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The Baltimore region edged past Indianapolis to gain a first-place ranking for lowest cost of living among 20 major U.S. metropolitan areas in a report released yesterday by the Greater Baltimore Committee.
The region ranked among the five best in 18 benchmark economic measurements, including health care cost, research and development funding, and growth in median home prices, the study showed.
But the report and others indicate that Baltimore continues to have significant social and economic problems, including crime, air quality and traffic congestion.
The report "confirms that the Baltimore region, as a whole, is still a strong economic engine for the state of Maryland," said Donald C. Fry, president of the Greater Baltimore Committee, who also noted that it "helps us highlight some areas that may need some attention focused on them over time."
National experts agreed that the study shows both impressive economic strengths and challenging problems.
"My overall impression is that they've identified a lot of strengths of the region that we found, like affordability," said Alan Berube, a senior research analyst at the Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy.
"The flip side of all the good things is that it's a region where employment and population are rapidly decentralizing. The average travel time to get to work is so high because people weren't living and working in the same region."
He noted that in several cases, the city of Baltimore is either way behind or is going in the opposite direction from the rest of the region.
"It presents a picture of a moderately successful region but one whose progress is held back by the deeper divisions that divide the city of Baltimore from the economic prosperity that surrounds it," he said.
"What highly successful regions have in common is a strong core and strong employment and population growth in the core and human capital growth as well.
"That really distinguishes them from what's going on in the Baltimore region."
The report, based on statistics gathered in early 2003 by the GBC, the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore and the Baltimore Metropolitan Council, ranks the region for more than 90 benchmark measurements within categories including demographics, economy, education, transportation and quality of life.
Although Baltimore achieved top-five status in 18 benchmark measurements among the regions studied, it also ranked in the bottom five in 16 categories.
The low rankings included: housing starts, downtown hotel rooms, high school attainment, charitable giving per capita, and infant mortality rate.
"The weaknesses that you see are mostly reflective of what's going on in the core of Baltimore," Berube said. "The problems that Baltimore has are working to drag the whole region down the list."
For instance, the Baltimore suburbs are not growing slowly, but because the city is stagnating, the picture is skewed, and the region as a whole ranks lower, he said.
Although the region showed improvement in overall crime statistics over recent years, crime remains a challenge. As measured by 2001 rates, the most recent available for most regions, the Baltimore area ranks 16th in total crime - up two places from its 18th-place ranking in 1998.
But the region continues to rank dead last - highest - among the regions for violent crime rate, the report shows.
"What is important about this report is that it provides GBC a way to look at our strengths and challenges and see what we need to work on," Fry said.
The region ranked among the five best in 18 benchmark economic measurements, including health care cost, research and development funding, and growth in median home prices, the study showed.
The report "confirms that the Baltimore region, as a whole, is still a strong economic engine for the state of Maryland," said Donald C. Fry, president of the Greater Baltimore Committee, who also noted that it "helps us highlight some areas that may need some attention focused on them over time."
National experts agreed that the study shows both impressive economic strengths and challenging problems.
"My overall impression is that they've identified a lot of strengths of the region that we found, like affordability," said Alan Berube, a senior research analyst at the Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy.
"The flip side of all the good things is that it's a region where employment and population are rapidly decentralizing. The average travel time to get to work is so high because people weren't living and working in the same region."
He noted that in several cases, the city of Baltimore is either way behind or is going in the opposite direction from the rest of the region.
"It presents a picture of a moderately successful region but one whose progress is held back by the deeper divisions that divide the city of Baltimore from the economic prosperity that surrounds it," he said.
"What highly successful regions have in common is a strong core and strong employment and population growth in the core and human capital growth as well.
"That really distinguishes them from what's going on in the Baltimore region."
The report, based on statistics gathered in early 2003 by the GBC, the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore and the Baltimore Metropolitan Council, ranks the region for more than 90 benchmark measurements within categories including demographics, economy, education, transportation and quality of life.
Although Baltimore achieved top-five status in 18 benchmark measurements among the regions studied, it also ranked in the bottom five in 16 categories.
The low rankings included: housing starts, downtown hotel rooms, high school attainment, charitable giving per capita, and infant mortality rate.
"The weaknesses that you see are mostly reflective of what's going on in the core of Baltimore," Berube said. "The problems that Baltimore has are working to drag the whole region down the list."
For instance, the Baltimore suburbs are not growing slowly, but because the city is stagnating, the picture is skewed, and the region as a whole ranks lower, he said.
Although the region showed improvement in overall crime statistics over recent years, crime remains a challenge. As measured by 2001 rates, the most recent available for most regions, the Baltimore area ranks 16th in total crime - up two places from its 18th-place ranking in 1998.
But the region continues to rank dead last - highest - among the regions for violent crime rate, the report shows.
"What is important about this report is that it provides GBC a way to look at our strengths and challenges and see what we need to work on," Fry said.
