Two recent studies suggest urban areas and geographic regions have distinctive temperaments.
The first divided cities into 'head' strong and 'heart' strong, finding municipalities like San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and New York have higher levels of creativity, curiosity, open-mindedness and love of learning, while places like El Paso, Mesa, Omaha and Nashville exhibit more compassion, teamwork, hope, modesty and religiousness.
Another study examined personalities at the regional level, culling data from three-decades of survey responses. Results assess levels of neuroticism, openness, agreeableness, extraversion and conscientiousness. For example, the Northeast is high in neuroticism and extraversion and low in agreeableness, while the Pacific is high in openness and low in conscientiousness.
Eric Jaffe says researchers point to several factors behind the distinctions, chiefly selective migration, social influences and ecological influences. He also suggests the urban 'personality' premise is familiar:
"The work builds off recent observations made by Richard Florida, whose 2008 bestseller Who's Your City described how the so-called personality of a city indeed reflects the personalities of its residents."
FULL STORY: New Research Finds That Certain Personalities Flock to Certain Cities
What Are America's Fastest-Growing Cities?
Views about urban growth and decline often rely on statistics for metropolitan regions rather than cities proper. Here, Richard Florida looks at the fastest- and slowest-growing cities in America, separate from their metro areas.
Study: Good Access to Transit Attracts Startups
Startups are increasingly abandoning the suburban office park to try their luck in denser urban cores. According to this study, good transit is one factor behind that trend. But it's not the only one.
How Some Cities Are Losing People and Staying Prosperous
Population loss doesn't always equate to economic decline. Richard Florida discusses a study examining American metros that are retaining their economic vitality as they shrink.
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
EV Infrastructure Booming in Suburbs, Cities Lag Behind
A lack of access to charging infrastructure is holding back EV adoption in many US cities.
Seattle Road Safety Advocates Say Transportation Levy Perpetuates Car-Centric Status Quo
Critics of a proposed $1.3 billion transportation levy say the package isn’t enough to keep up with inflation and rising costs and fails to support a shift away from car-oriented infrastructure.
Appeals Court: California Emissions Standards Upheld
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board, the nation's two most powerful environmental regulatory agencies, won an important round in federal court last week. But the emissions standards battle may not be over.
Barrett Planning Group LLC
City of Cleburne
KTUA Planning and Landscape Architecture
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
City of Laramie, Wyoming
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
