Perhaps the rating system is exponentially-based, where a 10 ranking is exponentially worse than, say, 5--similar to earthquake magnitude ratings. I've lived in metro Denver, and it is exponentially better (IMO) than metro Baltimore on virtually all levels. Although I think that sometimes Denver's proximity to the mountains and alpine-related activities acts as a bit of an unfair advantage. :)

I was kind of hoping the mayor would lower our ranking by responding that things were "more better" than before.

Yeah Right, and the check is in the mail!

Maybe the people of denver used the word exponentially too much. Any one with that limited of a vocabulary has to be qualified to say how smart a city is.

I well imagine the methodology also included taking into account how effectively each area goes about "thinning the herd" (homicide rate) as it serves to enhance the overall well-being of the general populace.

Take yhat Pittsburgh

The metro area most likely includes AA, Balt, How & Har counties in the calculation. These counties pull the city up tremendously. If Washington was higher the N Vir counties and Mont county in MD helped that city also.

How does this wording work for you, Steve:

"Perhaps the rating system is derived from an exponent-based model--similar in nature to the magnitude model used to quantify the scope of any given earthquake. Prior to relocating to Baltimore, I dwelt in Denver for many years and found the amenities to be far superior to Baltimore's. Proximity to the mountains lends Denver an unfair advantage (in my estimation), compared to Baltimore's proximity to the ravaged Inner Harbor and Chesapeake Bay."

By the way, in the context that you use "any one", it should actually be one word--not two, unless your tenuous justification for separation is that "one" in your usage represented "one individual". Let me know if you would like the above to appear in another language, since my functional vocabulary extends well beyond the English lexicon.

Also, who knows--you might be happier if you gave another metro area a chance!

To bad none of them are city schools, Mayor.

Raliegh-Durham and San Francisco are the two top spots...one known for universities and the other for the tech boom (SF Bay Area).

I find it funny (in a sad way) that someone from Denver actually came here to gripe. Let's see who's next.

I believe schools probably refers to colleges and universitys. Baltimore City is home to many fine institutions. For example, Hopkins, Loyola, the UMD professional schools. Also, this wasn't a survey of amenities.

Denver residents are well educated, but also (IMO) kinda dicks.

Nah--I moved because of job requirements--not to gripe. And good lord--does no one have a sense of humor on this? Did no one catch the bits of humor in my original post? For shame!

I do, however, have a low threshhold for snot-nosed rebuttals emanating from residents in a city that doesn't function as well as other metro areas. Note the furlough days? I'll take Hickenlooper any day of the week over O'Malley and Dixon. I'm biased, but at least I'm honest about it. Have a great weekend!

OK, I'm back again, and I do apologize for the "snot-nosed" comment. And yes, I am a dick sometimes.

What some of you still missed is that I reside in Baltimore. I'm not a Denver resident. What I find incredibly bizarre about Baltimore is the alternating fierce loyalty to the city of many Baltimoreans, who then in their next breath talk about how much they hate their city, how it's going down the tubes since they were young, and how little actual civic pride exists in the city. That's why I'm a bit harsh on the city and harsh on city residents who decide to rag on me, but don't take responsibility for how they relate to the community around them. I want to live in a city that has pride in itself. Denver has that pride. Baltimore doesn't.