Providence: You'll come for our #3 rank in low-impact sports.  You'll stay for the info-tech & digital media sector.

Has a nice ring to it, right?  =P

I happened to be catching the 11 o'clock news twice in a row earlier this week and saw this being featured both times. It seems we are quite proud to be better then the likes of Milwaukee.

Actually, I did notice we're higher than Las Vegas and Miami -- two locations for the CSI franchise. With our film & TV credits, colorful mafia-influenced past, and our growing digital forensics programs (remember URI's "Digital Forensics" day?), I think we should pitch Providence as the next location for CSI! Watching TV is a real low impact sport....

And let's not forget that Melina Kanakaredes, former star of NBC's "Providence," has already made the jump to the CSI franchise. Can the rest of the city be far behind?

This is great. I'd love to see these rankings adjusted by cost-of-living. I'll be sure to point out to my friends in SF how much more they are paying to live in a city that's only ranked 3 ahead of PVD! ;)

New slogans for those inevitable "Welcome Tourist" signs that, like the new "Welcome Center" on RT 295, will beon the wrong side of the highway, as you're leaving the state... 

"Rhode Island - It's a great place to visit, but you can't afford to live here."

"Rhode Island - You'll learn to love the corruption!"

"Rhode Island - 16th in shopping.  Have you noticed our sales tax?  Yeah, that's why we're 16th and not 8th."

"Rhode Island - Come for the legalized prostitution and video slots.  Stay for our generous social welfare programs!"

Russ Conway weighs in at RI Future.

http://www.rifuture.org/showDi...

I'm with Russ. :-)

One of the best things I ever did was move to RI.

I didn't notice this at first but there's an associated story (http://www.bizjournals.com/edi...) and slideshow (http://www.bizjournals.com/spe...) with a point about Providence:

* Providence is ideal for the aquatic set. It has 1.98 marinas for every 100,000 people, leading the country. It also ranks in the top four for concentrations of museums, golf courses, fitness centers and restaurants.

I ended up in RI in 1993. It's been nothing but an uphill trajectory ever since. I remember the first time I walked across the dirt parking lot where the mall is now thinking, "How can you have a dirt lot across the street from the Statehouse?" We've really got it good right about now.

For perspective on the accomplishment of these rankings, the Providence-New Bedford DMA ranks around 50th. Three single-digit rankings is really, really good. Restaurants, especially, is a real plum.

Where did you get the 50th ranking? The last US Census report I saw put PVD in the mid-30s. We definitely hit higher than our ranking on many scales though.

This is media talk. "Markets" or DMAs (Designated Market Areas - designated by media research giant Nielsen) are roughly defined by the area covered by the broadcast TV stations. NY, LA, Chicago, and Philly are your stable 1-4, then SF, Dallas, DC, ATL, Boston, and Houston make up 5 - 10 and they constantly swap around because they're so close together in size.

According to the most recent Nielsen release, Providence-New Bedford is #52, between Austin and New Orleans. We're usually high 40s low 50s.

Yep. I don't know why I read that as MSA instead of DMA. Got the census on the brain I guess. No, not really. I was just being careless.