From the archives: In 1985, Wilmington had 'gotten worse' in one ranking

For the "Sorry folks, Wilmington's closed" group, it got some good news in 1985.

In the April 7, 1985, edition, the Wilmington StarNews reported Rand McNally's "Places Rated Almanac" put Wilmington 141st out of 329 U.S. metropolitan areas, a drop from 96th place in 1981.

Before cell phones and GPS, Rand McNally's road atlas was the foremost trusted driving guide.

While a StarNews header above the article asked, "Has Wilmington really gotten worse?", this announcement wasn't a major flex for the anti-development crowd.

For starters, the 96th position in 1981 was among fewer places at 277.

Rand McNally used several criteria to make its rankings: Housing, recreation, health and environment, climate, education, economics, arts, transportation and crime.

The area got high marks in recreation thanks to its coastline and climate, five golf courses, five movie theaters (Wilmington has just two today), three "good" restaurants and sports teams at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

However, the Port City was mostly middle of the road in other factors. Transportation was rated low in part because of no interstate. That's not the case today with the addition of interstates 40 and 140. And for crime, McNally noted 291 places ranked ahead of Wilmington as safer. A high number of aggravated assault cases contributed to the poor showing.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: In 1985, Wilmington, NC, was ranked by Rand McNally among US metros