Richmond Ranks Among Most Wired Areas

The Richmond area ranks No. 33 among “America’s 50 Most Wired Cities,” according to the April issue of Yahoo/Internet Life.

The region scored 19.4 points out of a possible 40 points in the evaluation. San Jose, Calif. ranked No. 1 with 33.3 points and the Washington, D.C. area, in which the magazine included parts of Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia, ranked No. 4 with 28.1 points.

Measurements for each city or standard metropolitan area were based on (1) the number of residents using the Internet, (2) the degree of user sophistication, (3) the number of businesses on the Interact and (4) the mount of online content about a city and its government. City sizes also were factored in “to generate scores that reflect degree of wiredness,” the magazine said.

The magazine said the “Most Wired” list was prepared because “there are actually two digital divides. While the national debate has centered on individual haves and have-nots, the disparity among entire communities goes largely unnoticed.”

“Yahoo’s rating of Greater Richmond further underscores our progress toward becoming a technology hub on the East Coast,” said Gregory H. Wingfield, president of the Greater Richmond Partnership.

The only other Virginia metro area included in the Top 50 list was the Norfolk/Tidewater region (No. 48). Other cities on the list include Raleigh-Durham (No. 8), Atlanta (No. 16), Chicago (No. 21), Charlotte (No. 28), Houston (No. 31), Philadelphia (No. 35) and Baltimore (No. 46).