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GREENSBORO - In December, Forbes.com named Asheboro the country's fourth-fastest dying town.

Recently, the financial news Web site turned to Greensboro/High Point, naming it the fourth-emptiest city based on vacancy rates collected from the U.S. Census Bureau for the fourth quarter of 2008.

To that, suggests City Council member Robbie Perkins, "I think we need to say that they're full of baloney."

Las Vegas, Detroit and Atlanta were ahead of Greensboro in the report. Dayton, Ohio, was ranked fifth.

Forbes blamed the declines in Detroit and Dayton on industrial shutdowns, and placed Las Vegas' problems on the housing bust.

The report did not elaborate on how Greensboro/High Point landed fourth on the list.

But Keith Debbage, a UNCG geography professor who studies the city's economic health, says that those cities' circumstances are exactly what separates them from Greensboro.

"Yes, our region is suffering, as is the nation, but I would suggest we are no Detroit or Dayton nor have we had the speculative real estate bubble of Las Vegas or Orlando," Debbage said by e-mail Monday.

"I suspect if we examined the data over a longer period (instead of just one quarter), the rankings would shift dramatically particularly for Greensboro."

Perkins, president of the commercial real estate firm NAI Piedmont Triad, is quick to refute the idea that Greensboro is a vacant city.

Perkins said he was in Vegas last week and that city's downtown has several tower cranes that aren't moving, but he believes that Greensboro is strategically located in the state and country.

"I don't believe it is a relevant comparison," Perkins said.

Neither Debbage nor Perkins went into detail over why our region is high in rental vacancies - 13th in the nation - or second-highest nationally in housing vacancies.

The Census information listed those rates for the country's 75 largest metropolitan areas. Atlanta, Detroit and Las Vegas are all in the top 30 largest metropolitan areas with at least 1.8 million people in each. The Greensboro-High Point area is 72nd in total population with slightly less than 700,000 people.

"No, this isn't the fourth-worst place to live in the country because of vacancies," Perkins said. With nearby interstates, and recent company expansions such as Honda Aircraft Co., FedEx Ground and others, Perkins said, there's evidence that Greensboro is "one of the best places to live in the country."

Both Debbage and Perkins are keeping their eyes on the future for this area, no matter what national financial-magazine rankings might say.

"Keep in mind that we have experienced steady population growth for decades," Debbage said, "and are positioned strategically along the I-85 mega region corridor between Charlotte and Research Triangle that is likely to weather this economic shock a little better than many other parts of the country."

Here are some more detailed national rankings for metropolitan areas in the fourth quarter of 2008:

Greensboro was second in homeowner vacancies with 5.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008. Raleigh ranked 13th highest; Charlotte ranked 28th.

For rental vacancies, Greensboro was 13th at 15 percent vacancy. Charlotte was 15th and Raleigh was 33rd.

Richmond, Va., was highest in rental vacancies at 23 percent in the fourth quarter. Orlando, Fla., with 7.3 percent vacancies among homeowners, was highest in that category.

Contact Gerald Witt at 373-7008 or gerald.witt@news-record.com