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    • u: niversal appeal
    • r: egion
    • b: uildings
    • a: mbition
    • n: eighborhoods
    • S: treets
    • C: ompactness
    • A: ccess
    • L: and use patterns
    • E: conomy
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r: egion

Does your city’s surrounding region support urban vitality through its cities, neighborhoods, and employment centers?  Is your region a place where someone can get around easily by using public transportation or by walking or biking?

Top 12* Cities With the Most Urban Region (2014)

  • 1T.  New York, NY
  • 1T.  Newark, NJ
  • 1T.  Jersey City, NJ
  • 4T.  San Francisco, CA
  • 4T.  Oakland, CA
  • 4T.  Fremont, CA
  • 7.     Boston, MA
  • 8T.  Los Angeles, CA
  • 8T.  Long Beach, CA
  • 8T.  Anaheim, CA
  • 8T.  Santa Ana, CA
  • 8T.  Irvine, CA

*T stands for tie.  This Top 10 list is actually a Top 12 list because this is the one trait (of the 10 traits) that measures how vibrant the region is, not just each individual city.  For example, the cities of New York, Newark, and Jersey City are each part of the most urban region – the greater New York City metro area – so they each receive an urbanSCALE score of 10.0 for this trait.

The full list of urbanSCALE ratings for Region for all 100 cities (10 being the most urban Region and 1 being the least urban Region):

Rank City State Region urbanSCALE Score
1 New York NY 10.0
2 Newark NJ 10.0
3 Jersey City NJ 10.0
4 San Francisco CA 8.2
5 Oakland CA 8.2
6 Fremont CA 8.2
7 Boston MA 7.4
8 Los Angeles CA 7.0
9 Long Beach CA 7.0
10 Anaheim CA 7.0
11 Santa Ana CA 7.0
12 Irvine CA 7.0
13 Philadelphia PA 6.6
14 San Jose CA 6.4
15 Chicago IL 6.3
16 Washington DC 6.0
17 Portland OR 5.5
18 Seattle WA 5.2
19 Miami FL 5.2
20 Hialeah FL 5.2
21 Baltimore MD 5.1
22 San Diego CA 5.1
23 Chula Vista CA 5.1
24 Madison WI 5.0
25 Honolulu HI 4.9
26 Milwaukee WI 4.8
27 Buffalo NY 4.7
28 Minneapolis MN 4.6
29 St. Paul MN 4.6
30 Denver CO 4.5
31 Aurora CO 4.5
32 Austin TX 4.5
33 New Orleans LA 4.3
34 Cleveland OH 4.3
35 Durham NC 4.3
36 Sacramento CA 4.3
37 Dallas TX 4.2
38 Fort Worth TX 4.2
39 Arlington TX 4.2
40 Plano TX 4.2
41 Garland TX 4.2
42 Irving TX 4.2
43 Houston TX 4.1
44 Pittsburgh PA 4.1
45 Virginia Beach VA 4.1
46 Norfolk VA 4.1
47 Chesapeake VA 4.1
48 Lincoln NE 4.0
49 Columbus OH 4.0
50 El Paso TX 4.0
51 Tampa FL 3.9
52 St. Petersburg FL 3.9
53 Stockton CA 3.7
54 Charlotte NC 3.7
55 Atlanta GA 3.7
56 Omaha NE 3.7
57 Raleigh NC 3.7
58 St. Louis MO 3.6
59 Detroit MI 3.6
60 Lexington KY 3.6
61 Toledo OH 3.5
62 Lubbock TX 3.5
63 Cincinnati OH 3.5
64 San Antonio TX 3.5
65 Fresno CA 3.5
66 Orlando FL 3.5
67 Indianapolis IN 3.5
68 Memphis TN 3.4
69 Las Vegas NV 3.4
70 Henderson NV 3.4
71 North Las Vegas NV 3.4
72 Bakersfield CA 3.4
73 Jacksonville FL 3.4
74 Laredo TX 3.4
75 Louisville KY 3.4
76 Albuquerque NM 3.3
77 Kansas City MO 3.3
78 Colorado Springs CO 3.3
79 Tucson AZ 3.3
80 Phoenix AZ 3.3
81 Mesa AZ 3.3
82 Chandler AZ 3.3
83 Glendale AZ 3.3
84 Scottsdale AZ 3.3
85 Gilbert AZ 3.3
86 Greensboro NC 3.3
87 Nashville TN 3.2
88 Fort Wayne IND 3.1
89 Winston-Salem NC 3.1
90 Riverside CA 3.1
91 San Bernardino CA 3.1
92 Reno NV 3.0
93 Boise ID 3.0
94 Wichita KS 3.0
95 Tulsa OK 2.9
96 Oklahoma City OK 2.9
97 Corpus Christi TX 2.9
98 Birmingham AL 2.8
99 Anchorage AK 2.8
100 Baton Rouge LA 2.7
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