Best Cities for Successful Aging

Provo Canyon at Provo, UT

This summer, The Milken Institute put out a list of Best Cities for Successful Aging, which measured the performance of 359 U.S. cities and metropolitan areas in promoting and enabling “successful aging.” How does your city stack up? Here are the top 10:

1. Provo, Utah
2. Sioux Falls, S.D.
3. Madison, Wis.
4. Iowa City, Iowa
5. Omaha, Neb.
6. Bismarck, N.D.
7. Boston, Mass.
8. Columbia, Mo.
9. New York, N.Y.
10. Rochester, Minn.

The institute clarifies this is “not a survey of best places for golf,” but rather an analysis of 78 factors that most affect the quality of life as a senior, such as health care, crime rates, weather, economics, job conditions, housing, and more. The report also recognizes an interesting new economic and social trend: seniors, especially between the ages of 65-79, want to continue to work long after traditional retirement age.

This reality changes what is probably a common perception of a city that supports “successful aging.” The age-old image of seniors in search of a quiet, sunny place to retire is fading, replaced with one of vitality, independence, and creativity continued into old age.

“Cities need to be thinking about how best to make quality of life improvements for our rapidly-growing senior populations – and such improvements benefit all age groups,” says Henry Cisneros, former Secretary U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, as well as the former mayor of San Antonio, TX. “What the Milken Institute’s index does for the first time is measure communities on the dimensions that matter most for seniors. It is a real breakthrough that will be vitally helpful for leaders in making policies, creating programs, and reshaping communities.”

Nancy LeaMond, executive vice-president of AARP, called this study “a valuable contribution to the work of creating age-friendly communities for all ages.”

Check out the Institute’s website for more detailed information, including a distinction between larger metro areas and and smaller cities, as well as between the 65-79 age group and those 80 and older.

Provo image by a4gpa (Creative Commons)