Wednesday, May 2, 2007

But where's the best place to grill a Blue Rhino?

These lists of "Top 100 Cities for .... " are getting a little ridiculous. Here's the latest to mention Lynchburg, courtesy of Business Wire out of Winston-Salem:

"Blue Rhino, innovators of the Drop, Swap & Go propane tank exchange program, identifies the top 100 Ideal Cities to Grill In for Summer 2007.

"Although grilling is always good, ideal grilling days are defined as days May-August that are sunny, under 90 degrees and rain-free. A final total of ideal summer grilling days were calculated by using the average sunshine rate, the estimated total number of rain days and the estimated total number of days above 90 degrees using data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"Blue Rhino's Top 100 Ideal Cities to Grill In: 1. Sacramento, CA 2. Reno, NV 3. Flagstaff, AZ 4. Fresno, CA 5. Los Angeles, CA 6. Boise, ID 7. San Francisco, CA 8. Honolulu, HI 9. Salt Lake City, UT 10. Grand Junction, CO 11. Fort Wayne, IN 12. Spokane, WA 13. Las Vegas, NV 14. Galveston, TX 15. San Diego, CA 16. El Paso, TX 17. Albuquerque, NM 18. Milford, UT 19. Phoenix, AZ 20. Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN 21. Evansville, IN 22. Oklahoma City, OK 23. Fargo, ND 24. Portland, OR 25. Tucson, AZ 26. Detroit, MI 27. Milwaukee, WI 28. Denver, CO 29. Indianapolis, IN 30. Memphis, TN 31. Lincoln, NE 32. Omaha, NE Springfield, IL Rapid City, SD 35. Des Moines, IA 36. Green Bay, WI 37. Richmond, VA 38. New York, NY 39. Chicago, IL Cleveland, OH Madison, WI 42. Topeka, KS 43. Buffalo, NY Toledo, OH 45. Little Rock, AR 46. Springfield, MO 47. Boston, MA 48. Wichita, KS 49. Atlanta, GA Charlotte, NC Kansas City, MO 52. Miami, FL 53. Harrisburg, PA 54. Rochester, NY 55. Louisville, KY 56. Grand Rapids, MI 57. St. Louis, MO 58. Atlantic City, NJ 59. Dayton, OH 60. Albany, NY Burlington, VT 62. Knoxville, TN 63. Tulsa, OK 64. Moline, IL Lynchburg, VA 66. Portland, ME 67. Norfolk, VA 68. Asheville, NC 69. Nashville, TN 70. Columbus, OH Syracuse, NY 72. Corpus Christi, TX 73. Greensboro/High Point/Winston-Salem, NC 74. Charleston, SC 75. Seattle, WA 76. Dallas, TX Shreveport, LA 78. Washington, DC 79. Greenville/Spartanburg, SC 80. Baltimore, MD Providence, RI 82. Philadelphia, PA 83. Hartford, CT 84. Austin, TX 85. Chattanooga, TN 86. Birmingham, AL 87. San Antonio, TX 88. Raleigh, NC 89. Pittsburgh, PA 90. Columbia, SC Houston, TX 92. Allentown, PA 93. Jackson, MS Tampa, FL 95. Jacksonville, FL 96. Savannah, GA 97. Montgomery, AL 98. New Orleans, LA 99. Elkins, WV 100. Anchorage, AK.

What tells me that this research is flawed in the ranking of Syracuse, NY, at No. 72. I grew up there, and it rains all summer. In fact, Syracuse has become known as a place where people with sun allergies are sent to live out their days.

And why do we rank higher than Greensboro and nearly 30 points lower than Richmond when we all have basically the same weather?

At least in Anchorage, you can grill in daylight around the clock.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Yes, these lists are pretty ridiculous. Does this mean Sacramento has the best tasting hamburgers? Should I relocate to a city with a higher rating now so I can do some "big league" grilling?
Funny stuff.