El Paso leaves 2004 on a...well, on some kind of note: Dr. Jack Miller of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater created a literacy ranking for the 79 U.S. cities with populations over 200, 000, and El Paso came in...79th.
The most literate U. S. city is Minneapolis, followed by Seattle, Pittsburgh, Madison (Wisconsin), and Cincinnati. All of the bottom ten cities were in California or Texas (69th place is held by Detroit, and roaring in at 68 is Los Angeles).
The category rankings were:
Education: El Paso was ranked 75, beating out Miami and NewarkPublications: El Paso was ranked 69, beating out Virginia Beach and Anaheim
Newspapers: El Paso was ranked 73, beating out Arlington and Garland (both Texas), and Hialeah
Libraries: El Paso was ranked 74, beating out Sacramento and Anaheim
Booksellers: El Paso was ranked 71, beaing out Newark, Detroit, and Phoenix
Overall, of course, El Paso was ranked dead last at 79.
We can take heart, though: this year, El Paso beat out Phoenix, Corpus Christi, and Greenville, South Carolina to emerge NUMBER ONE as America's Sweatiest City!
(Hat tip: Dustbury's Charles Hill, whose Oklahoma City came out considerably better)
Posted by Craig Ceely at December 31, 2004 08:24 PM