What the heck is a “livable city” and why doesn’t the U.S. have any of them?
This week, we are deep-diving The Economist's "Livability Index" and digging into why the U.S. doesn't have any of the "most livable" cities
If you’re like us, you follow a bunch of informational (see: nerdy) accounts on Instagram like The Economist (@theeconomist) and Visual Capitalist (@visualcap), and you’ve been seeing a bunch of posts lately ranking the world’s most livable cities. To neither of our surprise, Houston didn’t make the cut. It did surprise us that the United States isn’t home to any of the world’s most livable cities. This begs the question, what makes a city livable?
The Livability Index
According to above graphic by Visual Capitalist (which references The Global Liveability Index 2022, published by The Economist), Vienna is the world’s most livable city followed by Copenhagen, Frankfurt, and Zurich. Within North America, The Economist ranks Calgary, Vancouver, and Toronto as the most livable cities and Lexington, Detroit, and Houston (RIP) as the least livable. The ranking scores on five categories with the following weightings:
Healthcare (20%)
Culture & Environment (25%)
Stability (25%)
Education (10%)
Infrastructure (20%)
While the easing of COVID-19 restrictions over the last year saw scores improve for some cities, it did the opposite for others (for instance, Houston tumbled 25 rankings since the prior year).
The report predicts that the war in Ukraine will have widespread implications on the security of cities and that spikes in inflation, meanwhile, will negatively impact culture and infrastructure metrics. It calls out a “Cost-of-Living Crisis” – defined by a sharp rise in global prices as a result of the war in Ukraine.
“Russia is a major oil and gas exporter, but together with Ukraine accounts for 30% of global trade in wheat, 17% in maize and more than 50% in sunflowerseed oil. EIU has raised its 2022 forecast for global average consumer price inflation to 8.5%, the highest for 26 years….This sharp spike in inflation will put quality of life in many cities at risk… Either residents will be forced to pay much higher prices (making it harder to enjoy the culture and environment of their cities) or governments will take on more of the burden (which will risk their ability to provide high-quality public services).”
Okay, So What’s Up With The U.S.?
A recent Forbes article cites abortion rights, crime, racial tensions, politics and inflation and reasons for our country’s inability to break into the top 25 most livable cities in 2022.
“Many of [the U.S. cities] scored relatively low in the areas of stability and healthcare when compared to some of the top ranking cities in Europe and Canada…There are a few longstanding structural factors that impede many U.S. cities from challenging other cities in advanced economies at the top of the rankings, such as a greater incidence of social unrest, which is often rooted in the country’s ongoing racial inequalities…U.S. cities also have an extraordinarily expensive healthcare system that is capable of delivering high-quality care but only to those who can afford it.” - Upasana Dutt, head of Liveability Index at EIU
Assuming I’m Not Planning to Expatriate, Where’s the Best Place to Live?
As remote work became a more viable option over the last couple of years, we began to see professionals moving out of crowded, high-cost cities like San Francisco and New York towards cities with better climates, lower cost of living, and easier access to outdoor activities. Below, we explore different considerations and make our own determination of the most livable city in the U.S.
Climate
In addition to the general climate and weather patterns of a given city, we now have to consider how climate change may impact a given city.
New data from the Rhodium Group, analyzed by ProPublica, shows that climate change will “wreak havoc on the southern third of the country, erasing more than 8% of its economic output and likely turning migration from a choice to an imperative. The data shows that…millions of people will be displaced by flooding, fires and scorching heat, a resorting of the map not seen since the Dust Bowl of the 1930s.”
An article by Futurism identifies the cities likely to be least impacted by climate change as:
Seattle
Portland
San Francisco
Minneapolis
Ann Arbor
Madison
Chicago
Denver
Salt Lake City
The article also identifies Phoenix, Austin, Baltimore, and Philadelphia as cities investing heavily in green infrastructure and public works. You’ll notice that a lot of these cities, while less exposed to climate change, have some significant barriers to entry such as cost of living and inadequate infrastructure.
Cost of Living
Cities like New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles are widely known as expensive cities to live in. However, a recent article by Kiplinger identifies the following as the 10 most expensive cities to live in:
Manhattan, New York
Honolulu, Hawaii
San Francisco, California
Brooklyn, New York
Washington, District of Columbia
Orange County, California
Los Angeles, California
Boston, Massachusetts
Seattle, Washington
Oakland, California
On the flip side, U.S. News identifies the following as the cheapest cities to live in:
Hickory, North Carolina
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Huntsville, Alabama
Quad Cities, Illinois
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Beaumont, Texas
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Peoria, Illinois
Youngstown, Ohio
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is a fairly broad umbrella that can encompass facilities and services that support things like energy and power supply, telecommunications and internet access, and transportation. U.S. News has compiled a definitive ranking of states with the best infrastructure across the three pillars. The states coming out on top are:
Nevada
Oregon
Washington
North Dakota
Utah
Nebraska
Kansas
Wyoming
Minnesota
Idaho
Education
For those with kids (or those who like to live in an educated society), strong public education is a hallmark of a livable city. World Population Review has put together public education rankings by state, and identified the 10 states with the best public education.
Source: World Population Review
Massachusetts
Connecticut
New Jersey
Virginia
Vermont
New Hampshire
Minnesota
Wisconsin
Delaware
Maryland
On the opposite end, the five states with the worst public schools are New Mexico, Louisiana, Arizona, Alaska, and Oklahoma.
Culture
Finally - we are looking at culture. So far cities in the Pacific Northwest and Midwest have fared best in terms of climate resilience. The Midwest and South seem to have the most affordable cost of living and the Midwest and Mountain states have the strongest infrastructure. When it comes to education, however, the East Cost takes the cake. The last factor we will look at before coming to our conclusion on livability is culture. Culture Trip ranks the following cities as having the best culture (including cuisine, art, and entertainment):
New York City
San Francisco
Milwaukee
Minneapolis
Boston
Houston (ayyy)
Kansas City
Philadelphia
Chicago
Los Angeles
Washington D.C.
New Orleans
Conclusion
Taking into account all of the above factors, it seems as if the Midwest is the most livable region in the U.S., with livable cities like Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and Chicago.
Hot Tea
Equilibrium/Sustainability — Climate hawk King Charles takes throne
Thrifty royal fashion: 11 times Kate Middleton, Princess Beatrice & Co rocked a sustainable wardrobe
Germany, Denmark to Build Offshore Wind “Island” to Bolster Climate, Energy Independence Goals
Corporate Emissions Targets Across All G7 Countries Fall Short of Global Climate Goals: Report
Movers & Shakers
Our movers & shakers this week are Rachelle Strauss, Richard Strauss, and Anna Pitt, who started Zero Waste Week - a week of zero waste each year on September 5th through 9th. Rachel puts out a mailing list to promote and support Zero Waste Week, hosts a webpage with free tips and tools for minimizing waste, and allows people to share their stories on Facebook and Twitter.