The Economist released its annual Global Livability Rankings report last week, gauging the general quality of living conditions in 140 cities around the world via parameters that vary from cost of living to the robustness of the local democratic process.
The good news, as the headline on the accompanying Economist story gives away, is that in general livability is up around the world for the first time in ten years, with the average city ranking higher compared to previous years.
The bad news is that San Francisco isn’t in on the party. Baghdad by the Bay made the list of cities that the magazine’s analysis deems worse off now than in 2007.
Technically it’s not a disaster, at least not relative to the global scale of the report: Our score dropped only a point or two and remains in the high 80s.
On a list that also includes wartorn cities like Damascus in Syria, Tripoli in Libya, and Kiev in the Ukraine, this is small fish.
Still, it’s part of a trend in which almost all U.S. cities seem to have lapsed lately. Nearly every North American city assessed slipped a notch or two (including New York, Detroit, Seattle, and Los Angeles) since 2007.
To measure a city’s livability the magazine measures things like basic safety (ranging from the crime rate for minor crime all the way up to terror attacks and active wars), public and private healthcare, availability and quality of education, and factors ranging from average humidity to how frequently governments censor speech.
San Francisco is obviously doing fine on most of those standards, at least in the grand scheme of things. So why the slide?
Fast Company notes that “large cities are suffering from old, failing infrastructure, overcrowding, and a lack of affordable housing” and that “they’re also taking on increased responsibility when it comes to climate change.” Familiar complaints for Bay Area locals.
But the Economist itself actually points the finger at political tensions, saying:
Over the past few years several US cities have registered declines in their scores. This stems in part from unrest related to a number of deaths of black people at the hands of police officers. In addition, the country has seen protests held in response to President Trump’s policies and executive orders.
It is, of course, impossible to really quantify the experience of living in a city in numbers, and such rankings are always judgment calls in the end.
But then, most people who live in San Francisco will also tell you things are worse off now in their own experience too. Back in May, a city survey found that San Franciscans who have lived here more than 10 years tend to be more critical of the quality of life.
- General Livability Up [Economist]
- Livability Rankings [Economist]
- American Cities Less Livable [Fast Company]
- Longtime San Franciscans Unhappy [Curbed SF]
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