City Life in Boston and New York

1. What the City Observatory demonstrated in its quantifiable mappins
Boston:
The City Observatory reports that the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy metropolitan region includes 2,715 storefronts in its core. Although these storefronts are distributed throughout the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy area, they are primarily clustered around the waterfront urban core area of Boston. This number of storefronts places the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy metropolitan region in league with other American cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, New Orleans and Philadelphia.
New York:
By contrast, with 9,905 storefronts listed, the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island storefront index is the largest listing in the country. The majority of the storefront listings for the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island metropolitan region are distributed throughout but are concentrated in the region’s central business district. In fact, at present there are more than 9,900 customer-facing businesses located within a 3-mile radius of Times Square. This number of storefronts is far higher than the average of 900 storefront businesses located within 3 miles of the central business districts of the nation’s 50 largest cities.
Urban Design/Planning and Mobility
How does the urban core affect mobility?
Despite the availability of public and private transportation in most larger American cities, accessing the urban core can be highly problematic for residents in some cities due to the distance and traffic congestion that is involved. Nevertheless, cities’ urban cores attract larger numbers of residents and tourists alike, further exacerbating the traffic congestion problem. For instance, according to the City Observatory (2019), “The urban core is the nucleus of the metropolitan area and its health is vital to regional economic success. Certain functions happen best and only in dense cores” (What is the urban core?, 2019, para. 2).
Comparison of New York and Boston’s pedestrian mobility and economies
Despite its size, Boston is rated well on mobility with a walk score of 81, a transit score of 72 and a bike score of 69. These laudable ratings translate into more efficient transportation for commerce, thereby contributing to the region’s economy. In fact, according to Walkscore.com (2019), Boston leads the nation in pedestrian mobility. In this regard, Walkscore reports that, “Dubbed ‘The Walking City’ Boston is a pedestrian's perfect city. Bostonites can catch a Red Sox game at Fenway Park, or visit Boston Common, the oldest public park in the US” (Living in Boston, 2019, para. 3).
Although larger in geographic area, New York still manages to score well on mobility, with a walk score of 89,, a transit score of 84 and a bike score of 68. Besides having miles of bike lanes, New York also offers a bike share program and public transportation in the form of subways, pedestrian railways and buses are readily available throughout the city. Indeed, some New Yorkers never own a car in their entire lives. Moreover, residents are never further than a 15-minute walk to a subway station in Manhattan, and the city’s urban density contributes to its walkability score (Living in New York, 2019). Like Boston, New York’s mobility ratings contribute to the city’s economic growth. As the analysts at Walk Score point out, “Urban services and social function are better in cities with strong cores” (What is the urban core?, 2019, para. 2).
Individual Research on My Next “Home”
Los Angeles
1. Identify the primary city choice, Los Angeles and rationale for being excited to move there. With more than four million people and plenty of new things to see and do, Los Angeles represents my primary city choice for relocation. For instance, according to the city’s tourism Web site, “Los Angeles is home to renowned museums, unique hotels, diverse experiences and 75 miles of sunny coastline” (Los Angeles guide, 2019, para. 5).
2. List of categories that must be researched before relocating. The most important categories that require due diligence include cost of living, affordable housing availability, transportation types and accessibility and employment opportunities.
3. Three most important criteria for quality of life. (1) Meaningful employment opportunities; (2) cultural and entertainment availability; and (3) security from crime.
4. Elements of vibrancy and generators of diversity in Los Angeles. Today, Los Angeles is one of the most demographically diverse cities in the United States, and people from across the country and around the world are drawn to the city due to its quality of life (Los Angeles population, 2019).
5. Challenges foreseen, strategies to meet these challenges and action plan timetable. Locating affordable housing in Los Angeles will be challenging since housing costs are nearly twice the national average (Cost of living in Los Angeles, 2019). The strategies that will be used to meet this challenge include reviewing online consumer forums, Web sites such as Craigslist and Zillow at least 6 months prior to relocation.
