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Boston is the smartest large city in the United States, according to a new study from New Geography. Dallas did not fare nearly as well.
The numbers behind the rankings are straightforward. Weight is given to the number of college graduates in each of the Census Bureau’s Metropolitan Statistical Areas as well as any percentage increase in the number of graduates over the time measured (2000-2013).
As of 2013, 32.6 percent of DFW residents have at least a bachelors degree, a 4.1 percent increase since 2000. By the researchers’ calculation, that leaves Dallas as the 41st smartest large city of the 52 measured.
Unfair Park has a few major objections to any claims that we, as a city, are not smart. Sure, we may not have the credentials, but how can the mental dexterity built by traversing North Texas’ labyrinthine freeway system possibly be measured? How can you quantify the amount of concentration required to understand anything City Council member Sheffie Kadane says? What of the street smarts required to avoid the roving bands of mimes and jugglers soon to populate the Trinity River basin?
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Sure, The Dallas Morning News reported earlier this month that young college grads are flocking to Dallas far less than other cities because we lack the transit infrastructure, density and other amenities that millennials crave, but that doesn’t mean we should be lumped together with Oklahoma City and Riverside, California, our brethren near the bottom of the large city rankings. We just think book-learning is overrated is all.
Now if you’ll pardon us, these french fries aren’t going to cook themselves. Would you care for some with your order?
