Boulder named smartest city

BOULDER, Colo., Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Forbes Magazine has named Boulder, Colo., the smartest city in the United States, having the highest population percentage over 25 with a bachelor's degree.

The magazine, using data from Sperling's BestPlaces, said part of the city's claim to intellectual fame was the fact about 38,000 of the city's total 282,200 population are students or staff at the University of Colorado.

"Boulder is recognized as a very exciting town to go live in," said Bert Sperling, founder of Sperling's BestPlaces. "It's attracting young degree holders who want to go somewhere with an outdoor lifestyle."

Bethesda, Md., a Washington suburb that plays host to the National Institutes of Health and Lockheed Martin, was named No. 2 on the scale of education percentages, and Ann Arbor, Mich., home of the University of Michigan, came in third.

Cambridge, Mass., which hosts both Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was ranked fourth by the magazine.