Comments on: America’s Most Literate Cities… Really?

By: Rebel

Rebel — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 20:09:04 +0000

I can support Portland, OR's inclusion on this list. We have an incredible library system and a number of amazing independent bookstores (including Powells – the mothership). I've also never lived anywhere with as many active book clubs as there are here. Of course NYC is a literate city, but I think looking at these statistics per capita, other cities are even more so.

(Report comment)

By: Apolon

Apolon — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 08:00:05 +0000

I'm not too surprised about NYC. It's the largest and probably the most diverse city in the country, and its renowned for its poor public education. Only the Boston, Atlanta and Washington, DC metropolitan areas rank in the country's ten largest cities, and none of them are in the top five. The rest of the highly literate cities are smaller, perhaps with smaller economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. NYC certainly has plenty of those. NYC has too much variety to make a list like this. Great numbers of urban poor, a low quality of public education, and many non-native speakers (I wonder, does New York have foreign language libraries?), surely lower its ranking. That's the best explanation I can come up with.

(Report comment)

By: Julie

Julie — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 17:24:19 +0000

Chris- Thanks for your comment– I learned something new! I didn't even know UNESCO has "Cities of Literature." Iowa City is certainly deserving of such a title; it does have a rich literary culture. What other cities–in and outside the US–would you add to the list? Tanya- Agreed about Minneapolis, too; definitely an overlooked literary and artistic hotbed in the US. Just still can't understand NYC. For one thing, public transportation seems to promote reading time. Commuters are always head in a book or head in a paper or magazine!

(Report comment)

By: Tanya

Tanya — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:53:00 +0000

I'm going to have to go ahead and agree with this study as far as Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota are concerned. The state is known for its excellent K-12 and higher education systems and the Twin Cities in general have a highly educated workforce. Plus, Minneapolis recently built a new unbelievably awesome library and city wide wifi is now a reality. Can't explain NYC for you, though. That one does seem strange.

(Report comment)

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:42:01 +0000

If you look at it per capita, it's less of a wonder that NYC wasn't highly rated. But then that wouldn't explain the omission of Iowa City, where there are more public library members than residents and was recently named the third UNESCO City of Literature. ” target=”_blank”>http://www.pw.org/content/iowa_city_named_city_li...

(Report comment)