a little good news about Minneapolis

[mellowtigger]

I know nothing about the Institute For Quality Of Life, but they recently produced a Happy City Index for 2024. Their methodology included only cities with at least 300,000 people (which included 1,692 cities in the world in 2014 when that requirement changed) and have objective data available for 24 activities across 5 categories. These activities include things like the following:

• citizens (education, inclusion, libraries),
• governance (openness, digital service, strategy/vision),
• environment (management, green spaces, pollution),
• economy (GDP, innovation, entrepreneurship, flexibility), and
• mobility (public transport, mobile applications, safety, multimodal).

There is only one USA city to make the "gold" rating:

Minneapolis, at #18 in the rankings

This metro area is like Austin (a gay-friendly and bike-trail city which didn't make the list at all) but without the awful traffic congestion and ozone pollution. The USA cities that earned silver ratings are: Boston (#38), Baltimore (#57), and Washington (#85). The USA cities that earned bronze ratings are: San Francisco (#114), Salt Lake City (#145), Madison (#167), Pittsburgh (#190), Rochester (#214), and Portland (#237). See the whole list yourself.

I tell you occasionally about the high voter participation in Minnesota, but the civic mindedness here includes both conservatives and liberals, best exemplified by our US Senator, Paul Wellstone and his famous truism, "We all do better when we all do better." Don't let my little warzone dissuade you from considering Minneapolis (or Minnesota in general) as a relocation destination. Most of the people here are nice and want peaceful coexistence. Even my Jordan neighborhood of north Minneapolis has its small charms. If we can ever get the gunfire under control, it could easily become the kind of creative center that's typical of many multicultural zones throughout the world. While Prince lived in north Minneapolis as he learned music, that home was rather far south of me. It's an obvious example, though, of the potential that I see in the community here.

Comments

[brian_bogue]

which Portland? the one in Oregon or the one in Main?

[mellowtigger]

I wish I knew. I had questions about Rochester (New York? Minnesota, home to the Mayo Clinic?) until I realized our local Rochester doesn't have the population necessary to meet the minimum requirement. I looked through their webpages for a spreadsheet of details for each location and score, but there's only what's on their webpage. It doesn't inspire confidence in their ratings, honestly, but I'm still glad to see Minneapolis recognized in a review that includes matters of social and environmental concerns.

[brian_bogue]

I ask because in a recent article it listed Portland Oregon (which is where I live) was rated as #14 (if I recall correctly), on the list of "best places to raise a family" which would have been only one of the components in the list you mentioned. Also it was just a list of US cities so there is a somewhat limited sample.

[kathmandu]

Wikipedia says that Portland, Maine has about 70,000 population, while Portland, Oregon has over 600,000. So it must be the Oregon one.

I guess all the rumors about it being a great, leftie place to live are founded in some truth.

[brian_bogue]

It's not bad, although the drug and homeless problems have gotten worse particularly during the previous president's term in office. although not as bad as that person would have people believe

[kathmandu]

Congratulations to you-all in Minneapolis from us in Boston!