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Forbes: America's Most Livable Cities

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Konka

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America's Most Livable Cities
Francesca Levy, 04.29.10, 06:40 PM EDT
In these affordable metros, jobs are plentiful, crime is low and there are myriad entertainment options.

Each year Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business attracts some of the brightest master's degree candidates in the country. But the admissions staff occasionally has to sway prospective students with their choice of top schools who wonder why they should relocate to Pittsburgh, Pa.

"Pittsburgh has a really great cultural scene. We have a great ballet and a great symphony that travels the world and performs to packed houses, and there's a restaurant scene that's much more diverse than it ever was when I was growing up," says Wendy Hermann, director of student services for master's programs and a Pittsburgh native. "And it's an easier sell, now that the Steelers and Penguins won their respective titles."

Indeed, Pittsburgh's art scene, job prospects, safety and affordability make it the most livable city in the country, according to measures studied. The city has rebounded from its manufacturing past. Disused steel mills have been repurposed into multimedia art centers, and amid a struggling national economy, Google ( GOOG - news - people ) Pittsburgh, a test site for the company's new high-speed broadband network, has expanded its offices to accommodate more hires.

Pittsburgh's strong university presence--the city has over a dozen colleges or campuses--helps bolster its livability. In fact, the key to finding the easiest places to live may be to follow the students. Most of the metros on our list--including Ann Arbor, Mich., Provo, Utah, and Manchester, N.H.--are college towns.

"Universities are large employers in their cities," says Alexander Von Hoffman, senior fellow at the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University. "In the long term, not only do you have that employment, but you have an educated population, and you have a large youthful population which tends to be a consuming population."
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9. (tie) Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn.

8. Trenton-Ewing, N.J.

7. Manchester-Nashua, N.H.

6. Omaha-Council Bluffs, Neb.-Iowa

5. Harrisburg-Carlisle, Pa.

4. Ann Arbor, Mich.

3. Provo-Orem, Utah

2. Ogden-Clearfield, Utah

1. Pittsburgh, Pa.
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http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/29/ci...s-crime-income.html?boxes=Homepagemostpopular
 
Holy FUCK.

The first time I've ever seen the city I live in (Harrisburg) on any sort of list involving anything positive.

And to be honest, I rather like it here. It's growing like a motherfucker too.
 
TheLastCandle said:
Holy FUCK.

The first time I've ever seen the city I live in (Harrisburg) on any sort of list involving anything positive.

And to be honest, I rather like it here. It's growing like a motherfucker too.
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Me too, I'm really surprised.
 
I got approached by a bum as soon as I pulled up to my Pittsburgh Bed & Breakfast. My lone anecdote invalidates this extensive study.
 
As a University of Pittsburgh student, I'm inclined to disagree. Pittsburgh winters are exercises in seasonal depression, terrible snow (and even worse snow plowing), and terrifying driving.

Pittsburgh from April to September is amazing though. I really like the different cultural boroughs.
 
Ann Arbor is a really nice looking city, especially in the downtown/campus/hospital areas.*

Drive as little in the downtown as possible, or you will likely fill with rage.
 
Seriously I've lived in Carlisle all my life, like the place for certain reasons but there is a lot of problems there. One of the reasons is that in the last few decades the town has slowly been sorrounded by a firewall of truck and packaging centers. These do a number on the sourrounding location it's not even funny. The air quality is fucking awful now (Carlisle is called Asthma Valley now), there have been studies done about how the massive amounts of trucks that try to come through downtown Carlisle hurt commerce, the jobs are all low pay and don't actually help the town, all of the farm land is being turned into these buildings with blinding light at night, and the surrounding highways are death traps.

Harrisburg is a shit hole though, it's made top 10 lists for being a poorly financed city.
 
Trojita said:
Harrisburg is a shit hole though, it's made top 10 lists for being a poorly financed city.
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There are parts of Harrisburg that make me want to lock all the doors on my car and book it the hell out of there as fast as I can. Steelton and Allison Hill are SCARY, man.

However, toss the garbage out the equation and I like it here overall. I don't live downtown, so I can avoid getting shot in the face. I've lived here for a long time now and I'm amazed at how much this city is growing, and we've been getting some cool stuff over the years. Also, we have 3 solid breweries here (all within 10 mins driving of my apt), which makes my inner beer geek weep with joy.
 
pakkit said:
As a University of Pittsburgh student, I'm inclined to disagree. Pittsburgh winters are exercises in seasonal depression, terrible snow (and even worse snow plowing), and terrifying driving.

Pittsburgh from April to September is amazing though. I really like the different cultural boroughs.
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Most winter's in Pittsburgh get hardly any snow though, this year was an anomaly.
 
YAY!! My city's number 1 again. Now let the Pens bring home another Stanley Cup and it will be even better.
 
TheLastCandle said:
There are parts of Harrisburg that make me want to lock all the doors on my car and book it the hell out of there as fast as I can. Steelton and Allison Hill are SCARY, man.

However, toss the garbage out the equation and I like it here overall. I don't live downtown, so I can avoid getting shot in the face. I've lived here for a long time now and I'm amazed at how much this city is growing, and we've been getting some cool stuff over the years. Also, we have 3 solid breweries here (all within 10 mins driving of my apt), which makes my inner beer geek weep with joy.
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Steelton is just a severally poor ass town, and how "dry" (just the environment and how it just seems like a decayed town) they appear is indeed scary at times. As far as Community Colleges go HACC is a great one I have to admit. If you live in Harrisburg I'd recommend not going to public school :lol. Great thing about Carlisle is that there isn't many murders since the "gangsters" are all pretty much wannabe which I actually prefer to the actual gangsters for obvious reasons. Carlisle also has one of the most racially diverse schools in the area. School District is cliquish as hell though.
 
