US News: Best Places to Live in the U.S. in 2023-2024

[Dusty]

ABC News mentioned this report this morning. Add the full listings of cities

https://realestate.usnews.com/places/ra ... es-to-live

Quick summary:

Best Places to live
19. Des Moines, IA
32. Lincoln, NE
46. Omaha, NE
73. Kansas City, MO

Best Places to retire
89. Lincoln, NE
95. Des Moines, IA
100. Omaha, NE
115. Kansas City, MO

[Athomsfere]

That list feels very, very broken.

[Cermak]

Portland Oregon and San Francisco in the top 50 ? I'm taking this list with a grain of salt.

[Athomsfere]

Portland Oregon and San Francisco in the top 50 ? I'm taking this list with a grain of salt.

Those two I can agree with.

But Huntington, KC, Fayetteville and multiple cities in Florida?

Also, Wichita but no Seattle?

[Duggers_Dad]

What’s so hard to believe about FL dominating the rankings ?

[Omaha Cowboy]

Yeah- these rankings are pretty bogus to my eyes as well…

Ciao..LiO…Peace

[Dusty]

Yes, take it with a grain of salt. Definitely some cities that don't deserve to be in here.

Like Jacksonville, FL. Should be ranked 500. This city is a complete dump. Their downtown is like a war zone. So many boarded up buildings, tons of homeless sleeping in front of store fronts. A center park with tons of graffiti on art sculptures and police patrolling the whole area.

But it's also fun to post and see all the reactions.

[Duggers_Dad]

Yes, take it with a grain of salt. Definitely some cities that don't deserve to be in here.

Like Jacksonville, FL. Should be ranked 500. This city is a complete dump. Their downtown is like a war zone. So many boarded up buildings, tons of homeless sleeping in front of store fronts. A center park with tons of graffiti on art sculptures and police patrolling the whole area.

But it's also fun to post and see all the reactions.

It sure is …

[TitosBuritoBarn]

One of these days I'd like to see US News post an article titled "The Best Place to Live This Year" and when you click on it, it says "...is wherever you're happiest!! "

[Garrett]

I have to laugh a little bit at the light glossing over this paragraph does in the article about #2 Huntsville


"In the past, the U.S. government relocated a team of German rocket scientists to the area and opened a NASA center that would design the Saturn V, the rocket that sent Apollo astronauts to the moon."

Just regular German scientists relocated in the past. When in the past? Don’t worry about it.

[Louie]

I have to laugh a little bit at the light glossing over this paragraph does in the article about #2 Huntsville


"In the past, the U.S. government relocated a team of German rocket scientists to the area and opened a NASA center that would design the Saturn V, the rocket that sent Apollo astronauts to the moon."

Just regular German scientists relocated in the past. When in the past? Don’t worry about it.

They really glossed over that dark bit there.

[Cermak]

Yes, take it with a grain of salt. Definitely some cities that don't deserve to be in here.

Like Jacksonville, FL. Should be ranked 500. This city is a complete dump. Their downtown is like a war zone. So many boarded up buildings, tons of homeless sleeping in front of store fronts. A center park with tons of graffiti on art sculptures and police patrolling the whole area.

But it's also fun to post and see all the reactions.

Never been to downtown Jacksonville, I still can't believe they got an NFL team.

[Athomsfere]

What’s so hard to believe about FL dominating the rankings ?

Besides being Florida... The only city I have a good impression of is Miami. If only Miami had decent transit.

[Duggers_Dad]

What’s so hard to believe about FL dominating the rankings ?

Besides being Florida... The only city I have a good impression of is Miami. If only Miami had decent transit.

So there’s no bias or anything …

[Louie]

What’s so hard to believe about FL dominating the rankings ?

Besides being Florida... The only city I have a good impression of is Miami. If only Miami had decent transit.

So there’s no bias or anything …

Bias is a two way street

[Duggers_Dad]

What’s so hard to believe about FL dominating the rankings ?

Besides being Florida... The only city I have a good impression of is Miami. If only Miami had decent transit.

So there’s no bias or anything …

Bias is a two way street

Did you see me parry with something like Nebraska being all cornfields and tornados ?

[Athomsfere]

What’s so hard to believe about FL dominating the rankings ?

Besides being Florida... The only city I have a good impression of is Miami. If only Miami had decent transit.

