Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 15, 1992 TAG: 9203150092
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ALBANY, N.Y. LENGTH: Medium
But Buffalo's notorious snowfall didn't earn the city its last-place ranking in John Tepper Marlin's "The Livable Cities Almanac." Its death rate did.
Marlin used life expectancy as his leading indicator to rank 100 U.S. cities. The leaders were widely scattered across the country, but Northeastern cities packed the bottom of the list.
"The Northeast tends to have more people who are dying faster," Marlin said by telephone from New York City, which ranked 89th.
Cities in the Northeast tend to be old industrial centers that "leave a legacy of pollution, which I believe affects their longevity," Marlin said.
Of the top 20 cities on the list, only one - the Bridgeport-Stamford, Conn., area - was in the Northeast. Of the bottom 10, only one - Shreveport, La. - was in the Sun Belt.
The bottom 10 were Pittsburgh; Shreveport; Portland, Maine; Springfield, Mass.; Jersey City, N.J.; Flint, Mich.; Newark, N.J.; Worcester, Mass.; Toledo, Ohio; and Buffalo.
Diet was the key factor that put such geographical opposites as Honolulu and Anchorage at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, Marlin said. People in Honolulu and Anchorage eat more fish, he said.
Marlin ranked cities according to an adjusted death rate, in which he calculated the life expectancy in a city by measuring the actual mortality rates and adjusting them based on the average age of the population. The adjusted rate told Marlin where people lived longer or shorter than normally expected. Those cities where people lived longer received a higher ranking.
10 healthiest cities\ From the livable cities almanac\ \ 1. Honolulu\ \ 2. Anchorage, Alaska\ \ 3. Denver\ \ 4. Charlotte,N.C.\ \ 5. Bridgeport-Stamford. Conn.\ \ 6. Washington\ \ 7. Salt Lake City\ \ 8. Seattle\ \ 9. Miami\ \ 10. Sacramento, Calif.
by CNB