Auto Free Livable Cities List

[warwickland]

Auto-Free Livable Cities Guide

By Michael Lewyn
(with assistance from David Van Balen)

http://lewyn.tripod.com/livablecities/

UPDATED: 7-15-06 (2005 crime statistics used)

I. Why this site?

After reading Rand McNally and numerous other "livable city" ratings, I decided to create my own. But this is a livable city guide with a difference: one that answers the simple question "where can I function without a car and still feel relatively safe?" Specifically, I rate American cities based on various indica of transit/pedestrian-friendliness and on their crime rates.

In particular, this page rates cities which one of us considers sufficiently major to research- admittedly a somewhat arbitrary criterion, but one which includes almost all of the largest cities and a few mid-sized cities as well.

My method can be applied to any unit for which crime statistics and transit usage statistics are available - that is, units ranging from metropolitan areas to the smallest suburban municipalities (although not for most unincorporated suburbs or for neighborhoods within a city, since crime statistics are rarely available for them).

II. How I calculate

A. Crime (50% of rating)

Half of my rating is based on grades for three indicia of crime: (1) murder rates, (2) robbery rates and (3) burglary rates (all for 2004). I picked burglary because it is the most serious property crime, robbery because robbery, to a much greater extent than any other violent crime, typically involves strangers (and is therefore evidence of the extent of random violent crime), and murder because murders are more frequently reported to the police than any other crime. Crime statistics are based on FBI crime statistics at www.fbi.gov

B. Transportation (50% of rating)

I use three statistics to calcluate the ease of pedestrian/transit commuting:

1. % of workers using transit as a % of poverty rate (from the 2000 Census). Why is poverty a factor? Because I don't want to give high grades to places where people use transit because they are too poor to own cars. So if 10% of commuters in your city use transit, and the city has a 25% poverty rate, your transit/poverty ratio is 40% (which as explained below equals a C-).

2. total transit market share (since if I only use (1) it leads to absurd results in dealing with low-poverty suburbs, e.g. if a suburb has 1% transit use and 1% poverty).

3. % of commuters walking to work. This factor captures not only the walkability of a city, but also the health of its downtown, since most suburban business districts are not particularly walkable. Also, using this statistic allows my ratings to reflect the virtues of small towns (which tend to have no public transit but are too small to need very much of it, and which therefore have lots of walkers)

(1), (2) and (3) are based on the 2000 census, which you can find at www.census.gov

I then assign letter grades as follows:

Murder: 0=A, up to 2.5 per 100,000 residents = A minus, 2.5-5 = B plus, 5-10 = B, 10-15= B minus, 15-20 = C plus, 20-25 = C, 25-30 = C-, 30-35= D+, 35-40 = D, 40-50 = D-, over 50 = F

Robbery: 0-50 per 100,000 people = A, 50-100 per 100,000 = A-, 100-200 = B plus, 200-300 = B, 300-400= B minus, 400-500 = C plus, 500-600 = C, 600-700 = C minus, 700-800 = D plus, 800-1000 = D, 1000-1100 = D minus, over 1100 = F

Burglary: under 400 per 100,000 = A, 400-600 = A-, 600-800= B+, 800-1000 = B, 1000-1200 = B-, 1200-1400 = C+, 1400-1600 = C, 1600-1800 = C-, 1800-2000 = D+, 2000-2200 = D, 2200-2400 = D-, over 2400 = F.

Transit market share as percent of poverty rate = under 5% of poverty rate = F, 5-10% = D-, 10-20% = D, 20-33% = D+, 33-50% = C-, 50-75% = C, 75-100% = C+, 100-125% = B-, 125-175% = B, 175-200% = B+, 200%-250%=A-, over 250% -A.

Transit market share, period = under 1% = F, 1-3%= D-, 3-7%= D, 7-10% = D+, 10-14%= C-, 14-17% = C, 17-20%= C+, 20-25% = B-, 25-30% = B, 30-40% = B+, 40-50% = A-, 50 or over = A.

Percent of commuters walking to work: under 1% = F, 1-2% = D-, 2-3% = D, 3-4% = D+-, 4-5% = C-, 5-6%= C, 6-7% = C+, 7-8% = B-, 8-10%= B, 10-11%=B+, 11-12%=A-, 12% or over = A.

Then I average the grades (assuming as follows: F= 55, D- = 62, D = 65, D plus = 68, etc. up to A, which is 95). All grades are rounded up or down to the nearest point.

