A Town Called George

I recently saw in a magazine (I don't remember which one) a letter-to-the-editor written by a reader who lives in a town in Washington State called George.

Looking the town up in my Michelin North America road atlas (2012 edition) to satisfy my curiosity, I discovered its location--a hundred miles more or less northeast of Yakima, in the central part of the state, on Interstate Highway 90, population 528.

George, Washington. I wonder how long it took the founders of the town to come up with that particular name. 

The American Cities People Most Want To Say Goodbye To

The website MSN Money posted an article by Doug Whiteman dated June 19, 2019 listing the 19 American cities people are most eager to pack up and leave.

Here is the list of cities in descending order along with the reasons people gave for wanting to get out of town:

19. Indianapolis--bad roads, extreme cold.
18. Spokane,Washington--unemployment high, renters priced out.
17. Richmond,Virginia--bad schools, costly housing.
16. Des Moines, Iowa--unforgiving weather.
15. Eugene, Oregon--housing costs.
14. Champaign, Illinois--Weather stinks, outside of town is nothing but cornfields; Chicago's two to three hours away.
13. Rockford, Illinois-- unemployment high (5.4%);public schools are poor; high crime rate.
12. Houston--unemployment, housing, and living costs are all above the national average; flood prone.
11. South Bend, Indiana--punishing winters; high rates for murder and other violent crime and bad roads. (Pete Buttigieg, are you listening?)
10. Detroit--(current population is 673,000; 1.8 million in the 1950s); high unemployment.
9. Milwaukee--lacks decent schools and public transportation.
8. Hartford, Connecticut--high property tax; unemployment (6.4%).
7. Seattle--housing not cheap; weather is cloudy and rainy.
6. Denver--high cost of housing.
5. Chicago--cold weather; horrid traffic; high cost of property tax and cost of living.
4. Washington, D.C.--high cost of housing and property taxes.
3. Los Angeles--high cost of living; soaring rents and stiff property taxes plus freeway backups.
2. San Francisco--expensive real estate.
1. New York--America's most fled metro area; steep food and housing costs.