The Best Places in America to Enjoy Halloween

After much anticipation, Richard Florida has published his extremely scientific (no joke) 2012 Halloween Index, which identifies "the metros best primed for trick-or-treating and Halloween revelry."

1 minute read

October 31, 2012, 2:00 PM PDT

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj


Halloween House

Barbara Hobbs / flickr

Utilizing five factors, including "population density (which makes for efficient trick-or-treating), kids ages five to 14 (as a share of metro population), and median income (a measure of regional affluence), as well as candy stores and costume rental stores per one hundred thousand people," Florida and his colleagues at Martin Prosperity Institute (MPI) rank America's top metros for pint-sized ghouls and goblins.

According to Florida, "Chicago takes the top spot, followed by Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, New York; Trenton-Ewing, New Jersey; Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Racine, Wisconsin."

We're hoping that the boys and girls along the storm-ravaged East Coast can enjoy some sugar-fueled fun this evening.

Wednesday, October 31, 2012 in The Atlantic Cities

Lake Powell with much of the water evaporated.

Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River

Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.

October 30, 2026 - Yale Environment 360

A road in north eastern Nebraska with power lines on either side, and grassy fields.

Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity

Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.

November 6, 2026 - Grist

People walking in downtown St. Louis, walking past shops.

Move over, LA: St. Louis gears up for Olympics, invests millions in downtown redevelopment

The Missouri city will host the 2028 Olympic soccer group stage and knockout matches.

November 1, 2026 - Smart Cities Dive

Construction in Hawaii, with cranes in front of a lush mountain.

California, Hawaii, Rhode Island approve housing propositions

Hawaii and Rhode Island each approved their sole proposition, while California approved two of its three.

15 minutes ago - Smart Cities Dive

An Amtrak train pulls into a station in chicago.

Officials claim feds 'rushed' Amtrak environmental review

Amtrak plans to move their Chicago maintenance facility from an industrial area to a residential one.

1 hour ago - Block Club Chicago

A car drives through a puddle in NYC

NYC breaks ground on anti-flooding infrastructure project

New York City's new system will reduce stormwater flows to local sewers by 90%.

November 9 - Smart Cities Dive

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.