Free Republic

Tokyo is decentralized. Tokyo prioritizes public trasportation over cars, one reason being the high cost of fuel. Housing in Tokyo is not that expensive.

From superb suburbs to quaint small towns, our 35th annual list highlights the places where job growth is rising, home prices are affordable, and the quality of life shines. HERE ARE THE TOP 50 PLACES TO LIVE IN THE U.S.A Today....

NEW JERSEY — New Jersey was named the "Best State to Live in for 2021," according to one new study. WalletHub compared all 50 states across 52 key indicators of livability that range from housing costs and income growth to education rate and quality of hospitals. Based on those factors, the Garden State came out on top. New Jersey's living conditions ranked fairly well, especially amid the coronavirus pandemic. Here is the breakdown with 1 as the best and 25 as average: 7th – % of Population in Poverty 24th – % of Insured Population 18th – % of Adults...

Terrible Towels aside, the tensions in one of America’s most livable cities reveals turmoil that has nothing to do with Trump or the typical talking points If one would listen to many of the experts and much of the self-praise centered around “the Paris of Appalachia”, it would be self-evident why Pittsburgh is often called “America’s Most Livable City” – a moniker that gets bounced around in southwestern Pennsylvania. Over the course of the past 30 years, Pittsburgh has taken pride in the city’s #2 ranking nationally as recently as 2018 as well as its #1 “most livable” status in 2014,...

A public interest advocacy group has identified the country’s “most wasteful and pointless” transportation projects, which are costing taxpayers $25 billion. The U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) cites among “the biggest boondoggles” a $2.2 billion widening of Interstate 81 in Virginia, a $7 billion interstate project in Houston and a $802 million “Connecting Miami” redesign of city highways. According to PIRG, widening highways to reduce gridlock fails for several reasons. Multiple studies show that more road space over time leads to further congestion because of a phenomenon called “induced demand.” “We’re stuck in a car-centric rut in the United...

The D.C. region could be suffocated by even more traffic if major improvements to the region’s bus system do not come soon, a draft report obtained by WTOP finds. Even so, making those changes in a way that avoids negative impacts could be extremely challenging. The Washington Area Bus Transformation Project draft strategy’s executive summary, labeled “not for circulation,” paints a dire picture of what happens if bus-only lanes, totally revamped bus routes and other changes are not implemented: “Without transforming the bus system, the region’s competitiveness and livability are at risk.” The report groups more than two dozen recommendations...

Shortly after moving to northern Brazoria County, Evan Moskowitz noticed there was something odd about Texas 288. “I mean, it’s huge,” Moskowitz said, noting the four-lane highway’s enormous grass median and wide shoulders. “You could fit two freeways there.” Pretty soon, there will be, a nod to explosive growth in southern Harris and northern Brazoria counties and the constant need for faster trips into key workforce centers, including the Texas Medical Center. Crews are in the home stretch of construction of two toll lanes in each direction from Interstate 69 to the Brazoria County line — more than 10 miles...

WASHINGTON — Efforts to alleviate traffic for tens of thousands of D.C.-area commuters were approved Wednesday, but not before Maryland attempted to eliminate a provision pushing for uniform tolling practices across the region’s express lanes. The resolution adopted by the region’s Transportation Planning Board is the first concrete action toward new goals developed over the last two years to reduce traffic jams and get people from home to work or other activities faster and with more efficiency. “The first step, a concrete effort, toward the projects, programs and policies this region [will] fund and implement in the coming years,” said...

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on Monday said she will support the construction of a street-level community grid to replace the elevated portion of Interstate 81 in Syracuse.Until now, Gillibrand declined to take a position on the issue, saying it was up to Central New Yorkers to choose the best option for replacing the 1.4-mile viaduct that cuts through the heart of Syracuse.Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said during a visit to Syracuse on Monday that she decided to speak out after discussions with community stakeholders who favor the grid over a tunnel or new elevated highway."Given where the stakeholders are -- and given what...

“Livability” rankings have been all the rage for a number of years. Various entities devise the ratings; the media dutifully report them with little or no context. Public officials and booster organizations then tout the most laudatory rankings and reports as proof-positive that their respective cities and/or regions are “getting it right” or “on the move” or some other feel-good bromide. But as two recent cases illustrate, all ranking methodologies are not created equal and some of the criteria employed are suspect, bordering on “bogus,” according to an analysis (Policy Brief Vol. 18, No. 38) by the Allegheny Institute for...

