Norman — Forbes Magazine recently released its list for Best College Sports Town in American. One year after not making the Top 10, Norman bolted to No. 3 on the business magazines rankings.
“I think anytime the city of Norman is recognized for excellence in anything, I think it’s good news,” said Don Wood of the Norman Economic Development Coalition. “Whether it’s the university, the community or an individual organization, the fact that it’s excellence that goes with Norman, I think it’s really important.”
For the second straight year, Ann Arbor, home of the University of Michigan, tops the list. Chapel Hill, N.C., and the University of North Carolina edged out Norman for second place.
Forbes used several criteria to put its list together, including the Directors’ Cup, which measures diversity and success of the school’s varsity sports teams. Football and basketball had more influence than other sports.
OU ranked 29th in the Directors’ Cup. It was the second lowest ranking of any city in the Top 10. Michigan was fifth and UNC ranked second in the directors cup.
“I think Norman is a great college sports town, first because the overall OU athletic program is among the best in the country,” said Norman’s Finance Director Anthony Francisco. “OU excels in football as the marquee sport, but the Sooners’ national-scale excellence in gymnastics, softball, women’s and men’s basketball, and track and field contribute to the high Director’s Cup rankings that the Forbes article mentions.”
The magazine also looked at crime rates, quality of life in the community, cost of living, the cost of housing compared to the median household income, public school system and number of French Impressionist paintings in the city.
“The median price for a four-bedroom, two-bathroom, 2,200-square-foot home is an affordable $204,475. Random fact: Norman is also home to an incredible collection of French Impressionist paintings,” stated Forbes.
This is the second time in the past three years that Norman has been featured in a national ranking among cities. In 2008 the city placed sixth in Money Magazine’s Best Places To Live.
Stephen Koranda, executive director of Norman Convention and Visitors Bureau, said earning this type of acknowledgment is priceless for the Norman.
“The significance of yet another national and international publication recognizing Norman is first of all the publicity we get,” Koranda said. “That’s publicity we just cannot buy. For Forbes, and Money Magazine two years ago, it’s publicity we can’t buy.”
According to Koranda, city officials, the Chamber of Commerce, the NEDC and the CVB all can use information such as this to benefit Norman’s growth.
“It makes the Chamber’s job easier in attracting new residents,” Koranda said. “It should make the NEDC’s job even easier in attracting business. And obviously, it makes my job easy in publicizing Norman. It should keep all of us on our toes to make sure we are providing that customer service and providing the amenities to keep us on these lists.”
Wood agrees.
“It’s bragging rights,” Wood said. “It’s good material to use in our recruiting of companies. We had a request for a proposal that was looking at placing a company. One question that was asked was what was your ranking on Money Magazine’s Best places to live list. And what other rankings have you had. Companies do look at that.”
Norman was one of three Big 12 cities in the Top 10. College Station and Texas A&M came in at No. 5 with Austin and the University of Texas at No. 6. Along with Norman, neither made the list in 2009. No other conference had more than two cities named.
The rest of the Top 10 include No. 4 Palo Alto, Calif. (Stanford), No. 7 Fayetteville, Ark. (Arkansas), No. 8 Lexington, Ky. (Kentucky), No. 9 College Park, Md. (Maryland) and No. 10 State College, Pa. (Penn State).
City officials do not know exactly what has changed in the past year for Norman to get such a high ranking. But regardless of why, they agree with what it says about the city and OU.
“The city of Norman is a wonderful place to live, work and raise children,” Norman’s Vice Mayor Doug Cubberley said. “We have had the past few years high rankings. We have worked hard to increase the quality of life and work on issues of crime in the community. I think it’s a reflection of the hard work that has been done to maintain the quality of the city.”
Michael Kinney 366-3537 mkinney@normantranscript.com
