Am I reading this correct? I'm in the Write City

Today a score of cities have something fresh to crow about, including the one I live in. Austin ranked number 16 in the Connecticut State University survey of most literate US cities, far above other Texas cities and ahead of New York, Philadelphia, Toledo and Las Vegas.

While those last two might not be expected to rank high among literate towns, one is my childhood home and the other is the spot where my mom and brother have settled. According to statistics on libraries, Internet access, bookstores, newspapers and publishers, Austin stands just behind St. Louis, just ahead of Nashville. Seattle was number 1, nudging out Minneapolis on the basis of Internet access.

What drew my hometown so high on the rankings was also its Internet access. Austin is the third-best connected city in America, ranked by access points, library connections and online book sales. Last year Internet wasn't a part of the survey calculations, and Austin was ranked 22. Considering that I'm editing an online newsletter (3000newswire.com/blog) for the first this year, publishing a printed journal of more than 500 circulation, and starting up a local creative writing workshop practice, it feels like I'm in the Write City.

Toledo moved up from last year, and scored as high as it did because of its libraries according to the survey. I recall those libraries with great gratitude, from stately branches like the West Toledo location with its wide bay window seats to the philathropic palace in downtown, thick with the scent of cotton-rag paper and decorated with soaring murals in its atrium space. Wood chairs and floors and the hum of microfilm machines checking out books are a big part of my grade-school memories.