evaluates the tax rates of all 50 states, showing best and worst for retirees.

The Most (and Least) Tax-Friendly States for Retirees

What it shows:

Nebraska, worst, worst, last place, of the 50 states followed far too closely by Kansas at 47th place and Missouri, next, at 46. Neighboring Iowa at 38. Arkansas, too, in the bottom, worse half, at 32. Oklahoma, 29.

Way to go, Midwestern states.

You don’t have mountains, you don’t have an ocean and you also don’t have good tax policies for retirees.

Besides less traffic and hopefully cleaner skies, what do you have?

Note to retirees: Check out the states that have both no income tax and no tax on Social Security.

In the #1 best spot on the list for most friendly to retirees?

Alaska.

Check out that map.

Worst tax rates for retirees, right in the center of the nation.

Kudos, Missouri, kudos, Kansas and Nebraska.

Way to chase people away.

Fascinating, Even Surprising, Fantastic Information From “Most Violent Cities” List

There is an article just out today with fascinating statistics from the FBI on crime in the US, in our cities and which of them have the most violent crime per 100,000 residents.

FBI data reveals some of the most violent cities in nearly every state

There are some surprises on it, at least to me.

Little old Topeka, Kansas is on the list at number 32 with 29.2 violent crimes per 10,000 residents

Omaha, too, is at number 30 on the list with 31.4 violent crimes per 10,000 residents

Minneapolis is on the list at number 12 w/ 23.7 violent crimes per 10,000 people.

Tulsa at number 14 with 50.9 violent crimes per 10,000 residents.

Little Rock, Arkansas on the list at a scary, depressing #4 w/ 87.4 violent crimes per 10,000.

Our own St. Louis, however, is on the list and at a depressing #3 w/ 91.5 violent crimes per 10,000.

Memphis hit #2 and poor Baltimore, Maryland is at number 1 with 98.6 violent crimes per 10,000.

But here’s the kicker, Kansas City.


We aren’t on the list.


We aren’t even on the list.


Not Kansas City, Missouri.

Not Kansas City, Kansas.

Neither one.

It gets better, too.

We're not in the top 20 worst.

Not in the top 10.

Not the top 5.

Nothing.

So kudos to you, Kansas City. Great on you, great on us.

Don’t let some blogger in his mother’s basement scare you, folks, with ALL CAPITOL LETTERS and yellow journalism tactics.

We’re not going to Hell in any handbasket.

Kansas City Makes A Great Cut

Yes sir! Kansas City makes part of a great top ten, nationally:

The Top Ten Cities for Creatives

From The Huffington Post . First, a bit of a description:

A thriving creative class is a key feature of nearly every successful modern city. A vibrant culture is not only valuable in its own right, it also often serves to attract and inspire talented workers in non-creative fields, creating a rising tide that benefits the entire city...

...the financial realities of creative fields such as dance, photography and music often mean that creatives cannot afford to live in many of the places where they have historically had the most success and influence. Cities like New York and Los Angeles have, simply put, become too expensive for many working artists.So which cities present the best opportunities for today's creative workers? To answer that question, SmartAsset compared the cost of living in major U.S. cities to the concentration of creative workers in those cities. We considered 28 different professions in our analysis, including jobs like graphic designer, choreographer and photographer.

And here it is. Kansas City makes the top 10, nationwide:

10. Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City has emerged in recent years as a creative hub to rival those in the northeast and on the West Coast. The city's Crossroads Art District has gained national recognition for both its growth and the quality of its offerings. Crossroads alone has more than 70 art galleries, to go along with larger institutions like the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art.

Now, then, what's interesting, though, and what needs to be mentioned  and acknowledged, too, though, great as this is for KC, is that nearby neighbor Des Moines, Iowa "beat us out" at the number 8 spot and none other than Omaha, Nebraska came in at 7. 

 Gadzooks.

We gotta' get busy, Kansas City. We have to do better.

Missouri Makes A Good to Great List For Business Starts

Yes, sir, Missouri made a good list for people wanting to start a new business and here it is:

The Best (and Worst) Cities to Start 

a Business In

Trouble is, Kansas City is not in the top ten.

