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[marrec]

Pittsburgh? Didn't see that one coming.

Ya, I live here and people can't even read Traffic signs. Must be Oakland folk.

 

[NEOPARADIGM]

so we are technologically ahead as well, good to know

lulz well played

 

[Jayayess1190]

Ya, I live here and people can't even read Traffic signs. Must be Oakland folk.

I go to Pitt, thanks for the compliment!

 

[vazel]

That's embarrassing for California. Berkeley doesn't count since it's its own hippie enclave.

 

[Yes Boss!]

I approve of Berkeley on the list. Sad to not see Santa Barbara.

 

[Tokubetsu]

Orlando, FL - Home of the University of Central Florida. See, we don't party all of the time!

Yeah, that's USF, not UCF.

 

[itwasTuesday]

No. 2, chea.

 

[HeadlessRoland]

Hell yeah, Washington on the list twice. Read you other states under the table!

 

[Korey]

Who even reads anymore? When was the last time you actually read a book?

 

[ElectricBlue187]

awesome I knew Columbia would be on there. I'd like to take a small amount of credit for that.

Who even reads anymore? When was the last time you actually read a book?

GAF has several threads on it a month...

 

[DiscoJer]

Woohoo! Nice to see St. Louis on a list other than one involving crime or worst places to live...

 

[UltimaKilo]

I imagine a real list would include Portland, Seattle, and Austin, TX competing for the top 3.

Those are the 3 most "educated" cities in the US from what I've read.. with Austin being the newcomer, and Seattle historically having the most college grads and post graduate residents.. with Portland never far behind. And of course both Portland and Seattle are fairly renowned for their book stores.

Education doesn't exactly have to do with level of reading. I'm a moderate reader and I know a lot of people who are less educated that read much more than I do. It's the material that they read that sets them apart. If I sold a billion books consisting of Harry Potter and "how to grow weed" books in Portland, Oregon and 50,000 books on advanced quantum mechanics in Cambridge, then what?

Most are college towns, so I wouldn't be surprised if this is just large schools that give or require Kindles.

In Miami, no major University requires you to have a Kindle or other eReader. I know for a fact that University of Miami or Florida International don't give out, nor require you to have a Kindle. Both schools have partnerships with B&N, the latter even having a significant sized one on campus.

Who even reads anymore? When was the last time you actually read a book?

Check the "Official Kindle thread of eInk superiority" and the "What are you reading" threads. Be warned, the junk people on GAF read

Spoiler

Magic and Dragons Reborn on Unicorn Island

, makes me cringe.

 

[SolKane]

Korey's just trolling y'all

 

[Trent Strong]

Isn't Virginia considered to be part of the South?

 

[Kusagari]

Universities force students to own Kindles now?

 

[Stumpokapow]

Who even reads anymore? When was the last time you actually read a book?

I've read 5 this month beyond schoolwork, office stuff, and newspapers/magazines. *shrugs*

 

[SolKane]

Education doesn't exactly have to do with level of reading. I'm a moderate reader and I know a lot of people who are less educated that read much more than I do. It's the material that they read that sets them apart. If I sold a billion books consisting of Harry Potter and "how to grow weed" books in Portland, Oregon and 50,000 books on advanced quantum mechanics in Cambridge, then what?

I think the point he's making rather is that this list shows that it's college towns which are buying a larger number of books, because students are required to buy books (textbooks) for their courses. That doesn't give us much insight into personal reading habits, it only tells us which schools perhaps have the robust curricula, or which schools have the largest share of students in the population (since the top towns all have large universities). It's a bit like citing required reading lists in public schools to show students are reading books. It's great that people are reading, even when it's mandatory, but it doesn't factor in or account for reading for pleasure, which is something entirely different than reading for college courses. I mean, how many of these people are going to keep up their current levels of book buying once they've graduated from college?

Also, we need to define some criteria for being 'well-read.' For instance, is someone who has read Madame Bovary and Anna Karenina well-read, compared to someone who reads a quantum mechanics textbook?

 

[marrec]

Who even reads anymore? When was the last time you actually read a book?

Just finished 'The Windup Girl' and am now starting '59 Seconds'.

I love reading dead trees.

 

[Korey]

Mine was Harry Potter book 7 back who knows when. Oh and that latest Dan Brown book which was a real disappointment

 

[SolKane]

Mine was Harry Potter book 7 back who knows when. Oh and that latest Dan Brown book which was a real disappointment

Give it a rest already

 

[kassatsu]

Pittsburgh? Didn't see that one coming.

CMU + U Pitt

 

[Wthermans]

TOTALLY surprised @ number 11. That's the heart of East Tennessee.

 

[nVidiot_Whore]

Education doesn't exactly have to do with level of reading. I'm a moderate reader and I know a lot of people who are less educated that read much more than I do.

That's pretty anecdotal. I am just guessing statistically there would likely be a correlation. But I could be wrong. I have the exact opposite anecdotal evidence to present; most of my friends without college degrees haven't read a book since their last English class (probably 9th grade.) My friends and family that are well educated are all pretty much avid readers.

Either way, Seattle has more bookstores per capita than anywhere else in the nation.. and I believe still has the highest level of education (if you weight post-grads higher). Not surprisingly it's also considered the most literate city in the nation.

Yet barely makes the top 10 on amazon's list.

Amazon's list is pretty much anecdotal as well. A large percentage of older people in this country don't shop online at all, and would never own something like a kindle. Pretty much all of my avid book reading friends despise the idea of a kindle actually. Even after I've spent a lot of time trying to convince them how awesome they are.

