Raleigh Tops List of Cities With Highest Quality of Life
According to Portfolio.com, Raleigh sits at the top of the list for metropolitan areas with the best quality of life. Raleigh ranked as their #1 city, ousting even much larger locations, with Washington, DC, and Minneapolis-St. Paul coming in at 2nd and 3rd place respectively.
The study rated the performance of the 67 largest metro areas in the U.S. in 20 distinct categories. Focusing on finding the most well-rounded cities, the study took into consideration areas with solid economies, reasonable costs of living, a strong housing market, quality educational systems, and light traffic. The statistics used were pulled from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey from 2006-2008.
Some of the major reasons that Raleigh topped the list included the recent growth trend (as we reported earlier this year), the influx of new housing developments, the high number of management and professional jobs in the area, in addition to the well-educated population. Other factors that were mentioned were the large percentage of young adults in Raleigh, a relatively low unemployment rate, and the “impressive array of big houses” (who knew all those McMansions would garner us more positive publicity?).
Other cities that ranked in the top 10 for the best quality of life include Bridgeport-Stamford, CT; Salt Lake City; Denver; Seattle; Boston; Austin; and San Jose. Three California metro areas hit rock bottom on the list (Riverside-San Bernardino, Fresno, and Bakersfield), accompanied by New Orleans and Memphis. The only other NC city on the list was Charlotte, which ranked in 16th place.
Portfolio.com also offers a pretty cool interactive tool that allows you to see how each of the cities fared in each of the categories.
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WillNCSU
05/25 04:29 PM
Bring on the hate, hipsters.
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Chris
05/25 04:40 PM
But, but, but… We can’t be that great of a place to live, we don’t have a light rail system sucking the life out of taxpayers.
Mayor-for-life Downtown Charlie Meeker keeps saying that for Raleigh to be a “world class city” we need light rail and a park at Dorthea Dix. We have neither and we still win. Guess we don’t need them.
We must be getting bonus points for the free Downtown Drunk Shuttle Bus.
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JBS
05/25 05:16 PM
People be loving the lists.
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Merboy
05/25 06:17 PM
Suck it, Charlotte!
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Downtown Drunk Shuttle Bus
05/25 09:03 PM
Glad I could be of service!
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luccy_libra88
05/25 09:10 PM
thats what im talkin about raleigh
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Jen
05/26 09:13 AM
This is a great award for Raleigh - excited that the quality of life here has continued to improve over the past 20 years unlike so many other places that grew too fast and then became an unattractive place to live.
I definitely recommend checking out the interactive tool…it’s pretty neat.
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kg
05/26 09:28 AM
looks like my “raleigh #1” tattoo is beginning to pay off.
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Rostel
05/26 10:13 AM
Things like this should inspire us to strive to be even better.
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gd
05/26 10:50 AM
I just wish raleigh lived up to the hype of all these lists that it appears on.
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Jill
05/26 10:52 AM
I agree with Jen - love the interactive tool. I’ve been enjoying Raleigh more and more lately; glad it’s getting some recognition!
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Insufferable Hipster Douchebag
05/26 10:58 AM
We need a monorail ala The Simpsons!
Yeah, a light rail system doesn’t make sense till you reach a certain concentrated population density, and even then you really have to wonder where a rail would go given the sprawl (RDU to downtown is obvious choice but where else). A better idea would be putting more money into the bus system.
I love seeing the growth and the vibrancy in the area, I just hope the city keeps the focus on getting people into the downtown area. I’m a big proponent of new urbanism. One of the thing I thoroughly enjoyed about New York was the concentration of entertainment, shopping and living within walking distance.
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rl
05/26 02:12 PM
well this is true but raleigh still is missing a WHOLE LOT imo. density, centralization of amenities, better transportation, more diversity, more entertainment attractions etc all is lacking or not here at all. yea it is safe here and yes our healthcare is good but idk bout the schools anymore they will be for sure changed when the school board is done fuckin it up completely.
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gd
05/26 02:16 PM
i am sad and unhappy. i hate everything. life is pain.
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Insufferable Hipster Douchebag
05/26 02:55 PM
@rl - I wouldn’t compare Raleigh to New York when it comes to diversity, but it is very diverse for a small Southern city. Not to mention that the proximity to Durham, Cary, Chapel Hill and the RTP area in general. What is somewhat lacking with regards to diversity is community. Most people around here are not aware of how diverse the area is. There are enormous Hispanic, African, Indian and Asian communities here but because everything is so spread out, and somewhat insular, you don’t hear about things as frequently. For example, Cary had a huge Diwali festival but not many folks heard about it in the, dare I say, white community. News both mainstream and indie print and television didn’t mention it. It also didn’t get much mention on the web. Same thing with the big Native American festival. What about the Bimbe Festival in Durham? Hardly any mention. There’s plenty of diversity here. It’s just in pockets.
