In the house-hunting process, it’s important to feel you have a solid grasp of the neighborhood you’re moving to — or even the city in general if you’re relocating from across the country. After touring a house you love, real estate agents often recommend talking to neighbors who can provide some unfiltered insight into the area and returning at night get a better idea of what to expect when you move in.
Those conversations and brief stops in the neighborhood are supposed to complement the hard data many homebuyers often focus much of their decision on, such as which part of the metro area has the lowest crime statistics or which schools have the highest test scores.
But even after chatting with the neighbors and reviewing data on the area, how can you tell you’ll be happy putting down roots there and participating in the community? How can you measure whether you’ll feel a sense of pride for your next chosen hometown?
The Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index annually surveys residents in 189 metro areas throughout the U.S. The survey records public opinion on the local community, social interactions, purpose and financial and physical security. U.S. News uses the results from the index to help determine quality of life in the U.S. News Best Places to Live ranking.
[See: The Best Places to Live in the U.S. in 2017.]
Among the 58 items residents answer in the survey is whether they agree with the statement, “You are proud of your community or the area where you live.” The area with the highest score of the 189 metros surveyed is Green Bay, Wisconsin, with 79.4 percent of residents in agreement. Binghamton, New York, received the lowest score, with 48.5 percent of residents in agreement.
Whether residents feel pride in their community may seem like a rather simple way to get the local impression of the area, but over the years it’s become apparent that a variety of factors play into the sentiment, says Dan Witters, research director of the Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index.
Strong signs of a sense of community pride, according to Witters, include a sense of personal security, good available housing and “areas where people are much more mutually respectful of one another.” You may find it hard to include those community features on a must-have list for your future home, but there are a few indicators to keep an eye out for that make your potential for emotional investment in your community more likely.
Finding Community Pride in Your Next Hometown
People relocating from another city may find pinpointing a place to proudly put down roots to be a daunting task. But the search can be made easier if you examine the area with a focus on the attributes you’d want to see in your own neighborhood and look for signs that neighbors take advantage of those features, whether they’re parks, bike shares or easily accessible retail stores and offices.
Witters notes access to decent housing that’s in line with what residents can afford often plays a part. “If you don’t have very good housing available to you, that has a real negative effect on pride,” he says.
Available homes on the market can certainly be an indicator when it comes to considering the housing aspect — too few houses for sale could mean it will be a struggle to live where you want, but too many homes on the market for an extended period of time could reveal that people are leaving the area. You should also take a look at local news reports on real estate. If the conversation focuses on long-time residents being priced out of a neighborhood or poorly maintained affordable housing, it’s possible you might struggle to develop community pride, especially if you fall into those same price ranges.
But in a place like Des Moines, Iowa, where the average household spends less than 25 percent of its income on housing expenses, affordability largely isn’t a consistent problem. And more than 75 percent of residents responded in agreement to the question about feeling proud of their community in the Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index.
[See: The 25 Best Places People Are Moving to in the U.S. in 2017.]
Tech companies have started to notice Des Moines for its affordability and friendliness. Facebook and Microsoft already have offices in Iowa’s largest metro area, and Apple announced last week that it will be building a data center in the city.
“It’s just a lot of infrastructure there. It really drives more PR to put us on the map,” says Neil Timmins, a Des Moines-area real estate broker for firm Space Simply.
While Des Moines is growing due to net migration — 4.82 percent between 2011 and 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau — Timmins says the area’s growth isn’t overwhelming, and longstanding residents still feel connected to the area. “You have very slow and steady growth, and it’s very natural growth,” he says.
That’s not to say, of course, that community pride can’t be found in a boomtown. Just over 70 percent of residents in the Austin, Texas, metro area reported they feel pride in their community, according to the Well-Being Index. But Austin has been one of the fastest-growing metro areas in the U.S. for years, increasing by 10.45 percent due to net migration alone between 2011 and 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Developing a New Sense of Community Pride
Community pride manifests itself with investment in local infrastructure and an apparent care for the well-being of residents. Susan Frankle, managing director of the Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index, notes municipal investments such as bike lanes, green space and increased access to public transportation are often present in communities that see higher levels of pride.
“That all has an impact not only on the physical health of folks because now they’re moving around naturally and they’re more active in their community, but also on the connection that they feel to their community and the pride that they feel for their community,” Frankle says.
However, a lack of infrastructure development, insufficient available housing within residents’ affordability range and a low sense of security leave many residents feeling less than proud of where they live. This could also be a symptom of subpar public services in the community.
Flint, Michigan, often recognized now for the ongoing water crisis that began making headlines in 2014, has since continued to see investigations of officials who failed to detect or report dangerous bacteria and mineral levels in in the city drinking water. It’s no wonder the Flint area, which has long been financially strapped, appears in the lowest quintile for the Well-Being Index’s question about community pride, with just 53.9 percent of residents in agreement.
[See: The Best Places to Live in the U.S. for Quality of Life in 2017.]
Where communities have the most potential to turn public sentiment is where the residents themselves choose to take action. Witters says incorporating seemingly small public policies — adding green space such as a local park or community garden, for example — can have a big impact in how the residents view their community.
“That’s just the public all getting together and saying, ‘We want to dedicate a couple of extra bucks to go to some extra parks around the community,'” Witters says. “And the more that these public gathering places pop up, the more it lends a buoyancy to how proud I feel in the place where I live.”
| Metro Area | Percent Agree With “You Are Proud of Your Community or the Area Where You Live.”* | Best Places to Live 2017 Ranking |
| Austin | 70.7 | 1 |
| Boise, Idaho | 71.7 | 12 |
| Chicago | 60.7 | 83 |
| Des Moines | 75.3 | 9 |
| Fayetteville, Arkansas | 75.2 | 5 |
| Flint, Michigan | 53.9 | N/A |
| Grand Rapids, Michigan | 72.8 | 19 |
| Honolulu | 72.1 | 46 |
| Lancaster, Pennsylvania | 71.8 | 41 |
| Los Angeles | 63.5 | 88 |
| Madison, Wisconsin | 74.9 | 18 |
| New York City | 60.7 | 80 |
| San Francisco | 65.5 | 16 |
| Santa Rosa, California | 72.7 | 52 |
| Sarasota, Florida | 72.3 | 21 |
*Source: Gallup Sharecare Well-Being Index, 2016
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The Best Places to Live for Community Pride originally appeared on usnews.com