Not close.

Springfield is, however.

Best Cities to Start a Business
1. Shreveport, LA
2. Tulsa, OK
3. Springfield, MO
4. Chattanooga, TN
5. Jackson, MS
6. Sioux Falls, SD
7. Memphis, TN
8. Augusta, GA
9. Greensboro, NC
10. Columbus, GA

Surprised me.

Kansas City, meanwhile?

KCMO came in at number 36.

Wichita, Kansas, a not-too-shabby 16.

Omaha---30

If you check the list, the worst cities for it are in California and most of the best come from the heartland, the midwest. One thing that surely contributes, surely, is the lower costs associated with beginning a business, I should think.

One thing to note however, if "Best Cities to Start a Business In" means either next to no government oversight and/or that they pay little or no taxes, then the list becomes not just unimportant but a negative in my book. They need to be responsible members of the society, it should go without saying.

Side note: Someone needs to remind these people it's still not good grammar to end a sentence with a preposition. But especially the headline.

Link:   2015's Best Cities to Start a Business

Canada's Tar Sands Oil vs. Clean Energy

A solar energy company from California is to be hiring 600 people for 600 jobs in Kansas City.

Sungevity shines on with office build, hiring spree

600 jobs.

Meanwhile, a Canadian tar sands oil company---TransCanada---would be bringing between 35 to 50 total permanent jobs TO THE ENTIRE NATION, if only we'll let them build a pipeline THAT WILL INEVITABLY LEAK AND SPILL THEIR TOXIC TAR SANDS OIL just so they can get this stuff to the Gulf coast so they can get it out to world markets.

And with the solar, "green", sustainable energy, there will never be any inevitable oil spill and environmental nightmare like we can count on with the Keystone XL pipeline.

So tell me how tar sands oil from Canada, for a foreign oil company, crossing our nation and our farmlands and aquifers and lakes and creeks and rivers and streams, threatening all those, so it can go out to world markets from the Gulf, is somehow a good idea and a jobs maker.

How does that make sense?

To anyone?

The Social Media Sell Job on the Keystone XL Pipeline has begun

With Republicans taking over Congress this week, it became clear the social media "sell job" has gotten under way. I was just pulling up a video to watch on YouTube---ironically, with Noam Chomsky and Chris Hedges---when this disgusting bit of advertising just came up:



Naturally "Comments are disabled for this video."  Of course. 

In the ad, they claim they're building it "to bring energy security to the United States."

Wow.

That is one gigantic lie.

Here's the YouTube video more should see:



And this one:



No to the KXL. No on the Keystone XL pipeline.

Missourians Against the Keystone XL Pipeline

Contact your representatives in Congress. Tell them no on the Keystone XL pipeline.


Contacting the Congress: A Citizen's Congressional Directory

With the New Year and New Congress

With the coming new year and a new, now Republican Congress, it's important---so important---that Missourians and Americans realize all that the Transcanada tar sands Keystone XL pipeline is and what it would mean to Americans. This only benefits the oil company, Transcanada and wealthy people. It takes that foreign oil, has it cross our country--it's fields and creeks and water sources---and goes out to world markets. This does not benefit America. No way.



More here. Links:

Oil field fumes so painful, Alberta families forced to move

Buyout packages allegedly silence Albertans struck with industry-related cancer

Broken trust: Alberta family without answers about oil sands' health impact

Enbridge Line 4 spills 56,700-gallons of oil, causing closure of pipeline to U.S.

Contact your representatives in Congress and President Obama. Tell them America neither needs nor wants this Keystone XL pipeline.  

Contact the U.S. Congress and the White House

Thank you, in advance.

We can do this.

Kansas vs. Missouri

Why on Earth would Missouri want to follow this lead?

