Friday, April 25, 2008

Top Ten Lists


Sure, everyone loves top ten lists. Top ten pizza places, top ten sitcoms, top ten vodkas. And of course David Letterman and his top ten list every night. They're all just someone's (or a survey of a group's) opinion, which means that not everyone agrees with them. But we love top ten lists, so we keep making them.


Forbes recently came out with a new top ten list, this one for best and worst cities for commuters. Detroit ranked second in the worst category, only behind Atlanta. I had to scratch my head here. Forbes, you're telling me the traffic is worse in Detroit than it is Los Angeles, or Chicago? Or even Boston, where you're an inch away from a crash every time you go down one of the many narrow streets?


Many people from out of state love our efficient and well-planned highway system. The auto industry made us what we are: a street-loving, public transit-shunning sprawl of a metropolis. The study says the counties of metro Detroit use less than five percent on average public transportation, which is a horrid statistic, but that doesn't mean the commute is terrible.


See how angry one top ten list can make a person? Can we stop with them, please?

1 comment:

rknil said...

Design dolts love top 10 lists. They get to use a giant numeral, and they don't have to think of a decent headline.