Ten Lovely Cities You Can Migrate To and (Maybe) Survive Climate Havoc
Since I started making videos about affordable walkability and underrated urbanism, I've gotten several requests to do something specifically around small and mid-sized cities. Well, this video isn't EXACTLY that, but it's adjacent!
It turns out, if my brazen misapplication of the EPA's Climate Resilience Screening Index is to be believed, small and mid-sized cities are going to be pretty good performers under trying climate conditions. So, if you were to pack up all your stuff and move to a place that had the least risk / most resilience, and was STILL a legitimate city, what city would it be? Well, this video has ten ideas for you. Ignore them at your peril!
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Previous CityNerd Videos Referenced:
- Affordable Walkability: • 10 Walkable US Cities ...
- Intercity Rail: • The Sad State of US Pa...
- Undervalued US Cities: • Affordable Cities: 10 ...
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Resources:
- nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPDF.cgi?D...
- www.cbsnews.com/news/18-wildf...
- www.opb.org/article/2022/05/1...
- www.oregonlive.com/environmen...
- www.oregonbusiness.com/articl...
- www.theguardian.com/us-news/2...
- www.wweek.com/news/environmen...
- www.opb.org/article/2022/09/1...
- www.opb.org/article/2022/09/2...
- www.oregonlive.com/news/2023/...
- www.dallasnews.com/news/weath...
- www.uppermichiganssource.com/...
- www.politico.com/states/calif...
- hagadonemarine.com/top-5-plac...
- www.zillow.com/home-values/50...
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Images
- USA - California Wildfires - Deadly fire in rural Northern California / California wildfire leaves swathe of devastation in Keswick / Twin Northern California fires threaten 12,000 homes / California Wildfires Seen from Space / Smoke from western wildfires blankets Seattle, Associated Press/NOAA slug footage, ID G12833
- Alaska Flag By It is an edited form of a file from openclipart.org, specifically usa_alaska.svg., CC0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
- Maine Flag By Enzwell - Own work based on the flag as seen in images behind the Governor of Maine as well as the state seal as found www.maine.gov/sos/kids/about/..., CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
- Hawaii Flag By Dbenbenn - This SVG flag includes elements that have been taken or adapted from this flag:, Public Domain, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
- Vermont Flag By User:SimtropolitanOriginal by User:Denelson83 - Own work, based on Vermont Historical Society specimen: original from the xrmap flag collection 2.7, Public Domain, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
- New Hampshire Flag By from the xrmap flag collection 2.7, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
- Wyoming Flag By User:Dbenbenn - Own work: It is from openclipart.org, specifically usa_wyoming.svg, by Caleb Moore., Public Domain, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
- Idaho Flag Public Domain, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
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Music:
CityNerd background: Caipirinha in Hawaii by Carmen María and Edu Espinal (KZhead music library)
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Did the EPA not factor in water supply in their evaluation? So many desert cities on this list with highly precarious water supplies.
My thoughts exactly. Reno? Really??
@@cannotgetstarted , actually Reno has had a water surplus for the last few years according to my family who lives there and is pretty involved in local issues. They've done really well, apparently, with reducing the amount of grass, to the point where they're thinking of going back on that initiative because they have so much surplus and now they're getting rather warm, presumably from the gravel yards (and honestly the cement from all the roads/parking lots) retaining heat overnight.
@@emma70707 I would be curious how the heat island effect works in more arid areas. Grass isn't much better than gravel, and there probably isn't enough leaf density in forested areas to shield the ground. I've bought a rural house that I'm working on, in probably a 75% wooded area, and it's reliably fully 5 degrees F cooler than it is 10 minutes away in suburbia... or in the single-family section of the city... or at the airport, which is where the official temperature is recorded.