Why blacks don't trust police

To white people and people of more money who don't understand why some, at least, black people don't or even can't trust police, this little beauty just happened recently, up the road, in Omaha:



More from the original, fuller article:

Caught On Tape: Minor Parking Violation Ends In Police Brutality

Watch it all the way to the end.  It's nearly unbelievable. you keep thinking the police won't escalate the situation--or the stupidity--any further. You almost can't count how many officers show up, just to arrest two men. And the second truly was just exerting his rights and was in no way breaking any law.  Even then, that's not enough, they call in a helicopter.  It must have been a slow day in Omaha. The police needed entertainment.

If you look at the end of the video when the person sweeps up and down, back and forth on the street, you'll see that 12 police cars and all those police responded to two law-abiding men, minding their own business.  Nice, huh?

Never let it be said it doesn't suck to be either black or poor in the United States of America, even now, as late as the year 2014.

If I'm either of the two men who were arrested, I'd immediately file civil and criminal lawsuits against each and every one of the officers who responded, with damages.  Lots and lots of damages. Then I'd sue the police department and city.

Thank goodness for cellphones and video.  It's becoming the minority's and poor's best defense.

Against the police.

Happy holidays?

From the looks of it, some of us will be getting some terrific gifts this holiday season, if even just in the way of holiday movies.

They aren't about beautiful, functioning, happy families, without doubt, but it looks like a whole lotta' great acting and cinematography going on.

First there's Meryl Streep's new movie:



She just doesn't look like the quiet, soft-spoken, beautiful, intelligent,sophisticated Meryl we know but it surely does look like some great acting, as usual, from her.  And check out that cast--besides Ms. Streep, there's Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor (who I couldn't even recognize), Sam Shepard, Chris Cooper, Juliette Lewis, Dermot Mulroney and more. It's loaded with talent.

Then there's the very Bruce Dern-looking, new Bruce Dern movie, "Nebraska."



I read an interview of Mr. Dern and he said he didn't like being typecast as the crazy, old coot in movies yet he chose this role and movie and pursued it doggedly.

Sorry, Mr. Dern, your sure come across very much the crazy old coot, for sure, as this seems to show.

And as for the state of Nebraska, it's as I said a week or so ago on, when I first saw the trailer for this film, it's surely not going to do anything good for their tourism, that much seems true.

I think it's interesting that both these films, so full of promise, are apparently about extremely dysfunctional families.

I wonder what that says about us?

So there you go, folks.  Some possible great movie viewing for us this Christmas.

May you have very happy holidays.

We need a jobs bill from this Congress

From 2008 on, we have experienced the worst downturn in the American economy since the Great Depression, 80 years earlier.

No small fact.

Then, additionally, there is this report, breaking yesterday:

Many US bridges old, risky and rundown

A little from the article:

An Associated Press analysis of 607,380 bridges in the most recent federal National Bridge Inventory showed that 65,605 were classified as "structurally deficient" and 20,808 as "fracture critical." Of those, 7,795 were both—a combination of red flags that experts say indicate significant disrepair and similar risk of collapse.

And here's a kicker for us, in Missouri:

There are wide gaps between states in historical bridge construction and their ongoing maintenance. While the numbers at the state level are in flux, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and Pennsylvania have all been listed recently in the national inventory as having more than 600 bridges both structurally deficient and fracture critical.   (Bolding added for emphasis).

When you take that into consideration along with the fact that 2 bridges in the nation collapsed last year, it seems extremely clear what needs to happen.

We need Congress to come up with a jobs/projects/infrastructure bill.

We need the work, as a nation, as a people and our highways and bridges and streets and sewers and all kinds of infrastructure need updating and improving and even saving.

Our own I-70, as I have written here so many times, needs widening and improving and being made safer, alone, from Illinois on the East, all the way to Kansas on the West.  It's a no-brainer yet here we sit.

Instead, they legislate on women's reproductive rights and on loosening gun laws and trying to have us default on our debt.

It's irresponsible, reckless and nearly insane.

Link:  Don't worry ... that bridge you're driving over won't collapse. Probably.

On our weather forecast: uh-oh

From a Facebook post just now:

US National Weather Service Kansas City Missouri

 

2"-3" of snow has fallen near Omaha this evening, and thundersnow is being reported in Nebraska City, just across the river from the northwest tip of MO. Trends are suggesting accumulating snow may make it further south and east than previously thought, and may make it into Kansas City. We'll have an updated snow forecast in a few hours.

