Using data from the Pennsylvania State Police, this category ranks a two-year average of reported incidents of criminal homicide, sex-related offenses, robbery, assault, property offenses, and drug and alcohol-related crimes. For assault, property crimes and drug and alcohol crimes, numbers are converted to a ratio per 100,000 population so as not to penalize larger communities that have correspondingly more incidents.
Rankings are based on average reported commute time to work, as well as how many residents walk to their jobs. County crash statistics per mile of road give a measure of how safe local streets are. A bonus point is awarded to communities served by a T stop, and/or along the route of the Three Rivers Heritage or Montour trails.
Communities are graded by their public school district (private schools are not part of the rankings) according to students’ average math and verbal SAT scores, how many Advanced Placement courses are offered, the presence or absence of full-day kindergarten and the school tax millage.
Higher scores go to places with a larger share of adults holding college degrees, as well as suburbs with more children. This category also ranks political engagement, the number of residents moving into the suburb within the last year, how many acres are shaded by trees and the presence of a coffee shop.
Ratings in this category compare age of homes, how much the median sale price of a home has changed over five years, the property tax millage and the percent of home ownership verses rental units.
By missing practice again on the first day of in-earnest preparation for Sunday’s regular-season opener at Cleveland, the Steelers running back officially put himself before the team in the eyes of his teammates.
On the eve of his fourth season as the Panthers' head coach, Pat Narduzzi has yet to reach the promised land. It didn’t happen for him at Michigan State initially, either. But when it eventually happened, it was real and it was spectacular.
Over the past two years, the leadership of the region’s universities has undergone an overhaul. We reached out to college and university presidents who are new on the job to ask why they came here and what they hope to accomplish during their tenure.