As for entertainment, I have to disagree to an extent. We have a pretty vast array of options. Does it rival New York or LA? No, but I can guarantee that every weekend (most of us work around here…we’re not NY or LA) there are more options than you probably suspect. We have a fantastic music scene around here and our local restaurants and food culture are getting plenty of recognition.
As for schools, I have to say that even with the whole nonsense going on with the Wake County BOE, it’s infinitely better here than in NYC or LA. Trust me. I’ve experienced the NYC school system up close and personal as a parent. I’d rather be trapped in an upside down porta-john after a BBQ festival than have to experience the NYC public school system again. The quality of the schools and curriculum is very, very good here.
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C
05/26 03:18 PM
A lot of these mopes would find something to complain about no matter where they lived. Paris France, Fuquay Varina, it wouldn’t matter. That’s okay. The rest of us will be out & about enjoying ourselves in town this weekend while they’ll be inside bitching on their blogs about Raleigh’s lack of Korean taco trucks.
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gd
05/26 05:13 PM
to the fake gd: thats kinda funny. Sorry you’re heads so far up your ass you can’t handle someone thinking that where they grew up isn’t that great and it still has a long ways to go for it to even be a “city”. now it feels like a large town at best.
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gd
05/26 05:29 PM
I would have lost my virginity by now if it wasn’t for this two bit town. *shakes fist*
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richardfoc
05/26 05:40 PM
It’s funny how a small but very vocal minority continues to insist that Raleigh and environs suck and aren’t any fun and don’t have any cool stuff to do while list after list after list lauds the area as one of the best places to live in the US. Seems to me some people need to stop complaining and move someplace they actually enjoy. We are never going to be LA or NY or CHI, et al and all the bitching in the world won’t change that. We are what we are and what we are is a really cool place to live and work and play.
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K
05/26 07:05 PM
I love living in Raleigh…love it, it just keeps getting better and better…I seriously cannot complain about a thing…
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oakcity
05/27 09:46 AM
Well, sir, there’s nothing on earth
Like a genuine,
Bona fide,
Electrified,
Six-car
Monorail! -
lilpistolstarta
05/27 10:54 AM
@Insufferable Hipster Douchebag
“For example, Cary had a huge Diwali festival but not many folks heard about it in the, dare I say, white community.”Perhaps they didn’t want the “dare I say, white community” there? I didn’t see any advertisements for the festival so why would I have gone?
Raleigh…continue to party party party, Andrew W.K. style
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Insufferable Hipster Douchebag
05/27 11:11 AM
They did advertise which is how I heard about it. They had the information on the Koka Booth website. They had flyers at several of the grocery stores and restaurants. They also openly welcomed anyone who showed up. What you’re implying is dead wrong.
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rl
05/27 11:55 AM
cary is the white community… lol! thats probably the least diverse part of wake county imo. if they didnt want the white community there then they SHOULDNT have had it in cary, raleigh would have been more of a central location.
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gd
05/27 12:04 PM
Raleigh would be cool if it had a Chocolate Factory and a diverse Oompa Loompa population. Escazu doesn’t do it for me. Get off my lawn.
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Insufferable Hipster Douchebag
05/27 12:45 PM
@rl - your opinion happens to be wrong. Cary has a large Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi population.
http://www.ncfolk.org/ncfood/CarysLittleIndia.aspx
http://www.svtemplenc.org/ -
sally
05/27 03:59 PM
“@rl - your opinion happens to be wrong. Cary has a large Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi population.”
=====
And some of the best and most authentic ethnic restaurants in the area. -
gd
05/27 04:02 PM
and the fake gd continues to post. its cute having a fan.
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rl
05/27 04:14 PM
the 2008 us census goes like this, cary: 77% white, 10% asian, 8% black, 7% hispanic= my analysis as correct. asians just did crack double digits percentage wise and blacks and hispanics are not even ten percent.imo diversity does not mean a few spotted here and there but at least seen frequently. it doesnt matter really because i cannot stand cary anyway, they need to give them to chatam county lol.
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richardfoc
05/27 08:01 PM
Those 2008 figures are merely estimates. Be interesting to see how they hold up when the actual 2010 numbers are made public.
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mindcrime
05/28 12:21 PM
scary population in Cary. Where I grew up it was 65+% latino population…. Makes for less cracker ass crackerism.
