Website blasts Macon as country’s worst place to live
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Macon has made another top 10 list, and this one’s not flattering.
RoadSnacks.net, a Durham, North Carolina-based website, says Macon is the worst place to live in America.
The compilation, the site says, is an “opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. Don’t freak out.”
RoadSnacks said it analyzed the largest 250 cities in the country to come up with the list. It said it looked at criteria that included FBI crime data, U.S. Census information, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Sperling’s Best Places, checking everything from population density and unemployment rates to median income and housing vacancy rates.
Jackson, Mississippi, came in at No. 2. Savannah was No. 7.
“In order to rank the worst places to live in America, we had to determine what criteria people like or dislike about a place,” the site said. “It isn’t a stretch to assume that people like low crime, solid education, things to do and a stable economy. So we scraped the Internet for those criteria, asked for the opposite of those, and it spit out the answer.”
It added, “Our goal is to show you the real side of places that not everyone wants to hear. ... We try to paint a picture of what’s happening in a region based on “Friday Night Science” -- how’d you argue at a bar. To do that, we gather data from around the web to help determine a wide array of factors about where you live, things like safety, desirability, and culture.”
The site gave Macon a grade of F, saying its home values are the fifth lowest in the country, its crime is the 10th highest and that the median income is $33,051.
“It was a little surprising when we got the results back, but when you look at the data, it’s hard to argue against,” said the site, which has also compiled lists on everything from the “10 Most Redneck Cities In New Jersey” to the “10 Snobbiest Places In Washington.”
Macon-Bibb County officials were not impressed with the metrics or the findings, saying some of the information used in the tabulations was flawed.
“It’s hard to take seriously a ranking from a website that refers to itself as infotainment publishing opinions that ‘should not be taken as fact,’” Chris Floore, a Macon-Bibb County spokesman, said in an email. “When comparing cities, there is much more accurate, complete, and updated information available to people.”
The Macon-Bibb County Convention & Visitors Bureau weighed in, too.
“Residents who live in Macon can see the growth and positive changes which have been occurring over the years,” the bureau said in a statement from Valerie Bradley, the CVB’s director of communications. “Our city has great assets including our attractions, festivals and restaurants, and so much more. Also, Macon is a thriving and growing community, which is reflected by our higher education system and revitalization which attracts residents as well as visitors.”
For more on the findings, visit www.roadsnacks.net.
Read more here: http://www.macon.com/news/local/article33208830.html#storylink=cpy