So there’s no bias or anything …

There's always bias. But Florida just tends to build terrible cities, much like Texas. Add in the crazy far right politics and the over-touristed areas. Yeah Florida should be dominating the list IMO.

[Athomsfere]

What’s so hard to believe about FL dominating the rankings ?

Besides being Florida... The only city I have a good impression of is Miami. If only Miami had decent transit.

So there’s no bias or anything …

Bias is a two way street

That explains so much...

[Duggers_Dad]

What’s so hard to believe about FL dominating the rankings ?

Besides being Florida... The only city I have a good impression of is Miami. If only Miami had decent transit.

So there’s no bias or anything …

Bias is a two way street

That explains so much...

You’re tying yourself in knots. Gainesville is so liberal it would have Lincolnites running screaming from the room.

[Athomsfere]

You’re tying yourself in knots. Gainesville is so liberal it would have Lincolnites running screaming from the room.

I am not sure how you are broken, but what? I didn't say anything about Gainesville directly. Cities tend to be liberal.

On politics, I was speaking of the state, not the cities. Just like I complain here often about how broken Nebraska is. But at least the two main cities here have pretty great built environments for a city their size.

Ann Arbor or Boulder would be much better cities to compare Gainesville to. And both of the cities, on paper, look much better.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

I like how two of the 22 photos for Melbourne, Florida, are just random strip malls.

[Duggers_Dad]

I like how two of the 22 photos for Melbourne, Florida, are just random strip malls.

I like how West Palm Beach, FL, population 117,415, has three grocery stores downtown. *mic drop*

[TitosBuritoBarn]

I like how two of the 22 photos for Melbourne, Florida, are just random strip malls.

I like how West Palm Beach, FL, population 117,415, has three grocery stores downtown. *mic drop*

Where? I see one Publix and one smaller food store. West Palm Beach is also a secondary core for a metropolitan area with 6.2 million people, or 3.2 entire Nebraskas. Palm Beach County on its own is 1.5 times the size of metro Omaha. I would hope with those numbers that West Palm has three full service groceries. Maybe you can point me to the other two.

[Duggers_Dad]

I like how two of the 22 photos for Melbourne, Florida, are just random strip malls.

I like how West Palm Beach, FL, population 117,415, has three grocery stores downtown. *mic drop*

Where? I see one Publix and one smaller food store. West Palm Beach is also a secondary core for a metropolitan area with 6.2 million people, or 3.2 entire Nebraskas. Palm Beach County on its own is 1.5 times the size of metro Omaha. I would hope with those numbers that West Palm has three full service groceries. Maybe you can point me to the other two.

I counted eight but excluded five others that appeared to be comparable to the smaller grocery stores in downtown Lincoln, more like markets. Downtown WPB really punches above its weight. Heck, even “boarded up and homeless” downtown Jacksonville has a grocery store and is adding a Whole Foods.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

I counted eight but excluded five others that appeared to be comparable to the smaller grocery stores in downtown Lincoln, more like markets.

No you did not. That or your definition of "downtown" is quite generous and extends into other, neighboring municipalities.

I'm not sure what this has to do with the price of tea of China anyway. My comment was in regard to strip malls in Melbourne as a selling point to living there and you've decided to alert us that there are grocery stores present in a different city in a different part of the state. Wonderful.

[Duggers_Dad]

I counted eight but excluded five others that appeared to be comparable to the smaller grocery stores in downtown Lincoln, more like markets.

No you did not. That or your definition of "downtown" is quite generous and extends into other, neighboring municipalities.

I'm not sure what this has to do with the price of tea of China anyway. My comment was in regard to strip malls in Melbourne as a selling point to living there and you've decided to alert us that there are grocery stores present in a different city in a different part of the state. Wonderful.

You’re the one who wanted to reduce another top-performing FL city to shining strip center on a hill. In reality, it has a happening downtown for a small city … https://downtownmelbourne.com/about/downtown-melbourne/

[TitosBuritoBarn]

You’re the one who wanted to reduce another top-performing FL city to shining strip center on a hill. In reality, it has a happening downtown for a small city … https://downtownmelbourne.com/about/downtown-melbourne/

I’m reducing the survey. If Green Bay also had pictures of strip malls I’d have used that city. Though I think it's telling of the survey's flawed methodology that your first defense of Melbourne is that a different city has grocery stores downtown. Where is Melbourne's downtown grocery? Do they not have one because few people live downtown? Is that because its happening downtown is an entertainment and shopping strip and not a neighborhood in and of itself? It would appear that way especially since, despite the generally favorable weather, the statistics show that a higher percent of people in Melbourne drive to work compared to the national average and a lower percent use transit or walk.

