Fayetteville ranked one of worst places

FAYETTEVILLE (WTVD) -- The city of Fayetteville has cracked a top 10 list it wants no part of.

Best life Magazine ranked the 100 best places to raise kids. Fayetteville is ranked one of the 10 worst places to raise children.

"No it's not. I've lived in many places. Fayetteville is a pretty nice place to raise kids," Fayetteville Resident, John Whitaker said.

To understand this survey and Fayetteville's poor showing, you have to understand how the survey was compiled.

A computer came up with the ranking after two-year old data collected from the US Census Bureau, The FBI and a number of other sources to evaluate 257 cities.

The magazine looked at things like the amount of money spent on education per student, the cost of housing and the divorce rate to come up with the list.

Many people in Fayetteville are taking issue with the rankings the computer pumped out.

"It's almost not surprising. It's very disheartening. It is very disheartening, especially having two small children," Fayetteville Resident, Tisha Mussel said.

Bestlife ranked Fayetteville the third worst behind Beaumont, Texas and Clarksville, Tennessee.

Honolulu, Hawaii came out on top. Raleigh-Durham was number 36 and Greensboro and Winston-Salem also cracked the top 100.

John Whitaker is raising twin girls in Fayetteville and disagrees with the city's ranking.

"I'm concerned about methodology used. I'm concerned about how the cities were selected. And I'm concerned they didn't come here. And I'm concerned the number of military communities that show up on that list," Fayetteville Mayor Tony Chavonne said.

Fayetteville is competing with a number of surrounding communities who want new BRAC families to make their community home.

The mayor says despite the poor showing in the computerized survey, Fayetteville is a great place to live, work and raise children.

"And when they look at the alternatives that are around Fort Bragg, we feel very good that many of those people are going to chose to relocate their families here and find a very welcoming community," Chavonne said.

Had the magazine ranked 300 or 500, it could be said that Fayetteville is the 154 best place to raise kids.

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