Another city list: Philadelphia named top spot for tech jobs

Update 9:23 p.m. 5/19/09

Philadelphia is one of the 10 best cities in the country to find a tech job, according to PC World.

Add this to the heaping pile of other ways cities are ordered, grouped and ranked by magazines seeking attention.

This tech list, which doesn’t put the 10 in order, includes tech mainstays like the Silicon Valley and Seattle. Other major cultural cities like Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston were also on the list.

Of course, it ain’t the first time one of these lists breezed by.

• In 2000, Men’s Fitness ranked Philadelphia as the fattest city in the nation.
• The American Obesity Association put the cradle of liberty among the ten plumpest towns every year from 2000 to 2005.
• In October 2005, National Geographic labeled Philadelphia the “Next Great City.“
• In June 2007, Food and Wine magazine recanted its criticism of Philly’s food culture and, after a revisit with respected Inquirer food critic Craig Laban, labeled this city one of the nation’s best dining stops. (Scientists have long found correlations between good food and big tummies).
• In October 2007, Travel and Leisure Magazine, with the help of CNN Headline News (the hardest-hitting journalism cable news has done in some time), ranked 25 American cities by a host of criteria in eight categories — which grabbed attention for putting Philly’s looks among the worst.
• In March 2008, Philadelphia’s rank as No. 10 best city for singles plummeted to No. 22.
• In January, Mr. Met edged out the Phillies Phanatic as the best mascot in professional baseball, according to click-obsessed Forbes.
• This month, Philly was called the second best city for recent graduates — behind Indianapolis, yes, the one in Indiana.

So tack this tech list onto that list.

Our city is credited for its “historical landmarks,” because, um, techies like history. The list puts Philly’s tech job population at 1,500 — seems narrow — with an average salary above $51,000.

We can give PC World credit for not forcing us to click nine time, like all those inane Forbes lists do.

Philadelphia was also recently ranked second behind only Boston for the vibrancy of its life-sciences industry, although that ranking, based on a study from the Milken Institute, has bit more research based to it.

Digg and inane magazine subscriptions long ago figured out that Americans love competition enough to read and fight over articles with lists. It’s easy, and it brings attention to content.

Just like writing about those lists can.

Hat tip B&C.