Rampant Reading top of the league
The Readers’s Digest survey naming Reading worst town for families can now be forgotten. Reading really is roaring ahead.
A report by the ippr’s Centre for Cities, named Two-track cities, shows that Reading is the top-performing town in England, ahead of London, Manchester and Leeds (all cities enjoying a renaissance in recent years). According to their press release:
The report includes a new index of performance indicators which combine different measures of employment, population and skills. The report shows that, based on their employment, population growth and skills, England’s top five performing cities are
- Reading
- Bristol
- Southampton
- Cambridge
- York
A big arrow on p.6 of the report aptly illustrates how Reading is getting it right. The town has the lowest proportion of working age residents with no qualifications and lowest proportion of working age residents claiming unemployment benefits.
On p.11 of the report there is a bit mentioning transport:
Transport improvements and inter-urban cooperation can increase the economic benefits derived from proximity and density. Reducing travel times and increasing the frequency of transport services can produce agglomeration economies that can increase productivity in the city economy.
That’s it then. All we need to do is sort out the town’s traffic problem to make our lead unassailable.
You can download the full report (no registration required) from the think tank’s website.