 

[UltimaKilo]

I think the point he's making rather is that this list shows that it's college towns which are buying a larger number of books, because students are required to buy books (textbooks) for their courses. That doesn't give us much insight into personal reading habits, it only tells us which schools perhaps have the robust curricula, or which schools have the largest share of students in the population (since the top towns all have large universities). It's a bit like citing required reading lists in public schools to show students are reading books. It's great that people are reading, even when it's mandatory, but it doesn't factor in or account for reading for pleasure, which is something entirely different than reading for college courses. I mean, how many of these people are going to keep up their current levels of book buying once they've graduated from college?

I took him as saying that because these cities have a large percentage of people with college degrees, he expects them to be better read. I'm not so sure that's the case.

Also, we need to define some criteria for being 'well-read.' For instance, is someone who has read Madame Bovary and Anna Karenina well-read, compared to someone who reads a quantum mechanics textbook?

Absolutely, but it's also relative. Because if you're reading one of those fantasy books, and someone is reading a cookbook and improving their culinary skills in French-cuisine, wouldn't you say they're more "well-read"? There is a grey area. =/

That's pretty anecdotal. I am just guessing statistically there would likely be a correlation. But I could be wrong. I have the exact opposite anecdotal evidence to present; most of my friends with college degrees and probably haven't read a book since their last English class (probably 9th grade.) My friends and family that are well educated are all pretty much avid readers.

Either way, Seattle has more bookstores per capita than anywhere else in the nation.. and I believe still has the highest level of education (if you weight post-grads higher). Not surprisingly it's also considered the most literate city in the nation.

Yet barely makes the top 10 on amazon's list.

Amazon's list is pretty much anecdotal as well.

I agree, logic would dictate that should be the case. I'm just saying it's not a formula. Certainly those who have a better education and even grasp of a language would be more disposed to read than the adverse.

 

[Joey Fox]

Hey guys, Alexandria, VA isn't a college town.

I just moved there today! I expect nothing less than success in such a well-read community. Neighborhood is a little ghetto, but I guess they readin.

 

[Gamecocks625]

Columbia, SC! Wohoo! Good job guys. All these smart people here at USC and lawyers a plenty downtown. No surprise.

 

[SolKane]

The lack of Austin is what's really a big surprise to me. Not only because of the education level, but also because UT's flagship campus is in Austin as well (so I would expect a lot of Amazon traffic). The only thing I can think of as genuine competition for Amazon would be Half Price Books, which are ubiquitous and generally offer a great selection at competitive prices. To be honest, there aren't that many options for bookstores here other than Half Price Books and a handful of other stores. Half Price Books is very popular, though.

 

[nVidiot_Whore]

I agree, logic would dictate that should be the case. I'm just saying it's not a formula. Certainly those who have a better education and even grasp of a language would be more disposed to read than the adverse.

It's certainly not a guarantee, I was just thinking in terms of populations and statistically.

There's a ton of other factors involved.. in fact I imagine the amount of bookstores in Seattle could also have to do with the weather.. there's simply less to do here a good chunk of the year.

Seattle #1 in Education
http://www.ccsu.edu/page.cfm?p=8150

Seattle #1 in Bookstores
http://www.ccsu.edu/page.cfm?p=8148

Some more interesting stats can be seen in the categories for that study.

The East Coast has WAY more newspapers.. and magazines. Pretty silly that it's why they ranked DC as their #1 literate city, but maybe I'm biased.

 

[Wthermans]

The sad thing is that Knoxville doesn't even have any local independent bookstores anymore. I guess that's why they're so high on the list (although one is opening in the next few months, and we have a home-grown used entertainment media store).

 

[Lunchbox]

Who even reads anymore? When was the last time you actually read a book?

2004

 

[meadowrag]

Lack of Oklahoma cities is really quite shocking.

I'm pretty sure they meant Miami, Oklahoma.
What other Miami could they possibly even be talking about?

 

[marrec]

CMU + U Pitt

Don't forget Duquesne.

 

[Konka]

Don't forget Duquesne.

Or Chatham, Point Park and Carlow.

 

[Jikagi]

My city is #7!

 

[UltimaKilo]

It's certainly not a guarantee, I was just thinking in terms of populations and statistically.

There's a ton of other factors involved.. in fact I imagine the amount of bookstores in Seattle could also have to do with the weather.. there's simply less to do here a good chunk of the year.

Seattle #1 in Education
http://www.ccsu.edu/page.cfm?p=8150

Seattle #1 in Bookstores
http://www.ccsu.edu/page.cfm?p=8148

Some more interesting stats can be seen in the categories for that study.

The East Coast has WAY more newspapers.. and magazines. Pretty silly that it's why they ranked DC as their #1 literate city, but maybe I'm biased.

Good point. There could be many of variables. Perhaps good public transportation in Seattle leads to people purchasing more in-stroe items than in other cities?

Just for fun, I found this:

The most educated States in the U.S.

1. Vermont
2. Connecticut
3. Massachusetts
4. New Jersey
5. Maine
6. Minnesota
7. Virginia
8. Wisconsin
9. Montana
10. New York

AND

Top 10 Most Educated Counties:

1. Arlington County, Va.
2. Falls Church City County, Va.
3. Pitkin County, Colo.
4. Los Alamos County, N.M.
5. Alexandria City County, Va.
6. San Miguel County, Colo.
7. Marin County, Calif.
8. Fairfax County, Va.
9. Montgomery County, Md.
10. Howard County, Md.