So a new ranking list came out last week. It was this:
2015's Best & Worst Small Cities in America
And that's all well and good and you wouldn't maybe think much about it but look what small city made the number 5 spot on the "best" list:
The best small cities in America:
1. Princeton, N.J. 2. Littleton, Colo. 3. Dublin, Ohio 4. Brookfield, Wis. 5. Leawood, Kans. 6. Southlake, Tex. 7. Westfield, Ind. 8. Northampton, Mass. 9. Ankeny, Iowa 10. Crystal Lake, Ill Leawood, Kansas?
Leawood freaking Kansas?
One of the best small cities in America?
For what? It's cozy, old downtown area?
Here's at least part of what the rankings were based on--
1Princeton, NJ61.9011441741
2Littleton, CO57.627423315428
3Dublin, OH57.2217143112190
4Brookfield, WI57.182061698248
5Leawood, KS57.097714123523
So... wait.Let's start right here with "affordability."
Affordable? Leawood? Anyone and everyone in the Kansas City metro knows Leawood is anything but affordable. It's one of the most expensive and exclusive cities in the area. I guess if you compare it to San Francisco or New York, it's affordable.
And the rest of the these rankings, above? Economic health, education and health and quality of life ratings?
Well of course they're all high numbers in Leawood! The people out there are loaded! And not just with booze.
How insane.
If you just put cities on paper, I guess you can come up with rankings and ratings totally disconnected from the actual world out here. The next area city on the list was Wildwood, Missouri (?) at number 30. Shawnee, Kansas, 54. Liberty, Missouri----131. (ouch). Lenexa, 223. Nothing to advertise about, for sure. Blue Springs? 615. Yowza.
Side note: Also surprising, at least to me, is that all 10---all 10---cities on the "worst" list are from California.
That's got to have 10 different City Halls and Chambers of Commerce scrambling to change things, I would think.
