Most livable cities in the u. S.

For those 50-plus looking to move to a new community, the AARP Livability Index can be particularly helpful in assessing whether a city, suburb or town has what’s needed to support people as

they age. Harrell notes that the National Association of Realtors downloaded more than 1 million property reports in the last year that included Livability Index scores to provide added

information for people who are shopping for a new home. Shannon King, a Realtor in Oahu, Hawaii, says she prints out pages from the index daily to equip clients with more nuanced information

during the home-buying process. For example, she says air quality is of great concern on the island, which has areas with high pollen counts and industrial sites. The index provides insight

about air and water quality in the environment category. “For allergy-sensitive clients, like someone with a child who has asthma, I can share the information so they can make the best

decision for their family,” she says. “I pull out the Livability Index and show them the pros and cons of living in a particular neighborhood. I use it to match with their lifestyle.” The

tool can help start conversations about community challenges and bring awareness around livable communities and the criteria that make them good places to settle down. “It’s not about

altering a community to make it look like another place,” Guzman says. “It’s about assessing your needs and challenges and what a community does well.” USING THE AARP LIVABILITY INDEX

Despite the layers of data used, the AARP Livability Index is easy to navigate. Entering a town, city name or zip code will allow users to retrieve a Livability Score, ranging from 0 to 100

points, for that place. Communities scoring over 50, which is average, are “considered as doing well,” Guzman says. “When you look at the top-scoring communities, those are the places in the

United States that are doing well in the majority of the categories compared to other places with similar population figures.” The first page of a search provides basic demographic

information. Users can click on a heat map that offers a visual deeper dive into each of the seven livability categories and the ability to see category definitions and how communities

score. The tool also allows users to make direct comparisons between places and learn where a community shines and where it might fall short. Take St. Paul, Minnesota, which is ranked number

4 on the top 10 midsize cities’ list, with a Livability Score of 66. Nearby Minneapolis, Minnesota, is number 5 on that list, also with a score of 66. However, despite the twin scores for

the Twin Cities, there are differences between them. For instance, when it comes to housing, Minneapolis and St. Paul metrics highlight five data points that were considered (based on five

years of information): zero-step entrances, availability of multifamily housing, housing costs, housing cost burden and availability of subsidized housing. In St. Paul, 46.4 percent of

housing units are multifamily, slightly down from 2015 and significantly higher than the U.S. median neighborhood of only 18 percent. In Minneapolis, 54.4 percent of units are multifamily.

St. Paul has lower monthly housing costs and a lower housing cost burden. Further metrics show that under “health,” St. Paul lands at 31.9 percent on obesity prevalence and Minneapolis at

26.1 percent. While both have access to local transit options, Minneapolis buses and trains run more frequently than those in St. Paul (25 per hour versus 13 per hour, respectively). Both

cities show very high levels (99 percent) of engagement, which encompasses access to broadband, civic and social involvement, voting rates, and cultural, arts and entertainment institutions.

In addition, individuals can customize the livability score. If housing is not a concern, the customization tool can put less weight on that data point and emphasize something else, like

the importance of public transportation. Ultimately, users can research different methods of scoring communities to fit their own lifestyle.