Maybe those of us trying to convince our politicians to attract business and people to our state are taking the wrong tack. Instead of using fiscal-centric arguments, how about this: According to Men'sHealth, Providence is the 25th best city to find the SINGLE LADIES.
The best city in New England? #2 overall Portland, Maine (ahem, that's where I met my wife, so I concur!). For the rest of New England, Boston ranked #3 followed by Manchester, NH (#13), Burlington, VT (#15), Providence (#25) and then #49 Bridgeport, CT (Bridgeport? What about New Haven? Stamford?). To come up with this rankings, the magazine examined "data on datable citizens: the ratio of single women to single men, the percentage of college-educated women, the percentage of gainfully employed single women (all from the Census), and the number who work out (Experian Simmons)."