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Research > Guides > Relocation > Magazines & Newspapers

Magazines & Newspapers

Three types of magazines and newspapers are especially useful when researching a new place: newspapers from that location, city-focused magazines, and periodicals that regularly run "best of" features. General articles can also provide timely information.

City newspapers

Central Library subscribes to newspapers from many cities in Oregon, as well as from over 50 cities across the country. Located in the Periodicals Room on the second floor, these newspapers feature classified ads detailing housing and employment availability. They will also help you get a feel for the social, cultural and political landscape of a new city.

To check the availability of newspapers for other cities in the Library Catalog, do the following type of search using Key Words and choosing Subject from the drop-down menu:

Using magazines and newspapers — city magazines

Central Library also subscribes to a small number of city-focused magazines, such as Seattle, The Washingtonian (DC), Los Angeles Magazine, Boston Magazine and New York. These will give you a feel for a city and its culture, politics and amenities.

To check the availability of city-focused magazines in the Library catalog, do the following type of search using using Key Words and choosing Subject from the drop-down menu:

Using magazines and newspapers: "Best Of" magazines

Several magazines put out annual "best of" issues that rate cities and towns on a variety of criteria.

Please ask at the Periodicals Reference Desk on the second floor of Central Library for assistance locating these particular issues. Most of the magazines also offer electronic versions of these reports on their Web sites. Click on the links below where available.

"Best Places to Live"
Money
http://money.cnn.com/best/bplive/
Each December issue reports the best places to live in the United States, according to the editors of Money magazine. The reports focus on economically vibrant cities that manage their growth and quality of life and include statistics on population, education, employment and crime.
"Best Places to Retire"
Money
http://money.cnn.com/best/bpretire/
Each July issue focuses on cities perceived to offer good quality of life and affordable housing for retirees. Discover features of each location, including population, property tax, home prices and cultural attractions.
"Top 10 Cities for Hispanics
Hispanic
www.hispaniconline.com/res&res/toplists/locations.html
Each July/August issue provides information on the top 10 livable cities for Hispanics.
"The Best Cities for Women"
Ladies Home Journal
www.lhj.com/lhj/story.jhtml?storyid=/templatedata/lhj/story/data/best2002_intro_02142002.xml
Appearing in different issues each year, this feature lists the best small and large cities in the United States rated by crime, health, education, economy, jobs, lifestyle and child care. Please ask for assistance at a Reference Desk to locate these articles.

Finding general articles

Articles in many general magazines and newspapers are excellent sources for current relocation information. Several magazines compile ratings of best cities each year. You can also find a wealth of information about individual cities you are considering.

You can search for articles with the database Masterfile Premier, which is a comprehensive electronic index to magazine and newspaper articles. It provides full text articles, abstracts and citations. You can use it from any library search station or from home or work. Start at the Articles section of Research.

Find a city by subject

  1. Click on Basic Search Subjects.
  2. Type in a city name, like baltimore (md) or san francisco (ca), and then click on "Browse."
  3. Select "Explore: Subdivisions." Under this, select the subdivision of your choice, such as "Economic Conditions."
  4. Finally, click on either "Newspaper Reference(s)" or "Periodical Reference(s)" to view the articles.

Find city and town ratings

  1. In the Basic Search Keyword mode, type these terms: "cities and towns -- ratings."
  2. Click on the "Search" button to retrieve articles comparing several cities.
  3. To narrow your search to those articles that mention a particular city, add the name of the city (type: cities towns ratings and san diego). Put the word "and" before the name of the city. This will result in a more precise search.

Find articles on relocation

  1. Click on Basic Search Subjects.
  2. In the "Browse For" box, type in "moving, household," and then click on "Browse."
  3. Select "Explore: Subdivisions." Under this, select the subdivision of your choice.
  4. Click on either "Newspaper Reference(s)" or "Periodical Reference(s)" to view the articles.