A Livability Index
We’re always interested in ways to measure how Special a place is. A website called areavibes.com has a Livability Index that has some interesting assumptions.
First, let’s see what it makes of some places most of us agree are Not Particularly Special (by which we mean we wouldn’t live there for free and we also wouldn’t live there unless we were paid Larry Ellison’s stock options).
Here’s areavibes on Detroit.
Detroit, MI is “Somewhat Livable.” The only “A” grade it received was in cost of living, and that’s because the city will pay you to take one of their excess houses so they don’t have to pay to tear it down. We can’t imagine what kind of city would merit a “Completely Out of the Question.” Let’s move another to another Perennial of Pwnage: Stockton.
I can see the new Civic Motto over City Hall (if they have any staff capable of hanging banners): Stockton! Four Points More Livable Than Detroit! But they are an important four points, as Stockton is considered “Very Livable.”
We now move on toward the Bay Area, but not the Good Part.
When Stockton has finer amenities than you do, and their weather is better too, plus your housing costs are unacceptably high to anyone outside the Bay Area, what’s the point of even entering the race? Let’s try a better zip code.
Ooooo! Exceptionally Livable! And what’s really exceptional is that if we type in an actual zip code, the score went down.
Good luck figuring out why. Finally, we arrive at the pinnacle of Real Bay Area Living.
We invite you to try to score higher than that, either in the Bay Area, or anywhere else. And we don’t want you to think these “grades” are completely pulled out of Mitt Romney’s car elevator. Here, for example, is what the housing grade is based on:
Cupertino scores higher than average in every category. Why would they be marked down for better numbers?
This is also your Weekend Open Thread, so go crazy.
