I want to commend Bob Greene for writing about what I consider to be a great farce: national “livability” surveys (“Some things don’t show up in surveys,” Tempo, April 15).
When I graduated from college a year and a half ago, I moved to Seattle, which always ranks in or near the top 10 of these surveys. Frankly, I was disappointed. The cost of living was higher than I anticipated, and the “employment opportunities” consisted of entry-level positions that did not require a college degree or were service jobs. The traffic was horrendous for a city only a quarter of the size of Chicago, and the cost of licensing a car was unbelievable (more than $300 for a 1995 model)!
Mr. Greene was right to point out that some things don’t turn up in surveys, so make sure you check out an area for yourself instead of relying on what some survey tells you or what is “fashion-able.” Besides, as Mr. Greene also points out, surveys leave out the most important aspect of a place: its character.
