In a recently released list of America’s smartest cities, Houston did not fare too well. Of the 55 cities that made the list, from first to worst, Houston tied with Orlando, Fla., at number 46, only nine from the bottom of the list.
According to the Daily Beast, the Web site that released the information, ‘Houston hosts many of the world’s largest energy corporations and NASA, but the number of postsecondary institutions for a city this size is abysmal.’
The Daily Beast’s criteria that determined each city’s ranking included the number of residents with bachelor’s and graduate degrees, the number of nonfiction books sold, the number of higher education institutions in the city and the city’s combined participation in elections, both national and local.’
Though this is not the most clear-cut way to decide the intelligence of a city’s population (and it definitely isn’t the only way), it sure has created a lot of buzz online. Besides that, it has left many Houstonians wondering, ‘Why are we ranked so low?’
The smartest city on the list, Raleigh-Durham, N.C., has a Daily Beast IQ score of 170; Austin, the highest ranked city in Texas at No. 12, has an IQ of 129; Houston, though it is ranked above both Dallas-Fort Worth at No. 48 and San Antonio at No. 53, has an IQ of only 66.’
Should Houstonians be outraged? Should we take it to the streets? Should we boycott the Web site or ignore it completely? Maybe we should write a letter to Gov. Rick Perry or Mayor Bill White reading, ‘We is smart. Fix this.’
The Daily Beast didn’t release this ranking to insult Houston (or any other city, for that matter). Nor is the list meant to tickle Raleigh-Durham’s proverbial balls, to use the parlance of our times. This list is merely factual data compiled to keep score.’
Sure, there are a lot of things this list doesn’t address, but rather than getting our feelings hurt, Houstonians should use this list as motivation to better themselves.’
We need to remind ourselves, our children and our peers to stay in school, read books, participate in elections and vote for Proposition 4, which would greatly benefit our beloved University.’
UH is growing and bettering itself, and has the opportunity to lead the way for other schools in Houston ‘- St. Thomas, Texas Southern University, UH-Downtown and Houston Community College, to name a few.
We as a city are smarter than this, and though we don’t need a list compiled by people who don’t even live here to tell us so, we can always use another incentive to better our city and ourselves.
Can’t we work on flagship status and being smarter all at the same time? I don’t see why not.
