The West Palm Beach-Fort Pierce-Vero Beach metro area is the smartest in Florida, but tied with Cleveland for brain power on a nationwide scale, according to The Daily Beast Web site.

The Daily Beast, an Internet-only news outlet, ranked the 55 most populated metro areas in the nation and placed the Treasure Coast and West Palm Beach region 31st on the list, with Tampa-St. Petersburg at 33, Jacksonville at 37, Miami at 39 and Orlando 46.

The Daily Beast based its rankings on the number of residents with bachelor’s degrees and graduate degrees, according to the U.S. Census; political engagement; available institutions of higher learning; and nonfiction book sales, as tracked by Nielsen BookScan.
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Martin County lost 130 residents between 2007 and 2008, and growth in the rest of the Treasure Coast has slowed to a crawl, according to population estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Department.

St. Lucie County, once the one of the fastest-growing counties in the country, saw a population increase of 1.9 percent. Indian River County grew by less than a percent.

But even in the midst of the housing market crash, the Hispanic population is growing in all Treasure Coast counties.
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STUART — For the kids at the East 10th Street Recreation Center, shooting hoops or playing football for the Stuart Hornets is all a part of growing up.

Taking a few swings with the bat or playing soft toss on the diamond is not, a reflection of baseball’s diminished grasp in some areas of the country especially those populated by black youth. (more…)

The 2007 crime statistics are out, and Port St. Lucie has been ranked the third safest city in Florida, according to a news release issued by the city. Only Coral Springs and Pembroke Pines had a lower crime ranking. Nationally, Port St. Lucie ranked in the top 20 percent of cities with the lowest crime rates.

The crime rankings were released last month by CQ Press, a leading independent publisher of information on national politics, government and world affairs. Cities and metropolitan areas having a population of at least 75,000 were ranked using the same categories reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2007, including murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and motor vehicle theft.

Of the 385 cities ranked, Ramapo, N.Y. had the lowest crime rate in the nation, while New Orleans had the highest.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Port St. Lucie’s population in 2007 totaled 151,391. In comparison, Coral Springs’ population was 126,875 and Pembroke Pines, 146,828.