One caveat: cities that have annexed a lot of suburban territory (e.g. Phoenix) have lower than average crime rates and lower than average transit use, because suburbs tend to have less of both.

Also, there are a couple of types of cities that I have tried to avoid rating: poor satellite cities (e.g. Newark, NJ) because I suspect if there are criminals there, they are committing a lot of crimes in other jurisdictions, thus making such places seem safer than they really are. (Newark has a high murder rate but a low rate of other crimes, which does not smell right to me).

C. Why only these variables?

I thought about trying to find some measure of the stress of living in a city as big as NYC, but I decided not to because everyone has different tastes in this matter, and since I have never lived anyplace bigger than DC I am not sure what mine are.

I decided climate was just too subjective to rate; I simply did not feel comfortable rating the climate of anyplace I had not lived.

Economic climate varies from year to year to a much greater extent than crime or auto dependency, so I decided not to rate that variable. (And frankly, if I have a job, I am not sure that the economic strength of the region affects a place's day-to-day livability -- especially for people like myself, whose work forces me to switch metropolitan areas when I switch jobs).

Cost of living matters if, in your line of work, wages and salaries do not reflect regional cost of living (i.e. you earn the same amount whether you are living in Boston or Boise). Since not everyone fits into this category, I didn't think it was worth the trouble to focus on cost of living. Also, cost of living statistics are generally for broad regions rather than for individual municipalities. (In any event, it is not difficult to track down big winners and losers from inclusion of this factor: of the highest scoring cities, New York, Boston and San Francisco lose big time, Pittsburgh makes big gains).

Cultural amenities tend to track size and transit use pretty well.

And besides, if you want to throw in added variables, all you need do is take the rankings in the latest Rand McNally cities guide, assign letter grades to THEM, and presto! you have your own ratings system that includes jobs, cost of living, etc.

D. The ratings

The results (drum roll please) - my most livable cities is New York, followed by Boston, San Francisco, and Ann Arbor.

Birmingham, AL, was last; a variety of Southern and Midwestern cities fought for second to last place.

A major trend: because of changes in crime rates, a lot of Southern cities have improved, and a lot of Midwestern cities have gotten worse. For example, I never would have imagined Atlanta doing better than Cleveland a few years ago!

Grades in order are: murder/robbery/burglary/transit poverty ratio/transit use/walking to work.

NORTHEAST:

NH- Manchester B+/B+/B+/D/D-/D 76

Mass.- Boston B-/C+/B+/B/B+/A 86

Conn.- Hartford C/C/B-/C/C+/C 76.7

RI- Providence B-/B/B/D+/D+/A 80

Md.- Baltimore D-/C-/B-/C+/C+/B- 75.7

DC- Washington D/C-/B+/B/B+/A- 81.7

NY- New York City B/B-/A//A-/A/A- 90.2 (No. 1!!!)

Buffalo C+/C/C/C-/C-/C 74.5

Amherst A-/A/A/D/D-/D 79

Rochester C/C/C+/D+/D+/C+ 73.6

Syracuse B-/B-/C+/D+/D+/B+ 77.6

Pa- Philadelphia C-/D+/B+/B-/B/B 80

Pittsburgh C+/C/B/B-/B-/B 81.2

SOUTH

Va- Virginia Beach B+/B+/A-/D/F/D 75.5

Norfolk C/B-/B+/D+/D/C+ 76

Richmond D-/C-/C+/C-/D+/C- 70.7

NC- Charlotte B-/C-/D/D+/D/D- 69

Durham C+/B-/C/D+/D/D+ 72.7

Raleigh B/B/B/D+/D-/D 75

SC- Columbia B-/B-/B-/D/D/A 78.5

Charleston B/B/B+/D/D/C+ 77.5

Ga.- Atlanta C/C-/C/C/C/D+ 73.3

Athens-Clarke Cty B/B+/B-/D-/D-/C- 75.2

Savannah C/C/D+/D+/D/C- 71.5

Ala.- Birmingham D-/C-/D/D/D-/D 65.2 (by far the worst in the nation!)

