Beyond GDP: The Social Progress Podcast
Insight and inspiration on making the right choices for people and planet. We feature bold conversations with global leaders and innovators from government, businesses, community advocacy, foundations, and more who are charting a path for inclusive growth and sustainability. Hosted by Michael Green, CEO at Social Progress Imperative, we explore how the world must move beyond GDP metrics and economic growth to truly improve the social and environmental wellbeing of communities. ©Beyond GDP: The Social Progress Podcast is an essential listening for decision-makers ready to do things differently.
Beyond GDP: The Social Progress Podcast
Ranking America's Big Cities on Quality of Life
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In this series, we explore the best big cities in America for quality of life, not just by income but by real quality indicators of societal wellbeing. Discover which of the biggest cities in the U.S. with a population of more than a million people like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Phoenix, offer the best living conditions.
From safety and education to housing and rights, we rank these cities to help you find your ideal home or next business investment. Tune in to see why Chicago takes the top spot and learn more about the surprising differences between big cities and smaller towns.
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We're looking at the best places to live in America, not measured by income, but by real quality of life. We're talking about where's my family safe? Where are their great schools and hospitals? Where will my rights be respected? And so on. The US Social Progress Map uses millions of indicators to answer these questions and pinpoint the best places to live. Now, in another video we've already picked out the best cities in America. Our winner, San Ramon, California, congratulations again, San Ramon, like all the top performing cities, is quite small with a population of about a hundred thousand people. But what if you want the big city life? Where should you go if you want the bright lights and the best quality of life? So in today's video, we're going to look at the heavyweights, the big five. Cities with a population of over a million people. That means New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Phoenix. Which of these offers the best quality of life? At number five, with a score of 44.8 out of 100, is Houston, Texas. Houston does do pretty well on nutrition, but it comes in last place on safety, K through 12 education, health, and freedom of choice. At number four, with a score of 50.4, quite some way ahead of Houston, is Phoenix, Arizona. Choose Phoenix if you want good nutrition and water, good housing, but watch out for the schools and the healthcare. At number three, with a score of 51.1, is Los Angeles, California. Choose LA if you want good access to information, good environmental quality and inclusiveness. But watch out for the housing and the quality of the education. At number two, with a score of 52.4, it's New York, New York. Choose New York for high schools on safety, education, and healthcare. But watch out on nutrition and on rights, which means that Chicago is the best big city in America for quality life, taking it ahead of New York by a nose with a score of 52.7 out of 100. Choose Chicago for good housing and water, good schools and high levels of rights and freedoms. But watch out for access to information and low environmental quality. So congratulations to Chicago for winning the Battle of the Heavyweights. But there is a huge gulf between the scores for big cities and smaller towns. If you want quality of life, it does seem that small is beautiful. We'll have more videos like this in the coming weeks, so please like and subscribe if you want to see more. And if you want to dig in the details, all the data is on our website below.
SPEAKER_00For a deep dive into the United States, the US Social Progress Map is our most expansive data set. Covering the 50 states, 500 largest cities, and 32,000 neighborhoods, you can drill down through 57 indicators to get a unique picture of how America is changing. Get in touch through our website if you want to know more. They say that what gets measured gets done. So let's measure better and build a better world.