Defining Livability

Each year a number of organizations and publications, from the New York Post to The Economist and Bloomberg Businessweek, devise a list of the most ‘livable’ cities in America and the world. Then, without fail, every year, waves of critics denounce the list for being biased towards certain cities. This process illustrates how truly difficult it is come up with a singular definition of the term ‘livability’. Each publication has their own formula that generally includes ratings that represent each city’s access to affordable housing, cost of living, quality of education, and amount of cultural amenities, among the many other components that determine a city’s livability. How these factors are weighted in the formula depends on the interests and goals of the publication.

Walkability is synonymous with less traffic, a higher quality of life, and more vibrant streetscapes. A new Brookings Institution study—Walk this Way: The Economic Promise of Walkable Places in Metropolitan Washington, D.C., by Christopher B. Lienberger and Mariela Alfonzo—highlights the economics behind walkabaility, and why walkable areas are worth more than previously thought.

On September 22, 2010, at the Building Livable Communities forum , Beth Osborne, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Transportation Policy at USDOT and James Lopez, Senior Advisor to the Deputy Secretary at HUD, answered some questions about the new HUD-DOT-EPA Partnership for Sustainable Communities.  The Partnership should be seen as a model or case study for other government agencies. The Partnership for Sustainable Communities does not need to be the only interagency government partnership focused on the development of livable communities.

Osborne and Lopez explained why only HUD, DOT, and EPA were involved and pointed to some of the logistical problems that have arisen in the developing of the Partnership. Simple communication between agencies is made difficult with modern email firewalls and other cyber security screening processes. Also, when you have too many people working on the same issue, efficiencies break down and it becomes difficult to please everyone. There is a saying, “too many cooks in the kitchen spoil the soup.” In other words, too many people working on a single project can ruin it. Minimizing these difficulties improves the overall effectiveness and efficiency of the collaboration.

During the past 25 years at different intervals, Partners has honored communities with the title, "America's Most Livable" for their efforts to improve the livability of their communities by addressing such issues as smart growth, using a community's assets for economic and community development, innovative leadership strategies, undertaking programs for youth at risk and regional collaboration, just to name a few.

Partners' thirty years of experience have shaped its reputation as a leading expert in the livable communities movement. In creating this "Most Livable Communities" list, Partners is helping cities to brand themselves as the best, by bestowing our 'seal of approval' on this exclusive roster. These have set a shining example of what cities should strive for throughout the United States and the world.