I have been thinking about it ever since Ray had been living in Vegas for awhile, I’m not sure it’s worth it to advocate for good urbanism in cities in the American SouthWest. The Colorado river and associated reservoirs are being sucked dry; and even if all communities in the region become as strict with water conservation as Vegas has, there simply isn’t enough precipitation to support that many people in an arid region. Perhaps urbanists in the arid regions of the U.S. should support the revitalization of the good urban fabric that mostly still exists in Rust Belt and Eastern cities, before we try to fix places that have urban fabric that is less conducive to active mobility and will thus be much harder to repair. If your water rates get too high out west, we’d love to welcome you to StL! There’s still plenty of room for more city nerds in the Lou. ❤ Wherever you decide to call home, keep doing what you can to make it more sustainable though. :]
This definitely isn't an issue in Spokane-Coeur D'Alene area with nearby deep mountain lakes and significant area of hydroelectric power.
I'm gonna be really disappointed if your April Fool's episode isn't a list of most transit-accessable Cheesecake Factory locations.
Quite possibly the best video idea for this channel ever suggested
Please do this
I can walk and bike to mine!!
OK, I will take the challenge…Seattle has a Cheesecake Factory within walking distance of light rail, many bus lines..,and ..,not too far from the ferry to either Bainbridge Island or Bremerton. Estimated number of coffee shops should you get tired…lots. Thanks for the chuckle…
@@liannebedard5521 I think Philly has you beat. 1 block from walnut-locust on the broad street line, but 2 blocks from city hall where the subways interchange, and not much further from suburban station for the regional rail. Of course, Max Brenner is a half block from the cheesecake factory, which is like a fancy chocolatier, so that's probably like an even finer purveyor of fine dining.
10. Barnstable Falls MA 9. Santa Fe NM 8. Reno NV 7. Las Cruces NM 6. Coeur d'Alene ID 5. Grand Junction CO 4. Bend OR 3. Missoula MT 2. Duluth MN 1. Flagstaff AZ
I moved to Maine last year and expected to be housebound for much of winter but discovered that Maine is expert at snow removal from roads and sidewalks. Benefits of experience that I should have anticipated. Winter 2022/2023 was my first Maine winter but it certainly was not Maine’s first.
It was nice to see Bangor/Penobscot County, being highest ranked? (If a high number was good.) However, it was just short of the population level for inclusion. I live in a Canadian city with very similar demographics and geography to Bangor, and only 3 hours to its northeast. Yes, winters can drag on, but maybe there are some small consolations to living here in the midst of approaching ecological Armageddon.
Same here in the midwest, a foot of snow is nothing and people still go on their days, meanwhile a snowflake is enough to cause a outage in the south lmao.
In North America, my votes are for Montreal, Toronto, Chicago, Pittsburgh. and Minneapolis. Gotta have good access to fresh water, mild summers, and decent-to-great urbanism.
I’m gonna cheer for my Pittsburgh Pirates!
Columbus, Ohio isn't too bad. Most of the river related disasters like contamination and fires occur in northeast Ohio up near Cleveland
Minneapolis and Pittsburgh seem like my fav locations to go.
Montreal and Toronto won't escape the climate crisis... most because the US will invade the second they need water.
The criteria seemed to really dislike major cities - but I definitely agree, Chicago and the Twin Cities seem like very logical choices for major US cities. I was surprised to see so much in the southwest vs the Midwest with the water situation, too.
I'm not an expert, but I'm deeply surprised to see so many cities rank highly in the more arid states. Since one of the biggest challenges with Climate Change will be sufficient water supplies, I'd have expected anywhere arid to rank poorly (especially as compared to the Great Lakes, which alone could supply literal thousands of years of fresh water supply).
Flagstaff is more of a Colorado-like environment, very high elevation and they get tons of snow. Not the cactus-filled desert that people think of when they talk about Arizona. But it does come with a high wildfire risk, as someone else in this thread pointed out.
@@Westlander857 thanks for the info, I didn't know. Glad it's got a few more advantages than I thought, though I personally would still definitely aim for somewhere near the great lakes if I had to.
Cities use very little water. It's mostly farms that worry about water shortages.
