St. Louis, Missouri - the Gateway to the West - and one the 60 best cities to live in the United States according to the Places Rated Almanac. Based on a comparison of 351 Metropolitan areas, we stacked up against the competition pretty well. We received high scores in a number of areas. We ranked #13 in transportation (a 95.25% out of 100)- which is based on three factors - (1) our supply of public transit and our daily commute, (2) our connectivity with other metro area via highways, air service, and trains, (3) and our centrality to other metro areas. In jobs we ranked #57 - which is based on (1) the percent increase in new jobs and (2) the total number of new jobs. We ranked #24 in education (a 90% out of 100) - which is based on (1) enrollment in community or two year colleges (2) enrollment in baccalaureate level institutions and (3) enrollment in doctoral level institutions. We ranked #18 in the arts (a 96.04% out of 100) - which is based on (1) the number of museums, libraries, symphony performances ect., (2) the population served by libraries, number of library books, and library circulation and (3) the museum attendance. We ranked #25 in recreation (a 94.89% out of 100) - which is based on (1) the total number of recreational activities, (2) the number of park acres, wildlife refuges, forest, and lakes, and (3) golf, movies, and good food per capita.