Seattle > Pittsburgh > Boston > Cincinnati

Literacy pays off! Who knew?

Seattle topped the list of 75 major cities across the US!  Sorry, Crystal, DC came in second, despite a Facebook quiz telling me that DC should have been the city of my choice. :-(

As the Seattle PI tells me, Dr. John W. Miller developed his rankings based on six categories:

1: Number of retail bookstores/1000 people.
2: % of adults with HS diplomas.
3. Total weekday circulation of a city's newspaper.

4: Number of web page views per capita to a city's "internet version" of a newspaper.

5. Magazine and journal distributions per capita.
6. Library staff and library volume per capita.

So, remember that you local library is also important!

Interestingly,  smart cities usually ranks well against other quality of life indicators too!

"...Most active singles’ scenes (Boston, Seattle, Washington, and Atlanta), are safer (Minneapolis, Boston, Seattle, Portland, Denver, and Cincinnati), more walk-able (Seattle, Washington, DC, Portland, Boston, and Denver), and healthier (Washington, DC and Denver)."

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

Pittsburgh > Seattle > Cincinnati

Readers of the Medicine Man's Blog already know that Pittsburgh is much, much better then Boston from a previous post.

Now, Transportation for America ask "How dangerous is your city?"  A study was conducted to find and measure the Pedestrian Danger Index (PDI) of 52 US metro areas with populations of greater then 1 million people.  "The PDI was developed to allow a fair comparison of metro areas according to their risk to pedestrians, relative to how much an ordinary person walks in that metro area."

Over all Pittsburgh was found to be the 4th safest city (based on PDI), Seattle the 5th, and Cincinnati the 7th.  Philadelphia is an abysmal #15 in overall pedestrian safely.  The worst city: Orlando (#52).

If you're over 65, the study finds that states such as Hawaii, California, and Florida are all the more dangerous for you!  TfA reports that the "the higher fatality rate for older pedestrians can probably be attributed to several factors: 1) older pedestrians have a higher risk of death than young people given the same severity of injury; 2) older pedestrians are more likely to have perceptual, sensory and cognitive impairments that decrease their ability to avoid oncoming traffic; and, 3) existing pedestrian infrastructure, such as the duration of crosswalk signals, ignores the needs of older walkers." 

I really think from point #2 that TfA is trying to say that older walkers are slower to cross the street, slower to react if they feel they are in danger, may not see the cars or trucks coming at time, may not hear the roar of the traffic coming at them, and may not know what to do if they feel they are in danger. 

Even if you are young and quick, you still have to be lucky.  This video just goes to show you that brightly warn crossing guard reflectors don't always avoid close contacts with cars either. 

Urban Cincy did a great recap of the findings and expanding upon how pedestrian traffic relates to safety in our fair city.

At least Cincinnati > Cleveland.  :-)

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

  

Trip over love, you can get up. Fall in love and you fall forever.

This month has been interesting with 1) two weddings in 4 weeks, 2) the grooms were childhood neighbors from Murrysville, PA (my home town, just outside of Pittsburgh) and 3) I was able to reconnect with an old high school friend at each wedding.   
Men always want to be a woman's first love. Women have a more subtle instinct: What they like is to be a man's last romance.  -Oscar Wilde

Mike Pritts and I at his wedding reception!

"I dreamed of a wedding of elaborate elegance,

A church filled with family and friends. 
I asked him what kind of a wedding he wished for, 
He said one that would make me his wife." - Author Unknown

Reconnecting with Sandip at Mike Pritts and Mandy's wedding!

You have to kiss a lot of toads before you find a handsome prince. - Unknown

So.... at Pittsburgh weddings, everyone and their mother brings in dozens of cookies.

Guest are required to take home a goodie bag.

I think it's a Polish thing...

Marriage is the only war in which you sleep with the enemy. - Unknown

Tim Chan and Julie at their wedding ceremony.

"Marriage is like pi - natural, irrational, and very important" - Lisa Hoffman

Allen Chang, Tim Chan and I at the reception lunch!

To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world. - Bill Wilson

A great view in Dana Point, CA from Tim's wedding.

Grow old with me! The best is yet to be. ~Robert Browning

For those of you who are as "vexed" as me about the search for your sole mate, thank goodness we don't always look like this guy:

Entitled, "The vexed man."

From the Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA

There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved. - George Sand

Ladies, try not to avoid cupids talent when he come to visit!

"You don't marry someone you can live with, you marry the person who you cannot live without." - Anonymous

Thanks for reading,

Dr. Alex

Pittsburgh >> Boston

"I don't know what's better - the YinzCam or iBurgh... Either way, it's always nice to see the Pittsburgh beat Boston :)" - Maria

As the Pittsburgh's Post Gazette's article, released on Aug 18th 2009 states, "Pittsburgh has won the 'space race' with Boston to adopt the first iPhone application for registering citizen complaints through a mobile phone."

The iBurgh, a free application and developed by YinzCam Inc., became available this past weekend and through the efforts of city council men Bill Peduto. Now residents of Pittsburgh can now snap photos of potholes and graffiti and have them sent directly to the complaint hot line!

This how great would this idea be in other cities! YinzCam, let me know when you're coming to Cincinnati and/or Seattle!

Thanks for reading,

Alex