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Phsaw, Minneapolis and Seattle, which were ranked #1 by USA Today of the countries most literate cities with a population over 250,000.  Portland cracked the top ten but was tied with Cincinnati (?).

The top ten are: 1. Minneapolis and Seattle (tie); 3. Washington, D.C.; 4. St. Paul; 5. San Francisco; 6. Atlanta; 7. Denver; 8. Boston; 9. St. Louis; 10. Cincinnati and Portland, Ore. (tie).

I wouldn’t go so far as to call this list bunk, but I will say that for the past six years Seattle and Minneapolis have traded spots at the top.  So why not just include Minneapolis and St. Paul together (they are afterall the twin cities) and give them the stranglehold at the top spot for good.  Also, I fail to believe that St. Louis and Cincinnati actually make this list.

“The study does not look at reading test scores or how often people read, but what kinds of literary resources are available and used. This is “one critical index of our nation’s well-being,” says study author Jack Miller, president of Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Conn.

The six criteria used included newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, library resources, periodical publishing resources, educational attainment and Internet resources.

Not sure what else Portland could be doing to increase their ranking, we’re pretty literate around these parts.  Don’t believe me?  Just ask Colin Meloy.

I always thought Portland’s city slogan should have been “Literate as fuck!”