I have been thinking about it ever since Ray had been living in Vegas for awhile, I’m not sure it’s worth it to advocate for good urbanism in cities in the American SouthWest. The Colorado river and associated reservoirs are being sucked dry; and even if all communities in the region become as strict with water conservation as Vegas has, there simply isn’t enough precipitation to support that many people in an arid region. Perhaps urbanists in the arid regions of the U.S. should support the revitalization of the good urban fabric that mostly still exists in Rust Belt and Eastern cities, before we try to fix places that have urban fabric that is less conducive to active mobility and will thus be much harder to repair. If your water rates get too high out west, we’d love to welcome you to StL! There’s still plenty of room for more city nerds in the Lou. ❤ Wherever you decide to call home, keep doing what you can to make it more sustainable though. :]
@@jmlinden7 Have to grow the food for the city somewhere, and even though they are only supplying people the likes of LA and Vegas are already stretched.
I love how Duluth (and that town on Cape Cod I guess) is the only city that isn’t directly downwind from the wildfires and actually has a great water supply. I seriously expected more of the Midwest and Northeast to show up on this list, but I guess the EPA doesn’t bother to notice how dry some places are and how the Great Lakes are really about as good as it gets, because we don’t get anywhere near the trouble that happens in the South or the West. We don’t get fires, we don’t get hurricanes, we don’t get a ton of hail or tornadoes, we don’t get blizzards much anymore, and flooding is nowhere near as bad with these heavy storms as it is in the Southeast. I love the West, but let’s get real…you gotta be thinking about a lot of smoke when those fires get big…and worse yet, water is scarce!
Aren't you getting smoke from Canadian wildfires though?
@@evequeen8282 BIG time, depending on the wind direction. Lower Michigan.
@@evequeen8282sure, but I'd take being down wind from the fires over the scarcity of water
@@evequeen8282 in all my life living in Northern Ohio that had never ever happened…until days or weeks after I wrote this. I’ve never seen it like this ever. It could be decades before it happens again too. The next bad wildfire out West will probably happen this year or next-so it still doesn’t compare. Those wildfires are still hundreds of miles away from us, which is nothing like having them in our backyard.
Mt St Helens… Do you remember what happened when she blew in 1980? Volcanologists prefect that the volcanos all along the ring of fire are going to start erupting once thier ice caps melt… Spoiler alert… They don’t have much ice left on them. The good news for those that live near them is that without the ice, there won’t be any lahars… The bad news for everyone living east of them is prepare to get massive ash clouds dumped on you., (the entire Midwest). The thing most get wrong (besides the ring of fire going ballistic), is sea level rise. The oceans have already absorbed 80% of global warming and they are at the tipping point and are going to release it… They are busy melting the Antarctic ice shelves from the bottom, and those giant dominoes are about to tip over into all the other dominoes… To the tune of 100 meters of sea level rise… the math is simple addition, and I urge all you to do the math yourself (don’t forget to include Greenland). So… Factor in volcanoes and sea level rise and a much bigger and far more violent ocean, and you can scratch all those places off the list… Washington DC becomes costal, and cross off about 6 billion humans… Csuse there are not many sustainable places left to call home. You better be able to grow all your own food and have something other than money or precious metals to barter with… Cus no one cares about gold or silver when they are hungry and trying to survive.
Seeing Maui and Lahaina on here as an honorable mention is… ouch. The government’s metrics need to consider wildfires and heat going forward.
As a portland resident, the wildfires are getting terrible. I run an annual tournament and I'm changing the date this year from late aug to early july just to avoid wildfire smoke. Oh god northern Idaho. No other place in the world, not even the deep south, did I feel more unsafe with my not white room mates than there. Place is a hell hole.
Moscow Pullman area is pretty okay, but we are the only blue island in a sea of red.
@AssBlasster9000 probably because of University of Idaho and Washington State
seems like an eco-fash utopia. I mean the Aryan Nations basically made the land around Cour D'alene their base of operations.
@@styx15 Yeah they are typical college towns
@@kenshin4113 Yeah we have had problems with them trying to recruit people down in the Palouse region
Ah, Reno. A great man once told me "what happens in Vegas, is cheaper in Reno." Anyhow, I'm questioning the EPA's methodology here. I was expecting more from the great lakes region. Mild climate, access to fresh water, well above sea level, affordable, and good historical urban fabric are huge assets here.
Actually, Reno can often be more expensive, probably because it is in a prettier setting with more moderate summers (and real, snow-covered winters). Agree with your questioning why communities near Great Lakes not included more.