[Dusty]

I think anytime you use weather favorability as a metric, you are bound to have a ton of cities in the South like Florida and Texas. I think what many are saying is the Florida cities they picked are not great places overall. There is not much going on in Melbourne, FL. Sarasota used to be a cheap retirement city. Nothing more than the ocean and a circus museum. I agree Gainesville is a pretty cool city. It has nothing to do with political views. They have a lot of unique mom and pops shops that makes the city interesting.

I'm thinking they are using net migration as a huge indicator for the cities they picked. Sarasota was one the fastest growing cities the last few years. Now it's one of the most expensive cities behind Naples. When the house market spiked Orlando residents left and went to cities like Melbourne and Jacksonville in the hopes to find affordable housing.

This also matches up with a city like Fayetteville, AR. Headquarters for Walmart and Tyson Foods are in the area. With Tulsa and Branson a short drive. People are moving here to grab a chance at affordable living.

[Duggers_Dad]

You’re the one who wanted to reduce another top-performing FL city to shining strip center on a hill. In reality, it has a happening downtown for a small city … https://downtownmelbourne.com/about/downtown-melbourne/

I’m reducing the survey. If Green Bay also had pictures of strip malls I’d have used that city. Though I think it's telling of the survey's flawed methodology that your first defense of Melbourne is that a different city has grocery stores downtown. Where is Melbourne's downtown grocery? Do they not have one because few people live downtown? Is that because its happening downtown is an entertainment and shopping strip and not a neighborhood in and of itself? It would appear that way especially since, despite the generally favorable weather, the statistics show that a higher percent of people in Melbourne drive to work compared to the national average and a lower percent use transit or walk.

LOL, Melbourne has a population of about 75,000. And when (I’d guess) 99% of FL transplants aren’t urban purists, why would shopping centers with convenient parking not be a thing ?

And another thing: individual cities - and their individual downtowns - should not be penalized for being a part of a larger urban conurbation. If anything, Nebraska should raise eyebrows for having half the state’s population and no downtown grocery store.

Just a reminder: I am an Omaha admirer. I didn’t come here to bash cities.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

LOL, Melbourne has a population of about 75,000. And when (I’d guess) 99% of FL transplants aren’t urban purists, why would shopping centers with convenient parking not be a thing ?

The very first sentence of the Melbourne profile from the US News post says "Troves of urbanites,[...]enjoy Melbourne, Florida, one of the Space Coast's most populated metro areas." So two things: they're looking at it from a metro perspective, which contains 630,000 people, and they believe that urbanists love this place, counter to your estimation. Which again, going back to my initial point before we went down this rabbit hole, is that this survey is |expletive|, because, to your point, how could an urbanist enjoy Melbourne. Because you're right, the city emphasizes being auto-centric, which shouldn't allow it to rank as high as #15 on a list of "best places to live" when, you'd assume, such a great place should offer a little bit for everyone and not a certain type of person. It's not a very great place for me though the title of the survey suggests it should be. But if you're in to driving everywhere and want to work in the tourism industry or for a defense contractor, sure it's great.

And another thing: individual cities - and their individual downtowns - should not be penalized for being a part of a larger urban conurbation. If anything, Nebraska should raise eyebrows for having half the state’s population and no downtown grocery store.

I'm not sure what you mean by they should not be penalized for being part of a larger urban area. Like each city should be judged individually? City boundaries don't keep people in or out. They are arbitrary lines that define where one taxing entity ends and another begins. Thus everything is contextual. Otherwise it is completely fair to say Miami doesn't have a commercial airport because none exist within their city boundaries.

To the latter part of this comment, (I'm going to assume you meant "Omaha" and not "Nebraska.") downtown Omaha has two grocery stores, four if we use your looser definition of what constitutes downtown: Cubby's, Downtown Mart, Supermercado Nuestra Familia, and Wholners. What we're desiring is a bigger, full-service grocery store similar to Publix, Hy-Vee, etc with greater selection. The four I listed have a more limited selection but if you don't care about selection they have everything you'd need.