LAPORTE — Law enforcement in LaPorte County is preparing for the possibility of an already-congested and dangerous U.S. 20 being overrun with more semi-trucks as drivers avoid the 35 percent cost increase of traveling the Indiana Toll Road. Much of that stretch of highway being down to one lane in each direction for resurfacing adds to the concerns. LaPorte County Sheriff John Boyd said he’s reached out to Indiana State Police to help patrol U.S. 20 if an increase in truck traffic becomes too much for his staff to handle alone. “We’re going to prepare for it,” Boyd said. “We’re...

America just isn’t that liveable compared to the rest of the world it seems.The annual global “liveability” ranking of cities saw the top 10 spots mostly split between Australia, Canada and Japan, according to CNBC. No American city made the top 20.The ranking is put together by the Economist Intelligence Unit and includes 140 cities in a process which considers healthcare, culture, infrastructure, crime and conflict, and education among others as factors in scoring. The highest-ranked American city was Honolulu at 23. Here’s a look at which cities made the top 10. [CNBC]—Erin Hudson1. Vienna, Austria (Credit: Pixabay) 2. Melbourne,...

Texas is a highway state. This reality stems from the need to meet the mobility demands of both sprawling metropolitan regions and vast rural areas.Paying for the state's massive system of highways has always been a challenge, however. Estimates from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) put the state's highway expansion and maintenance needs alone at nearly $383 billion by 2040. Existing public funding, projected to be $70 billion over the next decade, will not be able to cover that cost without unprecedented funding increases after 2026.While Texans are clearly amenable to paying for better roads — two recent state...

TAMPA — Hillsborough County leaders voted Tuesday to move forward with a plan to add 90 miles of toll lanes to Tampa Bay's interstates despite continued opposition from the people whose neighborhoods would be impacted the most by the project. The Hillsborough County Metropolitan Planning Organization — a 16-person board which approves transportation projects — listened to more than 3½- hours of public comment on its Transportation Improvement Program, which lists the county's priorities for the next five years. The TIP includes dozens of projects, from road maintenance to bike paths. But the evening's debate centered around only one project:...

We know you will be surprised to hear that Ithaca has been named among the “best cities for liberals” in the United States, according to a new ranking by Livability. The results cite Ithaca’s influence on Tompkins County, where 70% of voters supported President Obama in 2012 and Senator Bernie Sanders took a lead in this year’s presidential primary. Livability also points out that the City of Ithaca hasn’t elected a Republican mayor “since the mid 1980s.” (It’s actually been longer; Bill Shaw, the last Republican mayor, was elected in 1981 and served a two-year term before being succeeded by...

WHILE residents of Melbourne enjoy another year in the world’s most liveable city, according to the 2015 Global Liveability Ranking from our corporate cousin the Economist Intelligence Unit, spare a thought for those who live in the 57 cities that have steadily deteriorated over the last five years. The ranking, which considers 30 factors related to things like safety, healthcare, educational resources, infrastructure and environment in 140 cities, shows that since 2010 average liveability across the world has fallen by 1%, led by a 2.2% fall in the score for stability and safety. Ongoing conflicts in Syria, Ukraine and Libya...

There are plenty of benefits to living in big cities like New York and San Francisco. But do they really offer the highest quality of life? Residential resource company Livability recently released its annual list of the 100 best places to live in the US, looking at factors like access to schools, hospitals, and infrastructure; affordability and income; and how residents take advantage of those opportunities. (You can read the complete methodology here.) Livability looked at more than 2,000 small- to mid-size cities in the US, with populations ranging from 20,000 to 350,000, to compile its ranking. 20. Eugene, Oregon...

We’ve done a lot of rankings of places here at the Movoto Real Estate Blog for different criteria, like education or safety. But what if you’re just looking for a general area that has a lot to offer? We can help out there, too .We have to give a nod to the East Coast on this one, because they sure wrapped up the top 10. Don’t worry, other states, there are plenty of you represented in the top 50. See the full ranking and methodology, below.1. Loudoun County, Virginia This is one of those instances where the winner was a pretty obvious one,...

Melbourne is now rated the best city in the world to live in, according to the latest Economist Intelligence Unit's Global Liveability Survey. Melbourne has edged ahead of the Canadian city, Vancouver, which has topped the ranking for almost a decade. Melbourne came top in the bi-annual ranking of 140 cities globally, with a score of 97.5% - enhancing its bragging rights over Sydney, Economist Intelligence Unit survey editor Jon Copestake said from London. Sydney was ranked the sixth best city in the world, up from seventh place in the survey six months ago, while Perth and Adelaide remain unchanged...