Mild climate? My winters in Wisconsin are routinely below zero and summers are in the 90s...
@@renodeeg as a Reno resident I can confirm this. living in Vegas is WAY cheaper compared to Reno. I can't say much about visiting the Paradise strip, because it was hella expensive down there compared with The Row in Reno, granted this was just after the pandemic, so there may be a margin of error.
@@NotKimiRaikkonen comfy weather
I think what's happening is they ranked these based on what's doing the best RIGHT NOW with current population, and didn't consider what areas would handle a population growth the best. Flagstaff is fine with its current population, but add 1 million people and they were out of water a few hundred thousand people ago. Whereas the rust belt has vacant homes with power and water connections, and the power and water to supply them. A huge methodological oversight, that makes the list really unusable.
Lahaina is your honorable mention? West Maui has had a history of fires and now Lahaina is gone!
I live in Las Cruces, NM. I’m VERY surprised it makes the list because we have many summer days that reach above 100 degree heat. You step outside at noon and it feels like an oven outside. If anything happens to the grid, it is unlivable without air conditioning. Plus we are always in a drought, with no natural water sources most of the year.
If you believe in climate change you better believe your city is the best place to live😅😊😮 Actually I like new developments down there 😊
Having lived in New Mexico, I think the drought is better than wet bulb events (humidity makes heat worse) where nothing can protect you. Also the lack of any weather in Albuquerque protected the infrastructure
Try commercial cooking in that heat. Making 2500 lb batches of pie filling. You go outside to cool off in the 100 degree heat. Going from that to 80 inside is hard to take. Have to cool down in stages. Now make that a 10 hour day.
I was looking at land in NM when I realized this beautiful, would be perfect plot was in the same county as the Trinity study. I was like is this why this land is so cheap?? Then I did more reading and uranium mining in NM and how the cleanup efforts have been subpar. Sadly, NM is probably off my places to live list forever
Yeah Las Cruces was an odd inclusion
It seems like the EPA didn't consider water supply at all.
I have been thinking about it ever since Ray had been living in Vegas for awhile, I’m not sure it’s worth it to advocate for good urbanism in cities in the American SouthWest. The Colorado river and associated reservoirs are being sucked dry; and even if all communities in the region become as strict with water conservation as Vegas has, there simply isn’t enough precipitation to support that many people in an arid region. Perhaps urbanists in the arid regions of the U.S. should support the revitalization of the good urban fabric that mostly still exists in Rust Belt and Eastern cities, before we try to fix places that have urban fabric that is less conducive to active mobility and will thus be much harder to repair. If your water rates get too high out west, we’d love to welcome you to StL! There’s still plenty of room for more city nerds in the Lou. ❤ Wherever you decide to call home, keep doing what you can to make it more sustainable though. :]
@@StLouis-yu9iz I agree that we need to focus on places in the Rust Belt and the East. People only live in cities like Phoenix so that they can live in a "quiet" and "nice" suburb for dirt cheap. There's no point in trying to urbanize a place like that, at least not on a large scale -- Many people DO like the desert, but not enough to justify a massive metropolis here.
@@StLouis-yu9iz i'd rather die
@@mikeyreza Very eloquently said and unfortunately very true as well.
Didn't the EPA get watered down ( forgive the sad joke in there) with 45's administration ⁉️
Detroit. The most fresh water in any part of the world, with an incredibly low cost, with the ability to take part in reshaping a big city.
Shhh don’t tell anyone until I move back!
If I was American I'd move there for sure. It almost makes me wish Toronto had an economic collapse, to allow us to build back better. (Almost but not actually.)
@@cannotgetstarted The gentrification has already begun, my friend. They're starting to take back parts of the east side, and anything adjacent to indian village. Homes on 1 block are 20k (not habitable) and literally across the street they're finished and selling for between 250 and 350k.
