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This city might finally be getting a fair shake from the national media.
After years of dubious rankings - from dumbest in the country to among the most sexually satisfied and fattest - Fort Wayne has some good news rolling in.
BusinessWeek magazine rated Fort Wayne as the best city in Indiana to raise kids, according to an article published on its Web site Monday. The nod follows a top-20 ranking in a similar "Best Places to Raise a Family" list from the June/July issue of Best Life Magazine, a publication that, oddly enough, is a spin-off of Men's Health Magazine, which rated the city the dumbest in the country in 2005.
The BusinessWeek article tipped its hat to the city's Philharmonic orchestra, its museums and the "well-respected, 40-acre Fort Wayne Children's Zoo."
The ratings took into account education quality, crime rates, cost of living, diversity and cultural amenities, as well as other factors. Editors also threw out cities where the median annual income was less than $40,000 or more than $100,000. They also disqualified all cities smaller than 50,000 people. The goal was to find the best middle-income, midsized places in each state to raise children.
In Indiana, Fort Wayne nudged out Indianapolis and Bloomington for the crown. Other notable selections in the Midwest were Mount Prospect, Ill., a midpriced Chicago suburb; Ann Arbor, Mich., home of the University of Michigan; and Columbus, Ohio, the state capital and home to Ohio State University.
Debra Bonjour, 37, a customer service representative, said she has found Fort Wayne a good place to raise her five children.
"It does have a lot of kid-friendly activities," she said, mentioning the children's zoo, the many summer festivals and the library.
Dadrie Thomas, a 35-year-old nurse's aide, said she has lived in other parts of the country and appreciates the quality of Fort Wayne schools and the support available to help single mothers. But, she added, some of the activities around town can be somewhat expensive.
At the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo organizers work hard to make exhibits and activities that are geared specifically for families, Director Jim Anderson said. The zoo is one of only two accredited children's zoos in the entire country, he said.
And recognition of the high quality of life in Fort Wayne can be a boon for attracting businesses, said Larry Gigerich, managing director at Ginovus LLC, an Indianapolis-based economic development firm that has helped locate businesses in 16 states.
"I think Fort Wayne has always enjoyed a good reputation as a good place not only to raise a family and being an affordable place to live, … but also it's seen as low-cost to do business," he said.
While this doesn't guarantee new businesses will come to the city, he said, it helps keep existing ones in town and can be "another arrow in the quiver" for prospective businesses to consider.
mzennie@jg.net
