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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The Salt Lake-Ogden area has been ranked the nation's No. 9 "fun place" by the makers of Cranium board games.
That was just behind No. 8 Oakland, Calif., just ahead of No. 10 Seattle and way ahead of No. 25 Las Vegas, No. 41 New York and No. 50 New Orleans.
Minneapolis-St. Paul was ranked first and was cited for its four professional sports teams, the largest shopping mall in the country and its 15 dog parks, among other things.
Cranium conducted the survey with the help of Bert Sperling, creator of Money Magazine's "Best Places to Live" rankings.
Sperling's evaluation had 32 criteria, including sports teams, restaurants, dance performances, toy stores and city recreation budgets.
"Salt Lake City offers beautiful camping areas, a wide variety of activities for the whole family and has residents that spent a large portion of money on fun things like musical instruments and bicycles," Sperling said.
Michael De Groote, spokesman for the Salt Lake Chamber, also said this honor is well-deserved. He also believes the national perception of the Salt Lake area may have been altered for the good in 2002.
"I think that it may be part of the legacy of the Olympic Winter Games," he said. "It's a beautiful place here."
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