GO DETROIT‼️ Motown is why this suburban kid growing up outside Chicago in a red-lining suburb believe with her whole heart WERE ALL PINK INSIDE‼️‼️‼️Thus we are the family of man, I mean we kids coming up didn't care what color the artists of the music that stirred our souls were💁🏼♀️... we just started wearing matching outfits, did karaoke before it was a thing, loving the Detroit vibe. Bring the whole wonderfulness without the racial divide that killed her and come back big and beautiful 🤗💯👍🏻
@@Pistolita221 wrong
At 70 and having lived in Michigan all my life, with the emergence of global warming, I truly feel lucky to be here. If I were an aware 20 year old right now and lived anywhere south of the Ohio river, I would want to move here if not actually Canada.
I have lived in MI, FL,TN, TX(El Paso), KS, CA, MD and MO. If a bit of humidity does not bother you east TN has a bit all. CA is just too crazy. If it was paradise, I would have not left. Michigan is also a bit of a tax me state. But No SSI or Military retirement income tax. So far. TN is OK for retirement. AL is a bit easier on taxes. If you do retire there. But picking a spot? Mobile, Sand Mountain, Brewton or Scotsboro? How about anywhere close to the Tennessee river? Now if I could just convince her to leave Wayne County, MI. I am really tired of the orange cone season that does not seem to work.
Canada is ENGULFED in wildfires right now
Major areas of Canada, including Quebec, have been hammered by wildfires. Large areas of Alberta actually have limited water supplies.
@@margaretash9706 But why? I can understand CA, OR and WA burning. Because the DNR there is smarter than mother nature. I also also have a college educated niece that bought a piece of land with a 12,000 sq foot house next to a no touch state park. I did not say anything like the house is too close to all that kindling. You she she is smarter because: A. she is female. B She grad E ated. C. I spent 3 years twice and bailed twice. Two different degrees. (Student $ loans) vs income. I could not marry MRS Billie Payer. The only one of my relatives that understood was the the one that owns two companies. I saw the world while I was young. That relative is afraid to. Somebody has to watch the cash register. There may be cash register reason or a edjamakated dummy reason. Or both? Sorry about the TLDR thing.
How about Iceland or Argentina?
So as a Black family, we definitely would have to move to a less diverse area. Fun.
Hey if enough ppl move it'll be p diverse there
The Duluth waterfront Collective is working hard on trying to remove I-35 from the waterfront! Duluth would be magical without that eyesore on the lake front
Can’t agree more! Can’t wait to move there from the cities.
Can we please lobby *someone* to get European style train service from the Twin Cities to Duluth? I would love to explore Duluth for a weekend, but not owning a car makes it near impossible.
@@lizcademy4809 The Northern Lights Express is currently working it’s way through the state legislature and is likely to pass this session. Look up the project. Don’t know if it qualifies as “European Level” since it’s top speed will only be around 90 mph but it will be huge for the state
@@lizcademy4809 IIRC the Democratic legislature is getting it done (called the Northern Lights Express), the plan is 4 round trips a day, taking ~2.5 hrs, with a ticket cost of ~$30 apparently
@@lizcademy4809 IIRC the Democratic legislature is getting it done (called the Northern Lights Express), the plan is 4 round trips a day, taking ~2.5 hrs, with a ticket cost of ~$30 apparently
Flagstaff surprised the hell out of me considering all the wildfire danger and flooding during monsoon season
In my opinion, the Great Lakes region will be the safest in North America for climate change. Constant water supply, colder climate, swaths of arable land, easy access to the world's transport routes.
No, we have mosquitoes here, terrible drivers and it gets cold in the winter. Stay away from Michigan. ;-)
You have to consider the type of people you will deal with in a disaster scenario. Imagine dealing with kid rock and ted nugent in a serious situation.
@@masonkanterbury3007kid rock moved to Kentucky (or was it Tennessee) and Nugent moved to Texas.
I completely agree. Attempting to move my family from Texas to Minnesota in the next yearish.
Global Warming isn't just about heat. It's about EXTREMES in the weather. Move north and you won't die of the heat, you'll freeze and starve to death. There isn't anywhere to go to escape death. You're only choosing HOW you want to die.
Maui had a CRSI of 26.984. It makes the fire even more unbelievable.
I'm surprised, most of these cities are places that have, historically, had issues with lack of water and drought. Am I missing something, or does that seem like a big deal?
