New book assesses the Calhoun area’s quality of life
The Calhoun area has been awarded aboveaverage grades in two quality- of- life categories by a new book released recently.
The local ratings are featured in “Micropolitan America: A Statistical Guide to Small Cities Across the Nation,” a 698- page book written by author G. Scott Thomas and published by Niawanda Books.
Thomas has analyzed an array of current statistics for Calhoun and the rest of the country’s 551 micropolitan areas. Federal guidelines require a city’s population to be between 10,000 and 49,999 to earn the micropolitan designation, which is a step lower in size than a metropolitan area.
Thomas’s book contains a detailed statistical profile of what is officially known as the Calhoun, Ga., micropolitan area, which encompasses all of Gordon County. The profile includes 75 sets of statistics, as well as 10 exclusive ratings on a five- star scale. A rank accompanies each stat and rating, indicating Calhoun’s relative position among its peers.
“Coastal elites may consider communities like Calhoun to be insignificant, but savvy marketers, developers and politicians know better,” says Thomas. “They’re aware that opportunities abound in the small cities outside of metropolitan America. And my book provides the data to support their expectations.”
Each of the book’s 10 ratings is plotted on a five- star scale, with a top score of five stars, an average mark of three stars and a bottom grade of one star. Here are some of the results for the Calhoun area, followed in parentheses by the question addressed by each rating:
Children: 3 stars. ( Where are children more likely to have stable family lives, extended educational opportunities and financial safety nets?)
Diversity/ Equality: 3 stars. ( Which areas embrace racial and geographic diversity, as well as economic equality?)
Housing: 2 stars. ( Which places have low vacancy percentages, high rates of home ownership and diverse mixes of affordable and sizable houses?)
Income: 2 stars. ( Which micros enjoy the highest income levels and lowest poverty rates?)
Seniors: 3 stars. ( Where are senior citizens most likely to be self- sufficient and active in their families and communities?)
Stability: 4 stars. ( Where do most residents have strong local roots, especially married couples and young adults of child- rearing age?)
Transportation: 2 stars. ( Which areas offer their workers the shortest commutes and an array of transportation options?)
Each of these ratings are based on five sets of current statistics, all of which are outlined in the book. The principle is the same as for movie or restaurant reviews. The more stars, the better the performance.
“The ratings for the Calhoun area offer a quick synopsis of its strengths and weaknesses,” says Thomas. “Anybody who is thinking about relocating to Calhoun or starting a business there, of course, should do a considerable amount of study. But the five- star ratings in this book are a decent place to start.”
The book also contains a wide range of other data for the Calhoun, GA, micropolitan area. Here is a sample of 10 assorted facts, based on the latest official statistics and the author’s calculations:
The area’s population, which was 56,574 in 2015, is projected to grow to 62,139 by 2030.
The 1,008 private- sector businesses in the Calhoun area paid their workers a total of $ 694.6 million in 2015.
One- fifth of all local households have annual incomes higher than $ 78,577, while the other four- fifths are below that financial threshold.
Of all the children in the Calhoun area, 72.5 percent live in two- parent households.
There is a 36.0 percent likelihood that two randomly selected residents of Calhoun will belong to different racial groups.
Bachelor’s degrees are held by 14.1 percent of local working- age adults.
Of all of Calhoun’s workers, 10.2 percent have jobs in management.
A total of 65.4 percent of local homes are occupied by their owners. The remainder are rental units. A minority of Calhoun’s senior citizens held a paying job during the past year: 17.3 percent.
The share of local workers whose daily commutes are shorter than 15 minutes is 30.5 percent, compared to the 10.7 percent who take at least 45 minutes to get from their homes to their workplaces.
Thomas originated the concept of the micropolitan area for a 1989 magazine article in American Demographics and a 1990 book, “The Rating Guide to Life in America’s Small Cities.” The federal government officially adopted the micropolitan classification a decade later.
“Micropolitan areas have important strengths,” says Thomas. “Their population bases are more stable than those of metropolitan areas, they are cheaper places to live, and they are more influential than most people would expect. Roughly 28 million Americans live in micros, whose workers are paid more than $320 billion a year. Figures of such enormity cannot be ignored.”
“Micropolitan America” exclusively by Amazon at microamerica is being sold http:// www. bit. ly/