Manmademan said:
Harrisburg-Carlisle? List is a joke, confirmed. :lol
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Behind the Numbers
In compiling our list, we measured five data points in the country's 200 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas: unemployment, crime, income growth, the cost of living, and artistic and cultural opportunities.

To find out where jobs were available and incomes were steadily growing, we ranked cities both by their rate of income growth over the past five years and the current unemployment rate, based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The stronger the income growth trend and the lower the unemployment, the higher each city ranked. Jobs don't mean everything, though: A city is more livable if a family's income goes further. Using cost of living data from Moody's ( MCO - news - people ) Economy.com, we ranked cities higher that had lower costs for everyday goods.

Some places are inexpensive, but still not desirable, so we included a measure for crime, using the Federal Bureau of Investigation's and Sperling's Best Places reports on the number of crimes per 100,000 residents, ranking low-crime cities higher. We also considered a thriving local culture crucial to livability, so we gave higher rankings to cities that scored highly on the Arts & Leisure index created by Sperling's Best Places. We averaged the rankings for each of these metrics to arrive at a final score.
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It's not a list of the hippest places...
 
I sooo want to head over to the USA to work but I'm not in the best position. Reading stuff like this makes me realise that aiming to work in Cali/NY isn't the best idea...probably need to look at the more quieter/less obvious states
 
I might be a bit biased because Stamford was my home town but it definitely is a great city. Low crime, lots to do, all kinds of different work sectors, mostly nice people, good access to anywhere else in the tri-state or New England area.

However, get Bridgeport and Norwalk the FUCK off that list, what a fucking joke. Especially Bridgeport. Christ on a stick it's a shithole.

Edit: and Bridgeport made number 15 on that most-fun cities list? I don't think anyone who actually lives in or near Bridgeport had anything to do with either of those.
 
Konka said:
http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/29/ci...s-crime-income.html?boxes=Homepagemostpopular
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Behind the Numbers
In compiling our list, we measured five data points in the country's 200 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas: unemployment, crime, income growth, the cost of living, and artistic and cultural opportunities.

To find out where jobs were available and incomes were steadily growing, we ranked cities both by their rate of income growth over the past five years and the current unemployment rate, based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The stronger the income growth trend and the lower the unemployment, the higher each city ranked. Jobs don't mean everything, though: A city is more livable if a family's income goes further. Using cost of living data from Moody's ( MCO - news - people ) Economy.com, we ranked cities higher that had lower costs for everyday goods.

Some places are inexpensive, but still not desirable, so we included a measure for crime, using the Federal Bureau of Investigation's and Sperling's Best Places reports on the number of crimes per 100,000 residents, ranking low-crime cities higher. We also considered a thriving local culture crucial to livability, so we gave higher rankings to cities that scored highly on the Arts & Leisure index created by Sperling's Best Places. We averaged the rankings for each of these metrics to arrive at a final score.
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Well that makes since sort of then. The cost of living in central PA is really low. Carlisle probably got extra points because of Dickinson College / Law School and the great Ballet program we have. A lot of people that make decent money don't work in Carlisle though.
 
ronito said:
Inaccurate survey is inaccurate. Forbes I expected better.

But really? You're #3 recently ranked as the least fun city in the US having lived there I can attest to its truthiness. Your algorithm needs work.

http://www.portfolio.com/interactive-features/2010/04/living-it-up-the-top-100-fun-cities
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It's not a survey...

Behind the Numbers
In compiling our list, we measured five data points in the country's 200 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas: unemployment, crime, income growth, the cost of living, and artistic and cultural opportunities.

To find out where jobs were available and incomes were steadily growing, we ranked cities both by their rate of income growth over the past five years and the current unemployment rate, based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The stronger the income growth trend and the lower the unemployment, the higher each city ranked. Jobs don't mean everything, though: A city is more livable if a family's income goes further. Using cost of living data from Moody's ( MCO - news - people ) Economy.com, we ranked cities higher that had lower costs for everyday goods.

Some places are inexpensive, but still not desirable, so we included a measure for crime, using the Federal Bureau of Investigation's and Sperling's Best Places reports on the number of crimes per 100,000 residents, ranking low-crime cities higher. We also considered a thriving local culture crucial to livability, so we gave higher rankings to cities that scored highly on the Arts & Leisure index created by Sperling's Best Places. We averaged the rankings for each of these metrics to arrive at a final score.
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The College Bump
Ogden, Utah, No. 2 on our list, is home to Weber State University. Unemployment in the metro is below average, and incomes have increased by 3.4% over the last five years. Provo, Utah, a city 80 miles away and our No. 3 most livable, is home to Brigham Young University, the country's largest private college. The metro has the highest five-year income growth, 5.2%, of all the cities measured. Lincoln, Neb., (No. 9), home to the University of Nebraska's main campus, boasts the lowest unemployment rate , 4.9%, of all the metros we surveyed. Unemployment is also at a low 5.9% in Omaha, Neb. (No. 5) home to a University of Nebraska campus and roughly a dozen other colleges.
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