How easy is it to live in your city?
How difficult is it to find a doctor? Get through traffic? Find a restaurant with takeout?
Real Simple magazine conducted a survey to figure out which cities in the United States are the most convenient.
Judging America’s urban centers by five categories — transportation, health services, information technology, green resources and lifestyle services — the magazine picked the best overall towns.
Here’s the list:
- 1.) Seattle, Washington
- 2.) Portland, Oregon
- 3.) San Francisco, California
- 4.) Boston, Massachusetts
- 5.) Minneapolis, Minnesota
- 6.) Denver, Colorado
- 7.) Washington, D.C.
- 8.) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- 9.) Miami, Florida
- 10.) Atlanta, Georgia
- 11.) Baltimore, Maryland
- 12.) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 13.) New York, New York
- 14.) Chicago, Illinois
- 15.) Austin, Texas
- 16.) Cleveland, Ohio (tie)
- 16.) Dallas, Texas (tie)
- 16.) Los Angeles, California (tie)
- 19.) San Diego, California
- 20.) Houston, Texas
Why did Seattle top the list? The magazine cited “extensive public transit,” “on-time airports” and “50 miles of new bike lanes in the last two years” as reasons, as well as its many Wi-Fi hotspots, coffee shops and easy doctor appointments.
Another feature the magazine liked: the city’s signal-optimization program that synchronizes hundreds of traffic lights throughout the city.
You can read explanations for each city’s inclusion on the list on Real Simple’s website.
Image: TDCinSeattle/Panoramio
