Philly Tops Meaningless List (!)

Hey, Philadelphia won some sort of pointless ranking! Yes, venerable research institutions Apartments.com and Careerbuilder’s CBCampus.com joined forces to produce a report claiming ranking Philadelphia as the best place to live for recent college grads.

This is doubly hilarious when one considers the situation in 2004, when all my friends from school moved away from Philadelphia to New York, Boston, D.C. and other cities not Philadelphia. But now that gas is $80 a gallon and a trio of pretzels costs $1.50 (a buck-fifty!), look who’s laughing now? Muahahahahaha!

Er, anyway, the criteria for the study includes “the population of people age 20 to 24, the number of entry-level job openings suitable for new grads, and the average cost to rent a one-bedroom apartment.” Because it’s 2008, we kids (I’m 25 now, but 15 mentally, so it averages out) also want the all-important “green” buzzword.

But, hey, it’s an article about Philadelphia, so it’s not like there can’t be some good old Philly-bashing: “The nice parts of Philly are really nice. But the bad parts are awful.” Yes, just like every city anywhere ever. And then there’s this:

Hopkins, the Select Greater Philadelphia executive, says that his son, a 24-year old working at insurer AIG and living with his parents to save money, is now debating whether to move to the New York area or stay closer to home. Because he wants to buy a home, he has no options in Manhattan—and few options in nearby New Jersey cities.

“He can’t afford the monthly payments in Hoboken, Jersey City, or Manhattan,” Hopkins says. “So now he’s thinking about Philadelphia.”

Ahh, yes, he can’t afford Hoboken, so he’s moving to Philadelphia. If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere!

Philadelphia named best city for new grads [MSNBC]