[nativeomahan]

One of these days I'd like to see US News post an article titled "The Best Place to Live This Year" and when you click on it, it says "...is wherever you're happiest!! "

This!

These lists are fun to read and beetch about. Sort of like a ranking of best pizza places. Absolutely no one will agree with anybody else’s ranking metric.
Definitely retirees (me) might favor listings that emphasized great weather (at least no ice and snow), medical facilities, parks, restaurants, a lower cost of living and peace and quiet. Younger singles would definitely zone in on lots of concert venues and live entertainment, and likely access to beaches and outdoor recreation. People with young children would want great schools, lots of parks and public safety statistics. People’s focuses change over the course of their lives. No one place “has it all”.

[Erik]

The only Florida that looks appealing to me is Miami.

The rest is basically a terrible sprawling variant of what Texas is.

If moving out of State, im not aiming to live in a parking lot/strip mall paradise

Denver, Minneapolis, (even KC is growing more appealing) are great examples of top notch cities. Texas? Florida? heck nah

[buildomaha]

The only Florida that looks appealing to me is Miami.

The rest is basically a terrible sprawling variant of what Texas is.

If moving out of State, im not aiming to live in a parking lot/strip mall paradise

Denver, Minneapolis, (even KC is growing more appealing) are great examples of top notch cities. Texas? Florida? heck nah

I cannot agree more. Every time I go to a city in Texas I feel exhausted. It’s such a hostile, time consuming environment with no escape.
I feel proud to be from Omaha whenever I visit Texas, Phoenix, OKC, etc. I love the history, established culture, and urban core (small but mighty), and especially respect the vision for the future we have here. Omaha continues to chug along and is starting to show the signs of a city that might be willing to take the lead on urban development one day. That’s more than most sun belt cities can say, and we should be proud of that.
I have many criticisms of my city, but we have a good foundation to work with. We just need to keep pushing city leaders to do the right thing.

[Renovator2559]

The only Florida that looks appealing to me is Miami.

The rest is basically a terrible sprawling variant of what Texas is.

If moving out of State, im not aiming to live in a parking lot/strip mall paradise

Denver, Minneapolis, (even KC is growing more appealing) are great examples of top notch cities. Texas? Florida? heck nah

I cannot agree more. Every time I go to a city in Texas I feel exhausted. It’s such a hostile, time consuming environment with no escape.
I feel proud to be from Omaha whenever I visit Texas, Phoenix, OKC, etc. I love the history, established culture, and urban core (small but mighty), and especially respect the vision for the future we have here. Omaha continues to chug along and is starting to show the signs of a city that might be willing to take the lead on urban development one day. That’s more than most sun belt cities can say, and we should be proud of that.
I have many criticisms of my city, but we have a good foundation to work with. We just need to keep pushing city leaders to do the right thing.

Add Kansas City to list, its another Tulsa, Texan city clone look alike. Also, Kansas City is about the same size as Omaha with only 15k more people; sprawling suburbia aggregated metro area of 2.3M does not make KC look bigger, it only shows that the city is riddled with sprawl, grey, wide roads, parking lots and strip mall galore, that are choking the growth of KC with all the expensive infrastructure to be maintained. Every time I go to KC, its such a stress inducing experience to drive through there and see multiple car accidents, as well as the over reliance on highways through the city.

[Renovator2559]

This city ranking is broken. San Jose, CA should not be on the top list, since the area is currently experiencing an exodus and has experienced a decline in population, that area has also bleeded out plenty of businesses do to the crime, homeless and social instability.

Portland Oregon should also not be on the top of the list. Although Portland was doing great as an exemplary city in urban design a few years ago. Portland is going through decay, homeless, drugs, and a drop in public transportation ridership, as well as increase of traffic congestion do to the unsafe public transport and the downtown area in general.

Those Florida cities ranked high are laughable as traffic congestion, sprawl, strip mall madness, wide roads, toll roads, very few walkable neighborhoods. Florida cities are great for tourists but not as livable places.

Honestly I think they should add the walkability and urban vibrancy, as well as family friendly as metrics; watch these overrated cities drop in stats.

[Omaha Cowboy]

Nobody takes this annual ranking seriously anyway..

It’s honestly nothing to get up in arms about. I glance at it every year when it comes out, roll my eyes and move on…

Ciao..LiO…Peace