6. Available resources. Besides about $21,000 in personal savings, other resources include two adult siblings already living in the Los Angeles area as well as several job offers.
7. Selection of optimal community. The Westwood community is regarded as being among the most walkable in the region and it is within easy commute distance from the city’s major attractions (Cost of living in Los Angeles, 2019).
8. Cost of living indicators (rent, mobility and other costs). As noted above, rent and other living costs are almost twice the national average in Los Angeles, but the costs of utilities and healthcare are lower than the national average (Los Angeles cost of living, 2019). Moreover, Westwood, Koreatown and Hollywood districts are sufficiently densely populated to make them highly walkable (Cost of living in Los Angeles,2019).
9. Personal relocation budget and city lifer resident budget for one year. A typical one-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles costs about $24,000 a year. Other annual expenses include utilities which will cost about $2,532; food will average around $3,800; transportation will run about $2,532; clothing and entertainment will be about $1,200 each; and renter’s and car insurance will cost about $1,250 for a total of $36,514 per year (Cost of living reality check, 2019).
Nashville
1. Identify the secondary city choice, Nashville (“Music City”), and rationale for being excited to move there. A recent study by U.S. News & World Report (2019) ranked Nashville as the 15th best place to live and the 7th best place to retire in the United States today based on several quality of life indicators (Living in Nashville, 2019).
2. List of categories that must be researched before relocating. Same as above.
3. Three most important criteria for quality of life. Same as above.
4. Elements of vibrancy and generators of diversity in Nashville. Although Nashville’s demographic breakdown resembles the averages for the United States. the city’s burgeoning job market has drawn increasing numbers of foreigners in search of a great place to live in the nation’s heartland (Nashville population, 2019).
5. Challenges foreseen, strategies to meet these challenges and action plan timetable. Same as above.
6. Available resources. In addition to $21,000 in personal savings, I also have several extended family members and high school friends living in the Nashville area.
7. Selection of optimal community. One of the most walkable communities in Nashville is the East End district (Living in Nashville-Davidson, 2019).
8. Cost of living indicators (rent, mobility and other costs). The cost of living for rent and transportation in Nashville is about 10% higher than the national average, but the costs of food are approximately 10% less than the national average (Cost of living in Nashville, 2019).
9. Personal relocation budget and city lifer resident budget for one year. A typical one-bedroom apartment in Nashville costs around $8,640 a year. Other annual expenses include utilities which will cost about $2,532; food will average around $3,424; transportation will cost approximately $2,532; clothing and entertainment will be about $1,272 each; and renter’s and car insurance will cost about $1,250 for a total of $20,922 per year (Cost of living reality check, 2019).


References
Cost of living in Los Angeles. (2019). SmartAsset. Retrieved from https://smartasset. com/mortgage/what-is-the-true-cost-of-living-in-la.
Cost of living in Nashville. (2019). BestPlaces. Retrieved from https://www.best places.net/cost_of_living/city/tennessee/nashville-davidson.
Cost of living reality check. (2019). Quicken. Retrieved from https://www.quicken.com/home-budget-cost-living-reality-check.
Living in Boston. (2019). Walkscore.com. Retrieved from https://www.walkscore.com/ MA/Boston.
Living in Nashville. (2019). U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved from https://realestate. usnews.com/places/tennessee/Nashville.
Living in Nashville-Davidson. (2019). Walkscore.com. Retrieved from https://www.walk score.com/TN/Nashville-Davidson.
Los Angeles cost of living. (2019). BestPlaces. Retrieved from https://www.bestplaces.net/ cost_of_living/city/california/los_angeles.
Los Angeles guide. (2019). Discover Los Angeles. Retrieved from https://www.discover losangeles.com/.
Los Angeles population. (2019). World Population Review. Retrieved from http://world populationreview.com/us-cities/los-angeles-population/.
Nashville population. (2019). World Population Review. Retrieved from http://world populationreview.com/us-cities/nashville-population/.
What is the urban core? (2019). City Observatory. Retrieved from http://cityobservatory.org/ urban-form-and-trans/#1.