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Measuring BeautyLIFE WITH SUN, WATER AND OTHER NATURAL AMENITIES BY RODGER DOYLE

Books such as Places Rated Almanac and America’s Most Charming Towns and Villages have long been publish-

ing staples, but in recent years the U.S. gov-ernment has joined the trend by rating each county in the contiguous 48 states in terms of its natural amenities. The ratings, made by the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, are based on six measures: January temperature, January sunshine, temperature gain between January and July (less is better), July humidity, water area, and topographic variation.

The map, which summarizes the ratings, reveals a distinct pattern, with the western states and southern Florida at the top of the scale and scoring well on most measures. In contrast, the upper Midwest, from Ohio through the Dakotas, shows a relative lack of amenities. This region, of course, tends to have cold winters. But even when January temperatures are removed from the equa-

tion, the ratings in the region do not improve signifi cantly (the region generally lacks top-ographic variation). Among the few north-ern areas to rank high is Glacier County, Montana, which includes the eastern face of the Rocky Mountains, extensive plains area, buttes, lakes and rivers, together with di-

verse recreational opportunities such as fi sh-ing, skiing and big game hunting. The east-ern third of the country, aside from Florida, has no top-rated counties except for several in southern Appalachia, which has a hospi-table climate, many lakes and rivers, and considerable topographic diversity.

With the study, the USDA hopes to under-stand the factors underlying the economic viability of rural counties. It demonstrated that natural amenities correlate strongly with population change: Counties having very high amenities scores typically doubled in population during the period from 1970 to 1996, apparently because of their ability to attract retirees and recreational facilities. Those at the low end of the amenities scale lost population or barely held even. Fur-thermore, the degree of natural amenities helps to explain rural population shifts at least as much as economic factors, such as changing employment opportunities in

farming, mining and lumbering.Natural amenities do not play

much of a role in metropolitan areas, where economic consider-ations such as transportation and skilled labor are vital. Of the big cities, Los Angeles and San Fran-cisco score the highest. Manhat-tan (New York County) ranks only 1,689 out of 3,111 counties (but who goes there for the scen-ery?); Cook County, Illinois (Chicago), and Washington, D.C., rank even lower. Of the re-maining major metropolitan counties, Franklin County, Ohio (Columbus), and Hennepin County, Minnesota (Minneapo-lis), have the lowest ratings. Most major suburban counties in the

Northeast and Midwest get low ratings. Among the few exceptions are two New York City areas, Fairfi eld County, Connect-icut, and Suffolk County, New York.

Rodger Doyle can be reached at rdoyle2@adelphia.net

The high and low ratings of U.S. counties are listed according to

their natural amenities. The scores are scaled from 0 to 100;

the national average is 37.

Top Five Ventura (California): 100

Humboldt (California): 100

Santa Barbara (California): 99

Mendocino (California): 99

Del Norte (California): 98

Bottom FiveMower (Minnesota): 7

Norman (Minnesota): 6

Tipton (Indiana): 6

Wilkin (Minnesota): 2

Red Lake (Minnesota): 0S O U R C E : E c o n o m i c R e s e a r c h S e r v i c e ,

U . S . D e p a r t m e n t o f A g r i c u l t u r e

FAST FACTS: PLACES TO LIVE

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Natural Amenities Drive Rural Population Change. David A. McGranahan.

Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1999.

www.ers.usda.gov/publications/aer781/

FURTHER READING

Bottom decile Next decile Middle six deciles Next decile Top decile

Rating of Counties on the Natural Amenities Scale

S O U R C E : E c o n o m i c R e s e a r c h S e r v i c e , U . S . D e p a r t m e n t o f A g r i c u l t u r e . C o u n t i e s l i s t e d a r e t h o s e t h a t r a t e d h i g h e s t i n e a c h o f t h e n i n e U . S . C e n s u s r e g i o n s ( s e p a r a t e d b y d a r k l i n e s ) . I n c a s e s w h e r e t w o c o u n t i e s h a v e t h e s a m e r a t i n g , b o t h a r e s h o w n .

Ventura, Calif.

Lake, Colo. Cook, Minn.

Williamson, Ill.

Duke’s, Mass.(Martha’s Vineyard)

Nantucket, Mass.

Suffolk, L.I.

Carter, Tenn.

Jeff Davis, Tex.

Monroe, Fla. (Key West)R

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