Reno ranks as one of the top ten best places to live

RENO, NV, March 31 - Another day, another national ranking for the city of Reno.

According to a story in "USA Today," a new book names Reno as one of the top ten best places to live in the America.

In the latest issue of "Cities Ranked & Rated" Reno is ranked number nine when it comes to best US cities to live.

The survey is based on more than 100 different criteria, everything from climate, to crime, to outdoor activities and arts and culture.

One of the book's authors, Bert Sperling, says Reno doesn't have any serious weaknesses and should be considered one of the country's up and coming cities.

"Reno scored very well because the climate is very good, the transportation infrastructure is very good, recreation activities are also high. Surprisingly, the arts and culture score was on par with most other cities, as was education. It didn't have any serious weaknesses, resulting in a very high aggregate score."

Mayor Bob Cashell agrees. "I am extremely pleased and very proud that Reno has been listed among the top 10 best places to live."

"We enjoy a strong economy with very low unemployment, affordable housing, an excellent school system, low taxes, and wonderful higher education opportunities."

Cashell says the city council, city staff and residents all share equally in making Reno such a great city.

Over the past few months Reno has also ranked among the tops in the nation for its business climate and was named the second hottest housing market in the country.

Charlottesville, Virginia ranked the number one, followed by, Santa Fe, New Mexico, San Luis Obispo, California, Santa Barbara, California and Honolulu, Hawaii.

Out of the 331 cities ranked in the book Las Vegas came in at number 129.

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Swiss cities ranked the best; Baghdad the worst, Vancouver third.

Vancouver, on Canada’s Pacific Coast, was pushed down into third.

Canadian cities tops for health
A separate poll on top cities for health and sanitation had Canada’s Calgary first with Ottawa, Montreal and Vancouver also in the top 10, along with Swiss capital Bern, Zurich and Geneva.

“The top cities for health and sanitation have a combination of excellent hospital services and medical supplies and low levels of air pollution and infectious disease,” said Slagin Parakatil, senior researcher at Mercer.

Lowest ranked for health and sanitation was the Azerbaijani capital Baku because of the short supply of medical services and poor waste removal, the report said.

Both surveys were mostly carried out in November 2003 and use New York as a starting point with a base score of 100. In the overall quality of life poll, New York finished 38th, up from 44th last year, 6.5 points behind Zurich and Geneva.

Baghdad scored 14.5, 14 points adrift of 214th-placed Bangui in the Central African Republic.

“The threat of terrorism in the Middle East and the political and economic turmoil in African countries has increased the disparity between cities at the top and the bottom end of the rankings,” said Parakatil.