If you want to live in the next Silicon Valley auto-free and safe, these two city rankings are for you.  Cities that appear in both lists are in red

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The first is Beyond Silicon Valley: 10 Blooming U.S. Cities for Tech from tech news portal, eWeek, followed by the companies that are based there:

0.

- HP, Intel, Apple, Sun, Oracle, Cisco, Google, eBay, Yahoo!
1.

- Microsoft, Amazon, RealNetworks, AT&T Wireless, T-Mobile
2. Atlanta - Cingular, EarthLink, Internet Security Systems
3.

- Akamai Technologies, EMC Corp., CMGI venture capital
4. Washington D.C. - Sprint Nextel, America Online, Computer Sciences Corp., XM Radio
5. Dallas - Aspen Communications, CompUSA, Electronic Data Systems, Kinkos
6.

- Unisys, SAP America, Verizon
7.

- Accenture, US Robotics, Telephone and Data Systems, Click Commerce, Motorola
8. Orlando - Lockheed Martin, Symantec, Electronic Arts
9. Los Angeles - DirecTV, Belkin, Univision, Memorex
10. Charlotte - SPX Corporation, Time Warner Cable, Bank of America

Next, professor Michael Lewyn assembled existing statistics in public safety and transportation to answer the question, ‘where can I function without a car and still feel relatively safe?‘  With grades in the following order, murder/robbery/burglary/transit poverty ratio/transit use/walking to work, here’s the top of his list with smaller cities in bold since they’re rarely even included in such studies:

1. New York City: B/B-/A//A-/A/A- 90.2
2.

: B-/C+/B+/B/B+/A 86
3.

: B-/C+/B/A/B+/B 85.5
4. Ann Arbor, MI: A/A-/B+/C-/D/A 84.5
5.

: B+/B/B-/B-/C+/B- 82.8
6. Madison, WI: A-/B+/B+/C-/D+/B+ 82.7
7. Washington DC: D/C-/B+/B/B+/A-  81.7
8. Pittsburgh: C+/C/B/B-/B-/B 81.2
9. Providence, RI B-/B/B/D+/D+/A 80.0
9. Portland, OR: B+/B/B-/C+/C-/C 80.0
9.

: C-/D+/B+/B-/B/B 80.0
9.

: C+/C/B/B-/B/C 80.0

Check out an intrepid family doing just this in the Speak Your mind! section below.

Image: Top - Sony Metreon, San Francisco/Silicon Valley; Bottom - Downtown Madison