The urban areas in the south west aren't the water hogs, it is the plantation style agriculture and ranching which doesn't need to really happen and profits out of state and out of country corporations while people here don't have water. The urban area I live in is water neutral in southern Arizona
Yeah Im definitely not leaving the great lakes to go to the desert
@@oscaruglyface I’m guessing urban areas in the southwest can be water hogs too if they have swimming pools in their backyard and water the lawn instead of having plants that are native to the areas such as rock gardens and cactus and bougainvillea. Still don’t need much water.
@@enjoyslearningandtravel7957 75% of arizona water is used solely for agriculture. the rest is used by cities
@@enjoyslearningandtravel7957 not really when you compare it to growing alfalfa.
I'm surprised to see cities on the southwest on this list considering the historic levels of drought the entire region is experiencing.. Wildfires and hurricanes are sexy disasters and make headlines, but lack of rainfall and depleted aquifers are true civilization killers
No drought today. Be some flooding in CA, NV parts of AZ and further north. Today and tomorrow. Pretty much normal rain for any thing east of the Mississippi.
Coeur D'Alene: "grayscale American flags" Hahaha! I almost spit my coffee on that one.
I live in Virginia and we get off pretty easy. Especially up in the mountains. Generally, we're too far north for hurricanes, too far south for blizzards and too far east for tornadoes.
I live in the Charlotte area of SC and I would say it's a very similar story here. This guy put a city in the hottest state as the number one place to escape climate apocalypse, what an idiotic video.
Hello from Floyd VA! I would not suggest anyone move here! We have bears and coyotes... and no water, and really mean people, and all kinds of horrible things! BEWARE!!!!
Southern Virginia here, this summer almost every day has been 90+ degrees, and it is HUMID. I used to think VA was perfect, right in the middle of too hot and too cold, and near the beach! But this summer and the past few winters have made clear it will only get worse. I don’t think it will be so mild in 30 years.
@@theobserver9131Don't forget the snake sweet pea
@@sitdowndogbreath Yes! Giant snakes that drop out of trees, and get in your basement! Sweet pea? I'm an old codger....but hey gurl!
I'm very surprised to see Santa Fe and Flagstaff so high, especially with the wildfire risk in the area. The issue in the areas isn't just places burning, but the post-burn effects on the water supply, as burned soils become very hydrophobic and can flash flood like crazy and destroy municipal water storage. For an example, look at Las Vegas (New Mexico), where after the Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon fire, has had to shift their supply and are now spending millions on new water treatment facilities. Also: Cheesecake factory count of 1, first video since the Las Vegas Strip video to mention it.
I thought the same about the the inland NW cities, especially Bend and Spokane--at least as far as wildfires go. Nice shoutout to Seattle native son CC with the "feelin' Minnesota" line!
The 'natural disaster risk' factor is only one of many factors in the CRSI score.
Reno was the only one on the list with a TCF. I was as surprised as you at the results. Would've expected a lot of small-midsized rust belt cities to fare well here! I'm leaving the climate analysis to the experts though (i.e., a groundhog)
@@CityNerd i underwrote insurance for the last 5 years or so. Most companies are pulling back from Santa Fe and Flag due to insane wildfire exposure
@@CityNerd I think a part of what's happening is they're ranking them as they are, right now. Not how well they would handle climate refugees in the hundreds of thousands or millions. In a pinch, the southwest cannot supply water to 20% more people, but the rust belt can, with the mississippi tributaries and the St Lawrence/Great Lakes watershed. They didn't add that the vacant buildings/homes of the midwest are prime targets for climate refugees to move to.
I was definitely expecting Midwest cities to rank higher on the list. Plentiful water and low risk of flooding or other disasters. Plus, their biggest downside (cold weather) will become a relative advantage as the planet warms. This wasn’t in the criteria, but Minnesota in particular has the sort of good people who are willing to take in refugees, climate or otherwise. If I weren’t already old, I’d definitely be looking at the Twin Cities!
I assumed places like Grand Rapids, Green Bay, Toledo etc. would make up most of the list. Anywhere near the Great Lakes will have bountiful fresh water, minimal natural disasters, and moderate temperatures.
