Durham: Top Spot To Live

Durham has taken the #4 spot on Livability’s 2014 Top 100 Places To Live, and was the only one of 4 NC cities that made the list to rank in the top 10. Livability is a website that explores what makes small to mid-sized cities great places to live, work and visit. Livability looked at several factors when determining the rankings including:

Access

Start with the basics: A city needs good schools, hospitals, airports and infrastructure, low crime, and a good climate. Then add amenities like parks, golf courses, farmers markets, and arts and culture. Finally, the natural and built environment come into play as well.

Affordability

Affordability is about more than just cost. Income comes into play as well. They factored in a series of variables about spending on broad categories like housing, transportation, health care and food, as well as data about income to ensure they were finding cities where livability isn’t a luxury but is the norm.

Choice

The more options a city offers, the more they can be livable for everyone. For example, by looking at the percentage of commuters who don’t drive alone, you can gauge if there are transportation options. Broadband access is almost universal among U.S. cities, but in some there aren’t many options for providers. They rewarded cities that offer residents the most flexibility.

Utilization

Finally, having all of these great things is important, but so is using them. Livability looked at lifestyle variables that allowed them to see which residents were making the most of their opportunities in their cities.

They additionally took into account amenities, demographics, economics, education, health care, housing, social and civic capital, and transportation and infrastructure. Click here to read more about why they picked Durham and to view the full list!