A nationwide survey of livability
Reconnecting America has released an impressively comprehensive survey of every metropolitan region in the US measuring a wide range of characteristics related to livability and smart growth. The survey gives grades from A to D in four areas: Living (housing and neighborhoods), working (proximity and access to jobs), moving (walkability and transit), and thriving (health and culture). The survey is not meant as a ranking — nevertheless it is easy to come up with a grade point average for the largest metro areas (see graph above). The only surprise on the list is Los Angeles, which ranks right below New York City and San Francisco, along with Boston and DC. The reason is that LA has a surprising percentage of the population living in higher-density neighborhoods on a street grid. Known for its driving, LA was built as a streetcar city. That bodes well for rail transit, which is being expanded there. The real value of this report, called Are We There Yet?, is in drilling down to data from individual metro areas, where there are many surprises. I did not know that Lincoln, Nebraska, is so livable (4.0 score for regions under 500,000), or that Greensboro, NC, had such problems (1.0 score for regions between 500,000 and 3 million). You might want to check out the grades for your metro area.
For more in-depth coverage:
• Subscribe to Better! Cities & Towns to read all of the articles (print+online) on implementation of greener, stronger, cities and towns.
• See the September 2012 issue of Better! Cities & Towns.Topics: Artists energize places, Parking and transit-oriented development, the sprawl culture war, Complete Streets, Pocket neighborhood in Illinois, European-style street, Treating people and nature better, Highway teardown and New Haven, Sustainable Urbanism and Beyond, Too Much Magic, Advice from a pioneering source
• Get New Urbanism: Best Practices Guide, packed with more than 800 informative photos, plans, tables, and other illustrations, this book is the best single guide to implementing better cities and towns.