"Most Contented City"

You may not believe what nearby city just got ranked as the nation's "Most Contented City."

According to a recent study, the U.S. city where residents are most contented is Lincoln, Nebraska.

So much so that they beat out Honolulu, Hawai'i, if you can believe that.

Here's their stats:

1. Lincoln, Neb.

 Well-being index score: 72.8
 Obesity: 25.8%
 Median household income: $49,315
 Adult population with high school diploma or higher: 93.7%

Lincoln is the top ranked metro area in the nation on Gallup’s well-being index. As of January, 4.2% of all workers in the area were unemployed, less than all but three other metropolitan areas. Residents were also the most likely Americans nationwide to enjoy their work environment. More than 94% of survey respondents were satisfied with their job and work, almost 68% felt treated like a partner at work and nearly 86% felt they worked in a trusting environment — all among the highest figures in the country. Nearly 76% of those surveyed believe the city is becoming a better place, the fourth highest rate in the nation.

If you'll remember, back in 2008 they were ranked the nation's healthiest city:

 lincoln rated healthiest city in the nation

Then they also got this more recent ranking: Lincoln, Neb., Bests All Cities in Wellbeing in 2012.

They must be doing something right.

We should have Mayor Sly and the City Council go up the road a piece and check it out.

It wouldn't be that expensive a trip and who knows? Maybe they'd learn something. Maybe they'd bring something back they and we could all do.

Hey, we can hope, can't we?

Final, side note: In spite of what some people might think, in their ranking of the most miserable cities, Kansas City wasn't on that list, either.

Read more: America’s Most Content (and Miserable) Cities - 24/7 Wall St. http://247wallst.com/2013/03/26/americas-most-content-and-miserable-cities/#ixzz2PYPGrQpm

The Oracle of Omaha on the Republicans' tax plans

They think the world of his investing ability. They just don't want to discuss political or social policy with him.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

The Oracle from Omaha on a minimum tax for the wealthy--an idea whose time has come

From Sunday's New York Times:

A Minimum Tax for the Wealthy

By Warren E. Buffett

Omaha

SUPPOSE that an investor you admire and trust comes to you with an investment idea. “This is a good one,” he says enthusiastically. “I’m in it, and I think you should be, too.”

Would your reply possibly be this? “Well, it all depends on what my tax rate will be on the gain you’re saying we’re going to make. If the taxes are too high, I would rather leave the money in my savings account, earning a quarter of 1 percent.” Only in Grover Norquist’s imagination does such a response exist.

Between 1951 and 1954, when the capital gains rate was 25 percent and marginal rates on dividends reached 91 percent in extreme cases, I sold securities and did pretty well. In the years from 1956 to 1969, the top marginal rate fell modestly, but was still a lofty 70 percent — and the tax rate on capital gains inched up to 27.5 percent. I was managing funds for investors then. Never did anyone mention taxes as a reason to forgo an investment opportunity that I offered.

Under those burdensome rates, moreover, both employment and the gross domestic product (a measure of the nation’s economic output) increased at a rapid clip. The middle class and the rich alike gained ground.

So let’s forget about the rich and ultrarich going on strike and stuffing their ample funds under their mattresses if — gasp — capital gains rates and ordinary income rates are increased. The ultrarich, including me, will forever pursue investment opportunities.

And, wow, do we have plenty to invest. The Forbes 400, the wealthiest individuals in America, hit a new group record for wealth this year: $1.7 trillion. That’s more than five times the $300 billion total in 1992. In recent years, my gang has been leaving the middle class in the dust.

A huge tail wind from tax cuts has pushed us along. In 1992, the tax paid by the 400 highest incomes in the United States (a different universe from the Forbes list) averaged 26.4 percent of adjusted gross income. In 2009, the most recent year reported, the rate was 19.9 percent. It’s nice to have friends in high places.

