THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 19, 1995 TAG: 9508190090
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
Charlottesville, praised for its clean air and solid public school system, climbed to No. 15 in Money Magazine's annual survey of the best places to live.
The city was the highest ranked Virginia locality in the magazine's rankings of the 300 largest metropolitan areas in the country. Roanoke jumped to No. 77, while Danville was 168th, Lynchburg was 177th, Richmond 276th and Norfolk-Virginia Beach at 283rd.
Last year, Charlottesville was ranked 77th, Roanoke 201st, Danville 214th, Lynchburg 219th, Richmond 253rd, and Norfolk-Virginia Beach 224th.
According to Money, Charlottesville has the best air quality of all the metropolitan areas ranked.
``To some extent, that's not surprising,'' said Charlottesville Mayor David Toscano, adding that the area's major employers, such as the University of Virginia, State Farm Insurance and various government agencies, don't cause much air pollution.
In education, Charlottesville tied for the lead in terms of money spent per pupil and low teacher-student ratios in classrooms, the magazine said.
But the Money survey probably says more about the readers of the magazine than content of the Charlottesville community, said Thomas Guterbock, a sociologist and the director of the University of Virginia's Center for Survey Research.
``This is more a matter of changing tastes'' than of changing cities, he said, pointing to Money's methodology, which surveys a relatively small cross-section of people.
The study asks a ``statistically representative sample'' of 252 Money subscribers - whose median age is 49 and median household income is $62,500 - to rate the importance of 41 factors that affect the quality of life in a community.
The magazine then gathers data from government and private sources to assess which metropolitan areas pass Money's muster.
Gainesville, Fla., was the pacesetter this year, earning high marks for its weather and robust economy. Rounding out the Top 10 were Rochester, Minn.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Seattle, Wash.; Ocala, Fla.; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Salem, N.H.-Haverhill, Mass.; Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C.; Las Vegas, Nev.; and Naples, Fla.
``We don't expect people to pick up and move to these cities,'' said Patti Straus, a spokeswoman for Money, ``but it's one source people should look at.''
The bottom five places were Glens Falls, N.Y.; Peoria, Ill.; Birmingham, Ala.; Modesto, Calif.; and Yuba City, Calif. by CNB