Raleigh ranks high on 'Best Of' lists

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CORRECTION

A front-page story Monday about the popularity of Triangle cities in "Best Places" lists contained an erroneous time reference. Mayor Charles Meeker announced that Raleigh was No. 1 on MSNBC's "Best Places to Live" list Wednesday.

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Years from now, civic boosters may look back at the week of June 22 as the time that Raleigh's popularity with list-makers reached its apex.

On Monday of that week, Mayor Charles Meeker hailed the news that Raleigh was No. 1 on an MSNBC "Best Places to Live" list that was itself an amalgam of five other prominent "best places" lists. Four days later, a blog called GayRealEstate USA ranked Raleigh as the fourth best "gay ghetto" in the country.

So far this year, Raleigh has landed on at least 22 different "Best Of" lists. Even for the Triangle, which racks up accolades like Tiger Woods does tourney wins, the Capital City's recent haul is so staggering as to cause list envy.

"Feeling superior is usually the first step to complacency," said Reyn Bowman, president and CEO of the Durham Convention and Visitors Bureau. "That's the danger of believing in all of your 'clippings.' "

If Bowman sounds bitter, it's because he thinks Durham's many accolades -- including those it shares with Raleigh -- too often get overshadowed by the media's focus on the Bull City's homicide and poverty rates.

"It is amusing to read blog comments putting down a Durham ranking when it not infrequently outperforms Raleigh or the Raleigh-Cary MSA on a ranking," Bowman said.

The number of "Best Of" lists has rapidly grown in recent years, as publications of all kinds have realized how hungry readers are for municipal horse races. Among Raleigh's current honors: being declared the Best American City for Singles by Every Day with Rachael Ray, the TV cooking host's magazine.

List-makers' infatuation with Raleigh dates to the early 1990s, when the city landed at the top of municipal rankings put out by Money and Fortune magazines. The frequent anointing of Raleigh, and other Triangle cities, stems largely from the region's having a growing population and economy as well as a relatively low cost of living.

The top gay ghettos list, for example, was created by cross-analyzing demographic and real estate data to come up with metro areas that are "most in vogue" with the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities.

"Demographics don't lie, so we end up on a lot of lists," said Harvey Schmitt, president and CEO of the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce.

Raleigh's ranking prowess has been supercharged by the growing importance placed on the size of a city's "creative class." The creative class refers to scientists, engineers, artists, entertainers and others who are thought to create a more vibrant living environment.

One member of Raleigh's creative class, art dealer Lee Hansley, said that the city's days as a ranking juggernaut may be numbered.

"I have just come to the conclusion that Raleigh has peaked in terms of these lists," he said, noting that every good run must come to an end.

Echoing Bowman's warnings, Hansley fears city officials will become fat and happy with all the high rankings tossed Raleigh's way.

"You can't rest on your laurels," he said. "What are you going to do now?"