Huntsville B-/B-/C/F/F/D- 68.5

Montgomery B-/C+/C-/F/F/D- 67.3

Ms.-Jackson C/B-/C-/D-/D-/D- 69.2

Fla.- Jacksonville B-/B/B-/D-/D-/D- 72.5

Miami B-/C/C/C-/C-/D+ 74

Orlando B-/C/D+/D+/D/D- 70

Gainesville B+/B+/B-/D/D/C 77.2

Tampa B/B-/C/D/D-/D 72.2

St. Petersburg B-/B-/C/D+/D-/D 72.3

La.- Baton Rouge C/C+/C-/D-/D-/D+ 69.5

Lafayette B/B+/B-/D/D-/D- 74

Ky.- Lexington B/B/B/D/D-/D+ 75

Louisville/Jefferson County

B/B-/C+/D+/D/D- 73.3

Tn.- Chattanooga B-/B/C/D/D-/D 72.3

Knoxville B-/B-/C+/D-/D-/C- 73.2

Memphis C/C-/D-/D/D/D- 67.3

Nashville C+/C+/B-/D/D-/D 71.7

Arkansas- Little Rock C/C+/D/D+/D/D-/D- 67.8

Texas- Austin B+/B/B-/D+/D/D 76

Dallas C+/C/D+/D+/D/D- 69

Ft. Worth B/B/C/D-/D-/D- 72.5

Houston C+/C/C+/D+/D/D 71.5

San Antonio B/B+/B-/D+/D/D 75.5

El Paso B+/A-/A-/D/D-/D 77.3

MIDWEST

Ohio- Cincinatti C-/D+/C-/C-/C-/C 71.8

Cleveland C/D/D+/C-/C-/C- 70.7

Columbus B-/C/D/D+/D/D+ 70.5

Toledo B/C+/D-/D/D-/D 69.5

Akron B-/B/C-/D-/D/D 71.8

Ind.- Indianapolis B-/C+/C/D+/D-/D 71.7

Ill- Chicago C+/C/B/B-/B/C 80

Michigan- Detroit D-/D+/C-/C-/D+/D= 68.3

Ann Arbor A/A-/B+/C-/D/A 84.5

Lansing B/B/B/D/D-/D 74.5

Grand Rapids B+/B-/B-/D/D-/C- 75.2

Wisconsin- Milwaukee C/C+/B/C-/C-/C- 75.7

Madison A-/B+/B+/C-/D+/B+ 82.7

Minnesota- Minneapolis B-/D/C/C+/C/C+ 75.5

St. Paul B/B/C+/C/D+/C 77.7

Missouri- Kansas City C-/C+/C-/D+/D/D 71

St. Louis D/D/D+/C-/C-/C- 68.5

SD- Sioux Falls B+/A-/A-/D/F/D 76.2

Iowa- Des Moines B+/B+/C+/D/D-/D 74.3

Kansas- Topeka B/B/C/D/D-/D- 72.3

Nebraska- Omaha B/B+/B+/D/D-/D 75.5

Lincoln A-/A-/B+/D/D-/D+ 77.8

Oklahoma- Tulsa C+/B/C-/D-/D-/D 71.3

Oklahoma City- B/B/C-/F/D-/D 70.6

THE WEST

Colorado- Denver B-/B/C+/C/D+/C- 76.7

Aurora B/B/B/C-/D/D- 75.7

Colorado Springs B+/B+/B/D/D-/D 75.5

NM- Albuquerque- B-/B/B-/D/D-/D 73.5

Idaho- Boise B+/A/B+/D/D-/D 77.2

Utah- Salt Lake City B/B/C+/C-/D/C- 76

Arizona- Phoenix C+/B/B-/D+/D/D 73.8

Tuscon B-/B-/B-/D/D/D+ 74.2

Washington- Seattle B+/B/B-/B-/C+/B- 82.8

Spokane B/B+/C+/D+/D/D+ 75.3

Oregon- Portland B+/B/B-/C+/C-/C 80

Eugene B+/A-/B-/D+/D/C+ 78.8

Neveda- Reno B+/B/B/C/D/C- 78.3

(Las Vegas omitted because police dept covers multiple municipalities, thus no way to have crime statistics cover the exact same geographical unit as other statistics).

California- Fresno B-/B/B/D-/D-/D 73.5

LA B-/B-/B+/C-/C/D+ 77.8

Long Beach B/B/B+/D+/D/D 76

Oakland C/C-/C/C+/C+//D+ 74.2

Sacramento B-/C+/C+/D+/D/D 72.7

San Diego B+/B+/A-/D+/D/D+ 78.2

San Francisco B-/C+/B/A/B+/B 85.5

San Jose B+/A-/A-/C-/D/D- 78.5

Alaska- Anchorage B/B+/B+/D+/D-/D 76