*article courtesy of AZ BigMedia
Aside from location, space and affordability, community friendliness can be a deal-breaker when deciding where to live. Now, after almost two years of going through a pandemic, we have a renewed sense of appreciation for human connection. Having good neighbors can make our living experience more pleasant. They can create a sense of individual comfort as well as fostering bonds among the entire community. Whether through volunteering, throwing a block party, hanging out at the community center or engaging in conversations while at the local playground, living in a tight-knit neighborhood is associated with overall increased well-being.
Naturally, community friendliness differs, and some places do much better than others in cultivating strong neighborly connections. What are the cities that best embody the neighborly spirit? We surveyed close to 11,000 people from across the U.S. to find out. Overall, most Americans are happy with the people next door, as 67% of responses indicated that they appreciate their neighbors. Furthermore, by analyzing the responses, we’ve also been able to create a ranking of the most neighborly cities that takes the following into account:
-
satisfaction with neighbors
-
sense of community
-
involvement in community activities
-
willingness to recommend the neighborhood to others
According to our findings, Phoenix emerges as one of the most neighborly cities in the U.S. ranking 12th in our latest report.
-
About 70% of Phoenix residents report being happy with their neighbors.
-
The city’s spirit of civic engagement is also high, with 56% of people choosing to volunteer, donate to charity or clean up public spaces.
-
65% of Phoenix residents would recommend their neighborhood to other people too. And location is what 38% of respondents said they like best about their neighborhood.
-
While Phoenix residents are generally happy with their neighborhood, 63.5% declared they plan to relocate in the near future, with 30% of them citing cost of living reasons.
Generally, big cities are regarded as less neighborly, as urban life is much more hectic and fast-paced than in smaller towns. But is this the case everywhere? We’ve looked at 30 mid-sized and big cities with populations over 280,000 to see where they stand in terms of neighbor friendliness. As it turns out, Indianapolis, Houston and Columbus top community neighborliness, with people more likely to live in friendly communities than in most other big cities.