This list is nonsense honestly. Desert cities in Nevada and Arizona are going to be some of the first to fall to climate change due to lack of water… Really anywhere in the West besides Washington, Oregon, and parts of Idaho have a grim future due to drought.
Michigan, Wisconsin, north/eastern ohio all great places to be for the exact same reason. I'm glad I'm in michigan, I wouldn't want winters any colder than these.
"The planet warms" is a reductionist statement. The increase in temperatures is on a global average. Climate systems are not as simple as "keep more heat in = more heat everywhere" Some places will become colder, in some cases extremelly colder. There's also the complex clusterfuck of how ocean currents will change (ocean currents that affect wether phenomenon, air mases, humidity and temperature on unpredictable ways) It's not as simple as "it will be hotter so the cold place will balance it out and make me comfy"
@@kokorochacarero8003 I understand. Indeed, most models predict the Midwest wil have more flooding and more days of extreme heat (>95F) Notice, though, that I said "relative advantage". If you compare all of the expected changes across common models, I think you'll find that the Midwest is expected to come out *relatively* well compared to other US regions, and part of that is the fact that it is starting from a colder average.
Well, you mentioned Maui - a place I would never have thought would burn up but did. So I am beginning to think that we probably really don't understand what in the heck is going to happen due to climate change. The interconnected nature of the world isn't going to allow any area to remain unscathed. For example, I would have said some areas near the great lakes region would also be very climate change resistant - but then we had all of the forest fires burning in Canada this year causing pollution levels way off the charts for a few weeks. So regardless, you aren't going to escape the global nature of climate change.
As a Colorado native my immediate reaction to hearing Grand Junction was a physical recoil and a loud "Eugh".
Good place to visit if you want to experience what life was like in the 1980s.
"as a native Seattleite, it gives me physical pain to praise Spokane" is the most accurate description of being a Seattleite I've heard on yt
I like Spokane-nothing like Seattle was a good slogan. Some of these cities like Pdx and Seattle may have been nice once, but now haven for homeless. I care about my safety more and areas which at are more moderate in politics.
Ok the Santa Fe resident description is perfect lmao
We actually just moved from Flagstaff to Massachusetts because the annual wildfires stressed me tf out and concerns about water. Not to mention, you have to drive to Phoenix for a lot of amenities. Would not recommend.
Moral of the story: when the apocalypse comes, follow granola hikers and hippies to their outdoor enthusiast cities
Yeah I think the methodology is actually insane on that one, heavily skewed for "quick" disasters (Probably including those totally unaffected by climate change like earthquakes), completely forgetting stuff like droughts. For the US, I've seen a video which was I think from PBS which was more complete and they came to the way more logical conclusion that basically the Rust Belt is the place to be. And in general Northern America, Europe and may be some parts of China will be relatively less affected by climate change (+ a few other here or there like New Zealand)
I agree. This video gets my vote for this channel’s worst post.
Here is that PBS video. kzhead.info/sun/n8OIlZqRgmJ6mn0/bejne.html
@@ThreeRunHomer Well, the video is totally fair; it's mostly just reporting on an existing index and is transparent with its methodology. I agree that the EPA's methodology seems questionable, though.
I have been thinking about it ever since Ray had been living in Vegas for awhile, I’m not sure it’s worth it to advocate for good urbanism in cities in the American SouthWest. The Colorado river and associated reservoirs are being sucked dry; and even if all communities in the region become as strict with water conservation as Vegas has, there simply isn’t enough precipitation to support that many people in an arid region. Perhaps urbanists in the arid regions of the U.S. should support the revitalization of the good urban fabric that mostly still exists in Rust Belt and Eastern cities, before we try to fix places that have urban fabric that is less conducive to active mobility and will thus be much harder to repair. If your water rates get too high out west, we’d love to welcome you to StL! There’s still plenty of room for more city nerds in the Lou. ❤ Wherever you decide to call home, keep doing what you can to make it more sustainable though. :]
Places that currently deal with droughts on a regular basis are already well-prepared for droughts. It's places that are unprepared for droughts that will suffer in this ranking.