The group’s average income in 2009 was $202 million — which works out to a “wage” of $97,000 per hour, based on a 40-hour workweek. (I’m assuming they’re paid during lunch hours.) Yet more than a quarter of these ultrawealthy paid less than 15 percent of their take in combined federal income and payroll taxes. Half of this crew paid less than 20 percent. And — brace yourself — a few actually paid nothing.

This outrage points to the necessity for more than a simple revision in upper-end tax rates, though that’s the place to start. I support President Obama’s proposal to eliminate the Bush tax cuts for high-income taxpayers. However, I prefer a cutoff point somewhat above $250,000 — maybe $500,000 or so.

Additionally, we need Congress, right now, to enact a minimum tax on high incomes. I would suggest 30 percent of taxable income between $1 million and $10 million, and 35 percent on amounts above that. A plain and simple rule like that will block the efforts of lobbyists, lawyers and contribution-hungry legislators to keep the ultrarich paying rates well below those incurred by people with income just a tiny fraction of ours. Only a minimum tax on very high incomes will prevent the stated tax rate from being eviscerated by these warriors for the wealthy.

Above all, we should not postpone these changes in the name of “reforming” the tax code. True, changes are badly needed. We need to get rid of arrangements like “carried interest” that enable income from labor to be magically converted into capital gains. And it’s sickening that a Cayman Islands mail drop can be central to tax maneuvering by wealthy individuals and corporations.

But the reform of such complexities should not promote delay in our correcting simple and expensive inequities. We can’t let those who want to protect the privileged get away with insisting that we do nothing until we can do everything.

Our government’s goal should be to bring in revenues of 18.5 percent of G.D.P. and spend about 21 percent of G.D.P. — levels that have been attained over extended periods in the past and can clearly be reached again. As the math makes clear, this won’t stem our budget deficits; in fact, it will continue them. But assuming even conservative projections about inflation and economic growth, this ratio of revenue to spending will keep America’s debt stable in relation to the country’s economic output.

In the last fiscal year, we were far away from this fiscal balance — bringing in 15.5 percent of G.D.P. in revenue and spending 22.4 percent. Correcting our course will require major concessions by both Republicans and Democrats.

All of America is waiting for Congress to offer a realistic and concrete plan for getting back to this fiscally sound path. Nothing less is acceptable.

In the meantime, maybe you’ll run into someone with a terrific investment idea, who won’t go forward with it because of the tax he would owe when it succeeds. Send him my way. Let me unburden him.

--Warren E. Buffett, Chairman and Chief Executive of Berkshire Hathaway.

And then, while we're at it, let's institute a minimum tax of, say, 10%, at least, for corporations so no matter what they write off legally, they can help pay for the roads and schools and all the infrastructure that help them make profits and keep growing here in America. It's the least they can do for access to the best markets in the world.

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/26/opinion/buffett-a-minimum-tax-for-the-wealthy.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print

KC: No. 15 out of 50

Yes, it's been covered by The Pitch Magazine and likely elsewhere online, too, across town but I still think it's good to cover this story and point out a few things differently.

Kansas City was ranked a bit of a surprising number 15 out of a total of 50 cities, nationwide, out of Businessweek Magazines'--with an assist from Bloomberg Rankings, it says-- "50 Best Cities to Live." (See links at bottom).

So good for us but first things, first--where does this come from and what may it mean for us?

First, from where this ranking comes:

The magazines say the cities are "... evaluated 100 of the country’s largest cities based on leisure attributes (the number of restaurants, bars, libraries, museums, professional sports teams, and park acres by population); educational attributes (public school performance, the number of colleges, and graduate degree holders), economic factors (2011 income and June and July 2012 unemployment), crime, and air quality. Major professional league and minor league teams, as well as U.S.-based teams belonging to international leagues in that city were included. The greatest weighting was placed on leisure amenities, followed by educational metrics and economic metrics, and then crime and air quality."

So, all told, that should mean especially good things for us, being based on these items. It's good company--all those cities--good competition and great overall reasons to grant these rankings.

(It has to be noted that it sucks, here, on this list, to be Dallas or Los Angeles or Phoenix, too. Wow).

