Urban Meadow zfein.com |
Do you ever wonder why you chose the city, town, or community you call home? Was it the schools, the location to where you work or go to school, cultural vibrancy, or it is the trendiest place to live? There are a lot of factors that go into deciding where a person wants to live. Deciding where to live is not just a matter of a pin drop on a map, it means having to set up a life in the chosen city. Gillian B. White's article for The Atlantic, "What Do American Prioritize When Picking a Place to Live" explores the reasons why people choose a city or community to live. The same reasons apply almost anywhere you go in the world. Everyone has their own reason for choosing a place to live and this article is look at what Americans prioritize in choosing a place to live.
Tree-lined neighborhood in Portland, Oregon sfgate.com |
The Allstate/National Journal poll also asked people "what elements made a city or town a good place to live, the poll also asked Americans how they felt communities were performing on these measures." Seventy-four percent of the respondents reported that they believed their communities were place of equal opportunity for upward mobility. One person, Melanie Thompson, agrees with this comment. Ms. Thompson has lived in the Jackson, Michigan area all her life and says, "that the area provides resources and support for people of different income levels to enhance their educational attainment and careers." According to Ms. Thompson, "I'm currently going to the community college, I've been out of school for years and even when I was in school, there were lower-income kids who automatically got two free years [at the college]." Ms. Thompson works at a national fast food restaurant and though she would prefer another job, she credits her town for being family friendly and providing employment opportunities.
Madison Street Chicago, Illinois photograph by J.R,Schmidt wbez.org |
Cafe Berlin Washington D.C, restaurant.com |
Quoting Melanie Thompson, "...her once-homogenous community in Jackson, Michigan, has gotten more diverse since she was a child," Ms. Thompson says, "When I was in school, it was mostly a white area but it's changed. It's quite diverse." While Ms. Thompson supports a more racial mixed town, it is not a priority for her, "It's not huge deal, but it's better. With every different ethnicity it's more knowledge, the more you know the better off you are," say Ms. Thompson. Almost 75 percent of Americans believed that their communities were places of ethnic and racial diversity. Caucasian and Latino agreed with the statement "that their communities were diverse at lower levels than black Americans, who more likely to report that they lived around people of different races and ethnicities."
What do you prioritize when deciding where to live?
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