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rl
05/28 12:26 PM
damn mindcrime… where you from?
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WILLNCSU
05/28 12:46 PM
Keep in mind 77% is right in line with the national numbers. So basically, Cary represents the demographics of the country as a whole. I believe Raleigh is more like 66% so it is far more diverse than the national average. So quit whining about wanting more “diversity”. You already have it and you would probably notice it if you didn’t only go to places like the jackpot, landmark and raleigh times.
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canadian drugs online
05/29 11:21 AM
Luck for us residents! It is true indeed that living in Raleigh was a great way of life.
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rl
06/03 04:23 PM
most us cities are not on par with the national average. like for instance the us is 77% white 13% black 15% hispanic but most cities have waaaay more than 13% african americans and less of a white population. philly, DC, baltimore, atlanta, memphis, detriot, cleveland, new orleans, birmingham, st louis are all majority black. houston, dallas, los angelos, san diego, denver, san fran all have a large hispanic population while seattle, portland, denver again, and tampa are mostly white. southern florida and new york might have the most mix than any other city in the us. cary still falls short if you ask me. raleigh is 61% white 30% black 10% hispanic and around 4% asian. now this is a good mixture in my opinion.
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YaBoy!
06/04 08:08 PM
I think Raleigh is relatively & comparatively (depending on the comparison) diverse, but it appears to be different definitions of what diversity means. So, diversity for the sake of this discussion diveristy should be operationalized. But the fact that the diversity discussion keeps cropping up in these comments means that Raleigh leaves much to be desired in this area. Diversity means more than seeing three black people in Raleigh Times after 10 pm on a Friday or Saturday nite! The black panhandlers walking past the Times - whom most patrons try to ignore - don’t count either! About a month ago,
I was riding with a friend around downtown Raleigh on a Saturday from about 6 pm - until. We were joking about how many black people were out and about. Conditions that prompted those jokes wouldn’t happen in a diverse city. We even went into the Pit and joked with a bartender about it & he agreed. That does little to warrant my argument, but I’m sayin’!!! Diversity doesn’t mean just black people or minorties. It also entails young minorities, LGBTQ (which I think Raleigh does OK with), various socio-economic classes, etc. As someone mentioned, visibility is the lay man’s gauge of whether there is diversity in a city. I usually try to observe the diversity at some downtown event or during nightlife activities. I still say downtown events aren’t too diverse or integrated for that matter. But it’s cool. It’s getting better slowly.
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YaBoy!
06/04 08:16 PM
and @ WILLNCSU…
Please tell me places you go to find your diversity where there the antendees differ racially, at least. (And NCSU events, Hi5 and The Porch are excluded from your examples.) -
smitty
06/04 09:37 PM
Want diversity? Try Solas.
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WILLNCSU
06/05 08:19 AM
First of all, why are those excluded? Second, go to any dance club in raleigh and you will find plenty of diversity. Just follow the ladies. I work in rtp so over half of my coworkers are African, Middle Eastern and Asian. Minorities just don’t like hipster bars. Obnoxious hipsterism is predominately part of white culture. Don’t you find it vaguely racist that you are putting a quota on how many minorities you want to see? Who cares. I have a good time no mater what race is represented.
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YaBoy!
06/05 05:26 PM
@ WILLNCSU…
@ WILLNCSU…
Will, I’m just saying that diversity is subjective. Quantifying it is one the few ways to informally establish a measure of diversity. If we don’t do that, then it’ll be more of what we’ve always had here - conjecture and appeals to emotion with no semblance of any logical measure. I agree with you, though. I don’t care who is out. I’mma have fun if I really want to be out on the town. But I excluded those places because I’ve experienced more diversity there than anywhere else within Raleigh’s nite life. And you can’t include campus events. It’s a university, man. Ideally, it is set up to be diverse & it consists of students, temporary residents housed under the umbrella of a learning institution.
And you’re focusing on dance clubs. If you can’t find some measure of diversity in a dance club that plays top-40 rap/pop and/or jazz & soul, then you must be in Montana or something! Lol! That’s why I wanted to eliminate those two clubs especially. The examples in your argument to support Raleigh’s diversity are about as variety-free as it comes. Not the best approach for a discussion about diversity. Diverse examples of a town’s diversity support an argument for its diversity.
Also, I want you to look at the word racist again. That’s a strong word that has a precise meaning & usage. I think you are misapplying it here. Maybe bigoted or prejudicial would work, but I don’t see those being applied to my statement either because I didn’t give you enough to make that sort of conclusion.
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