Pittsburgh scores another top ranking.
The fifth annual Farmers Insurance Group of Companies study ranked the Steel City as the 10th most secure place to live in the United States.
Pittsburgh ranked 10th out of 114 metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.
Seattle-Bellevue-Everett in Washington ranked first. The list is compiled annually by Bert Sperling, principal of Sperling's Best Places, an independent research firm in Portland, Ore.
The study, commissioned by Farmers, rated each city based on crime statistics, extreme weather, risk of natural disasters, housing depreciation, foreclosures, air quality, life expectancy and number of job losses.
"I am not surprised that Pittsburgh is leading cities throughout the nation when it comes to safety and security. We are a city with strong community values and family ties, and a focused commitment to public safety," said Mayor Luke Ravenstahl through his spokeswoman Joanna Doven.
Pittsburgh ranked 22nd in last year's survey and 59th in 2006.
Sperling attributed the jump in ranking to the region's steady job growth. And, unlike other parts of the country, the area has avoided a dramatic increase in home foreclosures and precipitous drop in housing values.
"Pittsburgh has been pretty stable in that regard," he says. "I think people there are fiscally conservative. ... Maybe we're seeing that being frugal and being prudent certainly has its rewards at times."
Sperling is co-author of "Cities Ranked and Rated: More than 400 Metropolitan Areas Evaluated in the U.S. and Canada."
"Things are changing, when you look at what's important to people these days," he said. "Maybe a few years ago it was terrorism. These days, the terrorists are not as frightening or threatening as, say, the loss of a job."
Jerry Davies, director of media relations for Farmers Insurance Group in Los Angeles, said the executives decided to conduct the survey after the 9/11 terror attacks changed the way communities think about readiness for emergency response.
"We felt that if you look at the local communities today, since 9/11, the actual fire, police, mayor, council and other (entities) that go within local government are taking a more active role in making sure that citizens are not just safe, but that the community has all the things necessary to deal with any emergency," Davies said.
Additional Information:The top 10 most secure places
1. Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash.
2. Portland-Beaverton, Ore./Vancouver, Wash.
3. Honolulu
4. El Paso, Texas
5. Tacoma, Wash.
6. Harrisburg-Carlisle
7. San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, Calif.
8. Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick, Md.
9. Salt Lake City
10. Pittsburgh
