Danbury and New Rochelle named among ’50 Best Cities to Live’
Danbury and New Rochelle were the sole representatives of Connecticut and New York to score rankings on the new 24/7 Wall Street listing of “America”™s 50 Best Cities to Live.”
Coming in at 34th place, Danbury was identified as “one of the most expensive places in the United States,” and the 24/7 Wall Street description of the city initially emphasized costs rather than benefits.
“Goods and services cost an average of 30.8 percent more than in the area than they do nationwide,” the ranking description stated. “Though the median income in Danbury is nearly $13,000 higher than it is nationwide, bigger paychecks are not enough to offset the area”™s high cost of living.”
However, Danbury”™s pluses were also added up.
“Despite the high cost of living, based on a range of socioeconomic measures, Danbury is the most livable city in Connecticut and one of the most livable in the United States,” according to the press release. “Danbury boasts a higher concentration of restaurants, sports teams and theater companies than is typical nationwide. For physically active residents, the city also has a relatively high concentration of recreation centers, golf courses and nature parks.”
New Rochelle ranked 50th on the list, with 24/7 Wall Street noting the typical household “earns $75,757 a year, far more than the $57,617 the typical American household earns a year.” The ranking also played up the image of New Rochelle as a bedroom community, with an emphasis on commuters who use Metro-North to reach “high-paying jobs in New York City.” New Rochelle was also praised for having “roughly one park and five golf courses per 100,000 residents, among the most of any city nationwide.”
The top 10 best cities to live in are: Carmel, Indiana; Centennial, Colorado; Arvada, Colorado; Johns Creek, Georgia; and Highlands Ranch, Colorado; Dale City, Virginia; Naperville, Illinois; O’Fallon, Missouri; Columbia, Maryland; and Raleigh, North Carolina.
24/7 Wall St. arrived at its findings by looking at about 590 cities that the U.S. Census Bureau reported as having populations of more than 65,000 in 2016. Only the top performing city in each county was considered. Data were collected in nine major categories: crime, demography, economy, education, environment, health, housing, infrastructure and leisure.