Next, let's take a pause here and see what the article has to say about us:

Rank: 15
Population: 458,064

Were it not for its high crime rate, Missouri’s largest city might rank even higher. Residents working in the city’s downtown area are watched over by the iconic Kansas City Power & Light Building, while shoppers can get lost in local shopping centers such as Country Club Plaza and the Legends at Village West. For a unique blend of technology, arts, and history, residents can always stop by the city’s old transportation hub, Union Station.

Bars: 113
Restaurants: 921
Museums: 28
Libraries: 19
Pro sports teams: 3
Park acres per 1,000 residents: 36
Colleges: 15
Percent with graduate degree: 7.3
Median household income: $59,980
Percent unemployed: 6.9

I think it's interesting that the ranking is specifically for Kansas City, Missouri, yet they mention the Legends at Village West. That's a cute oversight on their part.

So, finally, then, what does this mean for us?

I think it means a couple things, really, at least.

First, it means we're getting good, national attention and coverage and that's always good.

Second, I think it's clear that, without the arts, Kansas City would be nowhere near this list. The arts and our three national sports teams--baseball, football and now soccer. What's ironic is that that last one, the new, "fereign" one, soccer, is the one that wins more than the other two.

Third, I think we need to, once again, stop a moment here and thank all kinds of people but maybe especially the Kauffman family since, without Ewing, Marion and Julia, we would have neither the Royals Major League Baseball team nor the incredible, in so many ways, new Performing Arts Center. Those are two big factors on this ranking, I think.

Where we have to sit up and take note--what we have to work on, this ranking shows--is that we clearly need, as we all surely know, that we have to get the crime rate down and the shootings and killings to stop.

Now if we just knew how, right?

Here's another note, too and it's in our favor: St. Louis is ranked 47th and really took a beating in all this. They have the big, major league teams but, in the magazine's own words, "St. Louis rated the worst on this list...in crime."

Ouch.

So, not only does this give us some bragging rights and some things for the Chamber of Commerce to crow about and promote and advertise, but it also gives us something to work on and for. Maybe if we get that crime rate down and the shootings and killings to decrease or, better yet, stop, we'll climb up this list even higher.

Here's hoping.

Congratulations, Kansas City. You got some good to great press here. Now let's get out there and get even better.


Links: http://www.pitch.com/plog/archives/2012/10/05/kc-is-americas-15th-best-city-says-businessweek

http://images.businessweek.com/slideshows/2012-09-26/americas-50-best-cities.html

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-09-26/san-francisco-is-americas-best-city-in-2012

http://images.businessweek.com/slideshows/2012-09-26/americas-50-best-cities.html#slide37

Ow. This hurts, Missouri

From the wires today:

Survey ranks Missouri as 8th most miserable state

It seems Bloomberg News ranked the 50 states from most to least miserable and this is where we came in.

Yikes. Not good.

What they had to say and show about us:

8. Missouri
> Well-being index score: 64.8
- Life expectancy: 77.4 (12th lowest)
- Obesity: 30.5% (10th highest)
- Median household income: $44,301 (14th lowest)
- Adult population with high school diploma or higher: 86.9% (22nd lowest)

Between 2010 and 2011, Missouri’s well-being score went from 17th worst in the country to eighth worst. Conditions in the state declined in every category Gallup measured. Missouri residents polled rated their emotional health as 14th worst in the country, down from 25th worst last year. The state also declined from 18th worst in life evaluation to third worst in the country. The state has the 11th-highest rate of smokers in the country at 21.1%. Heart disease, cancer and diabetes rates are all among the top 20, and life expectancy in the state is 77.4 years, the 12th lowest in the U.S.

Adding insult--and pain--to this injury is that, in sharp contrast to our, Missouri's ranking, neighbor Nebraska comes in as one of the top 10 "happiest" states, at number 8 while--get ready for this--next-door-neighbor Kansas (of all states) comes in even worse--higher, better--on this happiness list at number 7.

Yow.

This hurts.

I mean, this really hurts.

Links: http://247wallst.com/2012/03/02/americas-most-miserable-states/2/

http://247wallst.com/2012/03/02/americas-happiest-states/2/