It's that crazy time of year again when Connecticut Magazine, in its infinite lack of wisdom, ranks the towns of Connecticut and then blankets the state with press releases, reporting on how everyone did.

This is accomplished sort of the same way the magazine's editors every year come up with the state's best chocolate cake, or best drive-in burger or best plastic surgeon.

I guess the aim in all this is to drive up circulation. But I would think it might be the opposite.

New London residents, for instance, might be applauded for suggesting a boycott of the magazine, after it ranked the city 24th out of 26 towns with populations between 25,000 and 50,000.

New London, in the magazine's 2011 ranking, finished just ahead of Windham and East Haven, which was dead last.

Westport, one of the jewels in the Fairfield County crown, is at the top of the list in that size category.

Do people here in eastern Connecticut have to be so rudely reminded that New York salaries and wealth are being spent on higher taxes that support enriched school systems and a more robust economy?

We know that's true. But that certainly doesn't make them better places to live, even if Connecticut Magazine says so.

"What makes one city or town better than another?" the magazine asks, at the very outset of its Rating the Towns 2011, in the current issue.

"It's impossible to give a definitive answer," they promptly answer their own question, wisely.

They then go on, though, through a kind of voodoo mathematic formula that takes into account school test scores, per capita income, home sales prices and other stuff, to come up with a ranking.

It is, as they note, an "impossible" task.

It's also insulting to those who come up on the short end.

Don't they know that New London's whale tail fountain continues to delight and spray water from its flukes, well on into November. Better yet, the fountain is no longer supervised.

With the monitors gone, you could even slip by now and get your feet wet.

Don't they know New London has six candidates for mayor, one from each major party, a few independents and even a write-in?

New London also has the tall ship Eagle, an 18th century courthouse and a prominent train station designed by Henry Hobson Richardson. You can catch ferries here and ride them to Long Island, Block Island or Fishers Island.

The people here are engaging and eclectic, too, an interesting ethnic, age and socioeconomic mix.

I don't have anything against the many latte-drinking fund managers you might find in great numbers in Westport or consumers there of the state's most talented plastic surgeons.

But I don't think we need Connecticut Magazine to say that's a better environment than you'll find in downtown New London.

If New Londoners weren't so busy these days, planning for next year's OpSail tall ships extravaganza or this winter's new downtown ice skating rink on the Parade, they might take some time out in this busy mayoral election season to rank magazines.

I'd vote to make Connecticut Magazine last, or at least no better than two from the bottom.

This is the opinion of David Collins