| Statistically ranking New
Jersey's 566 municipalities is no easy task, especially for laypeople, so we
decided to leave the heavy lifting—the crunching of thousands and thousands of
figures—to the professionals at Leflein Associates Inc. in Fort Lee. To devise
a methodology, demographers, economists, and other statistical experts were
consulted. To figure out how to divide all the municipalities into three
categories—cities, suburbs, and rural villages—we relied on divisions
employed by state government planners and also took population density into
consideration. Results for the ranking reflect, as much as possible, measurable
criteria such as crime rate and cost of living. Figures were gathered from
private and government agencies and from a variety of publications. Although we
ranked all 566 municipalities, we had room to print results only for the top
towns. We considered 1) CRIME
RATE, based on the number of crimes per capita in each municipality. Violent or
major crimes, such as murder, rape, or robbery, were weighted more heavily in
the analysis than nonviolent crimes such as burglary, auto theft, and larceny.
2) COST OF LIVING, based on 1998 property tax rates and housing prices. drawn
from New Jersey Monthly's April 2000 cover story, "Sold! For a
Fortune." Housing costs were analyzed in relation to per capita income,
since whether homes are reasonably-priced in any given municipality depends on
how much its residents earn. 3) ECONOMY, based on variables including 1998 and
1999 unemployment rates, per capita income, the average number of housing
permits issued in 1998 and 1999, and the amount of land still available for
development. All of these figures were gathered from government agencies; the
latter two variables, according to economists, should be included in any
analysis because the health of a municipality's economy depends at least partly
on growth. 4) EDUCATION, based on New Jersey Monthly's September 2000 statewide
ranking of New Jersey's public high schools, which reflected such parameters as
average student test scores and the percentage of students who continue their
education. 5) CULTURE AND LEISURE, based on variables including library budgets
and the number of amenities such as theaters, concert venues, performing arts
companies, museums and art galleries, state parks, forests and marinas, golf
courses, arts and cultural centers, historical sites, historical societies, and
cultural service organizations.
Within the categories of
cities, suburbs, and villages, each municipality received a numerical ranking
for each criterion, with the top-ranked town assigned a score of 1. Then the
rankings for each municipality were added up and divided by the total number of
criteria to produce an average score. The municipality with the smallest average
ranked first, the municipality with the second smallest average came in second,
and so forth.
Sources: U.S.
Bureau of the Census, N.J. Department of Labor, New Jersey Future, N.J.
Department of Environmental Protection, N.J. Department of Community Affairs,
N.J. School Boards Association, N.J. Department of Education, N.J. State Council
on the Arts, Rutgers University Center for Government Services, NJave.com,
Historical Societies of New Jersey, New Jersey Policy Perspectives, N.J. State
Planning Commission, ArtPride New Jersey, N.J. Library Association, Discover
Jersey Arts: Resource Guide.
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