Searching for Paradise

December 20, 2007 5:51 PM

How can I find out which states have towns or cities named Paradise? Also, it would be helpful if the database or whatever I was directed to had demographic information about the towns/cities, like population size, average income, local industries, etc. Thanks for your help.
posted by Cranky Media Guy to society & culture (15 comments total)

I'd be surprised if Wikipedia's list was incomplete.
posted by L. Fitzgerald Sjoberg at 5:55 PM on December 20, 2007

I was stuck in Paradise, MI for an afternoon about 10 years ago

Yes, I ate a cheeseburger.
posted by jpdoane at 6:03 PM on December 20, 2007

The US Census publishes it's data files:

http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/places2k.html

May take some goofing around with file formats and mysql.

If you are willing to query state by state, this interface may help:

http://censtats.census.gov/cgi-bin/pct/pctProfile.pl

Have fun!
posted by jenkinsEar at 6:13 PM on December 20, 2007

Google Maps' search of Paradise might add one or two, or maybe not:

Paradise, TX
Paradise, Wise, TX
Paradise, MI
Paradise, Chippewa, MI
Paradise, KS
Paradise, Russell, KS
Paradise, UT
Paradise, Cache, UT
Paradise, Lancaster, PA
Paradise, Lancaster, PA
Paradise, WY
Paradise, WY
Paradise, Monroe, PA
Paradise, Monroe, PA
Paradise, Uninc Mahoning County, OH
Paradise, Uninc Mahoning County, Mahoning, OH
Paradise, Uninc Clark County, NV
Paradise, Uninc Clark County, Clark, NV
posted by boeing82 at 6:15 PM on December 20, 2007

also, Paradise, California
posted by ethel at 6:26 PM on December 20, 2007

U.S. Gazetteer (just leave the state blank).
posted by ellenaim at 7:00 PM on December 20, 2007

The US Census gazetteer data isn't totally complete - probably because of the difficulties of identifying the teeny tiny unincorporated towns. It leaves out Paradise, AZ, for example, which I know to exist because I've been there. Although it's possible that it hasn't got a population at all.
posted by miagaille at 7:17 PM on December 20, 2007

It doesn't exist anymore and won't be included in any census data, but John Prine has a beautiful song about Paradise, Kentucky which was destroyed when all the land around it was strip mined away.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 8:17 PM on December 20, 2007

"Streets and Trips" lists all the following:

Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Florida
Illinois
Indiana
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Michigan
Missouri
Montana
Nevada
New York
Ohio
Oregon (two of 'em)
Pennsylvania
Texas
Utah
Washington
West Virginia
Wyoming
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 9:06 PM on December 20, 2007

Wikipedia will also have the demographics of most of these from census data.
posted by Pants! at 10:45 PM on December 20, 2007

Wow, thanks for all the information! You guys really came through on this one.
posted by Cranky Media Guy at 11:54 PM on December 20, 2007

FWIW, Paradise, PA is right next to Intercourse, PA. That never fails to amuse me.
posted by namewithoutwords at 3:08 AM on December 21, 2007

Paradise, AZ has a population of about 2 people. There's even a sign that says "Welcome to Paradise".

It's smaller than Why, AZ, for the record.
posted by parilous at 6:49 AM on December 21, 2007

There's a Paradise Valley town (if you want to call it that) in Nevada. Maybe the 'Valley" part throws it out of the running though. More of a ghost town really, though there's a few residents holding on.
posted by elendil71 at 8:40 AM on December 21, 2007

The USGS Geographic names Information System lists 121 populated places with Paradise in its name.
posted by buttercup at 9:37 AM on December 21, 2007