Rating: 
Summary: Tons of Great Indices but it Misses an Important One
Review: I've used the Places Rated Almanac (PRA) for my last two moves. It is well worth a purchase, especially for people who may be moving to areas that are totally unresearched.The problem that I have with PRA is the lack of an index on the culture or "mood" of the cities involved. There certainly is a difference in culture between, Charleston S.C., Joplin, MO., and Phoenix, AZ. even if the score the same on the other indices. Moving to a new city is, in some ways,like marrying another person by mail. It's great to know the age, weight, IQ, favorite hobbies of the individual, but not knowing their behavior or quirks can be disastrous. In my case, even with the last two PRA highly rated cities that I moved to, adverse culture was among the top reasons why I ended up leaving. What would I recommend to the publishers of PRA? Hire a part time anthropologist. Look for possible indices (such as population inflow vs. outflow, town hall meeting topics, newspaper headlines, suicide rate, major religious activities, etc.). Scale the cities based on parameters such as "citizen involvement", "cohesiveness", "tolerance", and "skeletons in the closet". This is not as "tangible" as the elevation or average temperature, but it sure would help users of the PRA match their own cultural values with candidate cities.
Rating: 
Summary: Fragmented organization detracts from good & useful book
Review: In examining this useful book, I found that the fragmentation of the book into chapters by the nine factors meant that you could not go to one place and find out all the stats etc. about Minneapolis or Rockville. You had to line up nine locations and then compile them yourself. Index inadequate. Nevertheless, it is unique in its comprehensiveness and thus worth buying.
Rating:
Summary: It's Okay.
Review: It is a good resource if there are certain key issues important to you, like average temperature in January, number of sunny days per year, etc. What it lacks is the "personality" of the town, the cultural or political climate.
Rating:
Summary: The best book of its kind.
Review: It's tough to read a book of someone's opinions on where to live as its really a heartfelt decision each person needs to make for themselves. But most of this book is straight statistics, such as weather and crime. The book is big and leaves enough room for each metro area so you can read the climate graphs without too much eyestrain. It's the best book on deciding where to move that I found. I took tons of notes from this book, and it actually helped me pick an entirely new place to live than the ones I had originally thought of! The only section I didn't like was the arts and culture section. I'm into the artsy scene, but the authors rated cities based on number of symphonies and orchestras and operas - who goes to these anymore??
Rating: 
Summary: Retirement Places Rated
Review: Most complete book we've seen. Every question I've had so far has been answered. I found the 4TH. Edition (1995) in a used bookstore and this caused me to want the most recent publication. What we know about the area we're interested in for retirement has been confirmed by this book. David Savageau thinks like we do in planning and we appreciate all his work in the writing of this book.
Rating:
Summary: Retirement Places Rated
Review: Most complete book we've seen. Every question I've had so far has been answered. I found the 4TH. Edition (1995) in a used bookstore and this caused me to want the most recent publication. What we know about the area we're interested in for retirement has been confirmed by this book. David Savageau thinks like we do in planning and we appreciate all his work in the writing of this book.
Rating:
Summary: Good with one caveat.......
Review: or a senior executive contemplating relocation, this is an outstanding reference book---with one caveat. WHAT IS GOOD ABOUT THIS BOOK 350 statistical metropolitan areas are compared on such issues as job markets, cost of living, housing markets, educational standards, crime rates, health care, recreational facilities, climate, etc. The information is presented in an unbiased manner. ONE CAVEAT The last chapter of the book sums up all the different factors and statistically derives the top ten areas to live. The assumption behind the last chapter is that all people will give all factors equal weight. That assumption is bogus, to say the least. For example, with a sixteen year old daughter we would rate educational facilities higher than transportation. On the other hand, an 80 year old retiree might rate transportation and health resources higher than education! Skip the last chapter and focus on the facts in the rest of this great reference book. If you order this book, make sure you are getting the latest latest edition of PLACES Laurence J. Stybel Board of Directors Resource Center
Rating:
Summary: What happened to the software?
Review: Still a great book. A one of a kind. I also have the 1993 print of Places Rated. It came with a program that allowed you to define your own rankings.
Rating:
Summary: You can't quantify quality of life in a city
Review: The book does a great job of laying out statistical differences between places, such as population, crime statistics, and the like, but provides very little in what makes a place a good place to live. Are the people friendly? Are the school districts responsive to parents? Are there significant racial tensions? In short, you can't quanitify quality of life.
Rating: 
Summary: Worthwhile data; absurd conclusions
Review: The Places Rated Almanac has real facts about each city, which is quite useful. Unfortunately, its central feature, the ratings, is a horrible example of using numbers without regard to meaning, Two typical examples: Which would you expect to improve Seattle's rating as a sports town?
A. The Supersonics, Mariners and Seahawks all win their league's championship, or
B. A plague kills half the people in Seattle.
Answer: the plague will increase its score, but the improved sports will not. If Dallas's Aquarium swapped places with all of Walt Disney World in Orlando, which city's entertainment value would go up? Answer: Orlando goes up, Dallas goes down. The authors are honest enough to warn the reader that their ratings can be arbitrary, but the degree of meaninglessness in the numbers is not recognized. If you want facts about 350 metropolitan areas, this book can provide them. But when you read it, you must be extremely careful to ignore virtually all of the authors' ratings.
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