Ranking the Top 15-Minute Cities of the United States

The rankings in a recent report are about the potential of U.S. cities to become more like the 15-minute city model provided by Paris.

1 minute read

August 19, 2021, 10:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


San Francisco, California

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Natalie Bicknell shares news of a new report by moveBuddha, an online company that shares information and resources for moving, that ranks U.S. cities by their achievement of the "15-minute city" ideal that has gained traction in urbanism circles in recent years.

"[Mi]d-size American cities of 250,000 to 750,000 residents dominated the rankings of the top 25 future 15-minute cities in the United States," report Bicknell of the report's findings. A few large cities "known for engaging in urban planning on the neighborhood level," namely, Chicago and Philadelphia also made the cut.

The report compares data from 78 large U.S. cities on metrics like bike and walk scores, access to dining, safety, child care, schools, medical facilities, and more, according to an article for moveBuddha by Joe Robison.

Bicknell includes one critical note about the methodology of the report. The study excluded destinations that could be accessed by transit. "The decision was based on guidance from the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), which has decided to omit transit from its definition of a 15-minute city," explains Bicknell.

So which cities topped the list? Miami came in at number one, with San Francisco and Pittsburgh coming in second and third, respectively.

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