Are we sick of these lists yet? You know, the ones from websites created by some guy in a basement looking to attract web traffic by posting racy headlines that deliver clicks.

We love it when we're on the 'good list' even though we know the whole thing is mostly bogus; but, when we're on the bad lists, we call it unscientific and ridiculous.

Case in point, the very 'credible' Roadsnacks.net (they're not even a .com) has just named the lists of the 10 worst places to live in New York State. The blog, which is riddled with typos and grammatical deficiencies, listed Utica, Oneida, Johnstown, Gloversville and Herkimer as 5 of the 10 blemishes in the Empire State.

"We used science and date to determine which cities in The Empire State are the real pits," - (Editors note: We assume they meant data and not date.)

The website claims that their list is simply 'info-tainment' and that people shouldn't get all worked up over it. Here's how they came up with their list based on data that's public record-

How we crunched the numbers

We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. Using FBI crime datathe government censusBureau of Labor Statistics and Sperling’s Best Places, this is the criteria we used:

  • Population Density (The lower the worse – meaning there’s less to do for indoor entertainment)
  • Highest Unemployment Rates
  • Adjusted Median Income (Median income adjusted for the cost of living)
  • High Housing Vacancy Rate
  • Education (Low expenditures per student and high Student Teacher Ratio)
  • High Crime

If you’d like to see the complete list of cities, scroll to the bottom of this post to see a link to the entire data set.

Note: We get the crime numbers from the FBI, which gets its crime numbers from the cities themselves. This list is based on data, and is entirely unbiased.

 

Luke Tubia, WIBX
Luke Tubia, WIBX
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Is there any accuracy when it comes to the formula used to compile this list?  

It seems that the numbers are accurate; but, it's a formula that fails to take so many other factors into account.  Additionally, we know nothing of the author's credentials and the authenticity of his or her algorithm. However, it seems a bit hypocritical for us to celebrate the lists that show us in a good light and ignore the ones that don't.  Maybe we should all just agree to ignore these lists and ultimately we would starve the website of its traffic and eventually, it will all go away.

In the meantime, here's the list of 'The Worst Places to Live in NYS' and a link to the source. Take it for what it's worth.

  1. Richland
  2. Albion
  3. Niagara Falls
  4. Oneida
  5. Johnstown
  6. Gloversville
  7. Elmira
  8. Herkimer
  9. Utica
  10. Watertown

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