‘At the newspaper stand’
courtesy of ‘faungg’
I can’t even try to explain this one.
Last year, Parenting magazine put Arlington atop its annual “Best Place to Live & Raise a Family” rankings, while the District, whose features were touted by the magazine as its strength through proximity, was ranked #71.
This year’s rankings are out, and it seems there’s a bit of a flip-flop. This year, DC is ranked #1, and Arlington is #70.
Has so much changed in the last 365 days since the last rankings were out? Nope, not really, but it seems that the algorithm at Parenting Magazine sure has. What I said last year, applies now in reverse:
“I don’t mean to bag on the District here, it’s definitely a great place to live, but it’s a great place to live in part because of its proximity to Arlington. I’d say having now lived in both DC and Arlington, there’s no way at all that Arlington is #70 while DC is #1. Something’s deeply broken here, and I’d love to know what. I won’t come out and accuse Parenting of anything short of faulty math and bad writing.”
I live and work in the District of Columbia. I write at We Love DC, a blog I helped start, I work at Technolutionary, a company I helped start, and I’m happy doing both. I enjoy watching baseball, cooking, and gardening. I grow a mean pepper, keep a clean scorebook, and wash the dishes when I’m done. Read Why I Love DC.
There must be a “Town of District” on the Columbia River in Washington state. That’s the one they’re probably referring to. It’s the only logical explanation.
This is a really great example of just how arbitrary these magazing “ranking lists” usually are. It’s really a shame that they get so much press whenever they come out.