June 16, 2004 -- Seattle is the best major city for kids and Cl
June 16, 2004 -- Seattle is the best major city for kids and Cleveland is the worst, according to a new ranking.
Among the 20 major cities on the list, only Seattle and Boston get an "A." Cleveland is joined by Detroit and Phoenix in getting a "C."
Des Moines, Iowa, tops the list of the next 80 largest cities. It gets an even better grade than Seattle: an "A+." So does Spokane, Wash. At the bottom of this list -- with a "C-," the worst grade given -- are Birmingham, Ala., Shreveport, La.; and New Orleans.
The ratings come from a group called Population Connection (formerly, Zero Population Growth), a group that sees overpopulation as the greatest threat to the world's quality of life. It supports family planning - including sex education -- and strongly opposes abstinence-only programs.
The ratings are based on a complex formula. The rankings consider several "indicators" of child welfare, including population indicators, health indicators, education indicators, and community indicators. These are:
- Percent change in population, an indicator of whether a city is growing or shrinking too quickly (5% of grade)
- Percent of population under 18, an indicator of whether a city's population is stable (2% of grade)
- Percent of births to teens (13% of grade)
- Infant mortality rates (9% of grade)
- Percent of eligible women getting public reproductive health services (1% of grade)
- Whether state laws require insurers to cover contraceptive drugs (7% of grade)
- Percent of children without health insurance (3% of grade)
- Percent of residents with a high-school diploma (11% of grade)
- Ratio of teachers that received training from Population Connection (6% of grade)
- Whether sex education is required, whether it is medically accurate, whether it discusses abstinence and contraception, and whether it is age appropriate (8% of grade)
- Student proficiency in reading (2% of grade)
- Student proficiency in math (5% of grade)
- Percentage of kids living in poverty (5% of grade)
- Percent growth in urbanized land (3% of grade)
- Violent crime rate (8% of grade)
- Recycling (12% of grade)
The report, Kid-Friendly Cities Report Card 2004, is available on the Population Connection web site. It offers detailed information on each city. It also features one thing each city is doing especially right.
Here are the ratings, and the grade assigned to each city. But Population Connection says the ratings and grades don't matter as much as what you do with them.
"Forget about the rankings. Ignore the grades," the report states. "We hope that [the report] will inspire families, individuals, activists, and officials to work together to create better communities -- instead of just moving to 'better' places."
Major Cities:
1 Seattle: A
2 Boston: A
3 San Diego: A-
4 San Francisco: A-
5 Minneapolis: A-
6 New York: B+
7 Denver: B+
8 Philadelphia: B+
9 Chicago: B+
10 Los Angeles: B
11 St. Louis: B
12 Washington, DC: B
13 Atlanta: B
14 Baltimore: B-
15 Houston: B-
16 Dallas: B-
17 Miami: C+
18 Phoenix: C
19 Detroit: C
20 Cleveland: C
Large Cities:
1 Des Moines, Iowa: A+
2 Spokane, Wash: A+
3 Madison, Wis.: A
4 Fremont, Calif.: A
5 Yonkers, N.Y.: A
6 Glendale, Calif.: A
7 Kansas City, Mo.: A
8 Indianapolis: A
9 Fort Wayne, Ind.: A-
10 St. Paul, Minn.: A-
11 Raleigh, N.C.: A-
12 Tacoma, Wash.: A-
13 Anchorage, Alaska: A-
14 San Jose, Calif.: A-
15 Greensboro, N.C.: A-
16 Portland, Ore.: A-
17 Lincoln, Neb.: A-
18 Lexington, Ky.: A-
19 Virginia Beach, Va.: A-
20 Grand Rapids, Mich.: B+
21 Rochester, N.Y.: B+
22 Pittsburgh: B+
23 Omaha, Neb.: B+
24 Louisville, Ky.: B+
25 Oakland, Calif.: B+
26 Honolulu: B+
27 Jersey City, N.J.: B+
28 Austin, Texas: B+
29 Wichita, Kan.: B+
30 Buffalo, N.Y.: B+
31 Irving, Texas: B+
32 Plano, Texas: B+
33 Colorado Springs, Colo.: B+
34 Scottsdale, Ariz.: B+
35 Augusta, Ga.: B
36 Aurora, Colo.: B
37 Sacramento, Calif.: B
38 Newark, N.J.: B
39 Charlotte, N.C.: B
40 Anaheim, Calif.: B
41 Riverside, Calif.: B
42 Arlington, Texas: B
43 Long Beach, Calif.: B
44 Garland, Texas: B
45 Milwaukee, Wis.: B
46 Akron, Ohio: B
47 Columbus, Ohio: B
48 Mesa, Ariz.: B
49 Tucson, Ariz.: B
50 Norfolk, Va.: B-
51 Jacksonville, Fla.: B-
52 Fort Worth, Texas: B-
53 Albuquerque, N.M.: B-
54 San Antonio: B-
55 Chesapeake, Va.: B-
56 Glendale, Ariz.: B-
57 Hialeah, Fla.: B-
58 Toledo, Ohio: B-
59 Santa Ana, Calif.: B-
60 Cincinnati: B-
61 Tampa, Fla.: B-
62 Corpus Christi, Texas: B-
63 Stockton, Calif.: C+
64 Lubbock, Tex.: C+
65 Richmond, Va.: C+
66 Tulsa, Okla.: C+
67 Nashville, Tenn.: C+
68 Las Vegas: C+
69 Montgomery, Ala.: C+
70 St. Petersburg, Fla.: C+
71 Fresno, Calif.: C+
72 Oklahoma City: C+
73 Mobile, Ala.: C
74 El Paso, Texas: C
75 Baton Rouge, La.: C
76 Bakersfield, Calif.: C
77 Memphis, Tenn.: C-
78 New Orleans: C-
79 Shreveport, La: C-
80 Birmingham, Ala.: C-
The report card comes out once every two years.
