According to City Data, New York was the biggest city in the United States, in terms of housing and population, in 2006. It was followed by Los Angeles (California) - with almost four million people - and Chicago (Illinois) - with almost three million.

The rankings show an uneven distribution across North America. New York is by far the most populated city in the United States. With over eight million people, the city  attracts more than the double of the people looking for a home in any other part of the country. Continue reading »

An analysis of US Census Bureau data, performed by BizJournals in 2006, reached the conclusion Seattle (Washington) is America’s Smartest City, followed by San Francisco (California) and Austin (Texas). The rankings reflect each community’s collective brainpower, which is tied to its residents’ abilities to innovate, create, compete, and make money.

Communities were ranked in population categories, to reward cities with heavy concentrations of college graduates. The analysis looked at the educational levels of adults in thousands of US cities, towns, villages, boroughs and unincorporated areas. Continue reading »

Fit Pregnancy, an American publication obviously dedicated to pregnant women, comes up every year with a “Best Cities in America to Have a Baby” survey. The magazine considered 50 major US cities and factors such as doctors and hospitals, midwives, birth and health risk, stroller-friendly trails and parks, affordability, and (maybe the most important) breastfeeding. The 2006 Fit Pregnancy survey ranked Portland on the top spot, followed by Boston and Minneapolis.

So if you want to start a family or simply intend to have another child, take a look at the rankings below. Continue reading »

Forbes Magazine ranked 30 American cities based on the percentage of Internet users with high-speed access, the range of service providers within a city and the availability of public wireless hot spots. The 2006 survey for Most Wired Cities in the United States awarded Atlanta (Georgia) with the top spot, followed by Orlando (Florida) and Seattle (Washington).

Forbes started with the top markets in broadband adoption as determined by Internet market research firm Nielsen/NetRatings. They dropped cities that didn’t crack the U.S. Census Bureau’s top 100 list. They calculated service provider variety with the latest available statistics, and determined Wi-Fi hot spots per capita by public hot spot directory JiWire and population estimates. Continue reading »

With its annual 2006 survey for Best Small US Cities to Live In, CNN/Money Magazine posted also a top 10 of best big US cities. The winner is the city of Colorado Springs (Colorado), followed by Austin (Texas) and Mesa (Arizona).

There are several other rankings, but we will briefly present here only the top three cities of this specific survey. American cities do not usually rank in the top spots in worldwide surveys. Main reason is high criminal rates. This does not mean that life can not be great there. Big job opportunities and clean air, this seems to be some of the criteria these cities have been selected for. Continue reading »