I felt like this list didn't account for extreme heat...
Or water scarcity. Or wildfires.
@@MohondasK right, he mentions fires in the intro but then proceeds to list a bunch of places that, at minimum, get socked in with smoke every summer/fall, if they’re not actively on fire themselves.
I read the EPA's doc, being a Great Plains midwesterner and expecting the area to rate well entirely due to favorable topography and access to water. We got dinged for drought HARDCORE. And yet Maui is really high up despite acknowledging water and erosion concerns? Bruh, Hawaii is awesome and they're actively pivoting to not sink, but I'm worried for family there.
None of the cities in the video get that hot
@@brendannoone3345 Las Cruces absolutely gets hot
As someone who’s lived in southern Michigan, Chicago, and central Pennsylvania, I’m very glad to have not been greatly impacted by climate change as of yet. Yeah, I’ve been through blizzards, ice storms, floods, and the occasional tornado warning, but those storms look much the same as they did decades ago. I’ve never had to worry about water availability either, which is more and more of a luxury each day.
Indeed, Chicago is the only major city (in the world?) where you can go surfing on fresh water.
Yeah I've had the same experience here in Albany Western Australia. We only get 44 clear days annually, every other day is either overcast or raining, so water availability is not an issue. We rarely exceed 30 degrees celsius/86 degrees fahrenheit, downtown and its adjacent neighbourhoods are very walkable and full of historic charm. we get virtually no natural disasters and we are one of the few places in Australia to not be directly threatened by bushfires because its so cold and wet all the time. There is next to no development along the southern coastline and the region has become a refuge for locally endangered species. To top it all off, we have a coastal windfarm that is capable of supplying up to 81% of Greater Albany's energy needs (there are about 39,000 people who live in town and about 49,000 people in the greater region)
@@Pistolita221 Duluth and a couple others too for surfing
Winters are definitely getting warmer. White Christmases are much rarer now than they were when I was growing up.
Finally, Spokane gets recognized! It warms my heart to see my home town mentioned in the most Spokane way: an afterthought of a different city.
Las Cruces completely lacks a real downtown. It's weird. It does have a cute old town area thats kinda denser. Idk. weird place, and it'll get hot as hell. Little water already.
Las Cruces, wow, what a scruffy southwestern underdog city. Truck dominated, few pedestrians. Good for avoiding gentrification and humidity. Bonus if you can eat burritos for every meal and have and iron gut to with stand red/green chile regularly. A great town to film a movie! LC please stay unpopular.
I have to vote for the Great Lakes region. Depending on where you are, winters can be long and snowy, but summers are tempered by the lakes. The sunsets are beautiful. The lakes are a wonderful recreation area. As far as natural disasters, tornadoes are few and far between, flooding is possible but not regular, and these areas are very good at dealing with snow. Like mentioned by other posters, the water supply is abundant with a great mix of cities and rural areas. It has lots of natural resources. Let's be honest, I don't think living in a city is the answer for climate change. Self sufficientcy is the most climate positive lifestyle I can imagine.
Living in a city means that infrastructure is cheaper and resources can be pooled to create a community. Self-sufficiency won't ever be the answer as we lived in tribes even before any modern amenities. We need to work together to survive and thrive as a species.
People simply have to get over their fear of snow and then they would see that the Great Lakes states are the most climate change proof. There are parts of the Great Lakes and Northeast which never (or hardly ever) suffer tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, forest fires, droughts or earthquakes... People have been living full lives in snowy places for millennia. Come home.
I'm on the fence about this. Being responsible for your own food production makes you much more aware of the environment. Your environment is suffering you probably won't get much food. But there's no way there's enough space on this earth for everyone to have their own little sustainable farm acre. We need to bring back community gardens and buildings that can take the weight of rooftop farms. Let people have chickens and goats in their backyards. We need to find a balance of bringing natural ecosystems into cities. Like Canada making homes for bees and little pollen gardens on the top of bus stops. Or how Oslo is turning huge intercity roads into bike paths and gardens. There's plenty of ways to have both. We just need to start retrofitting infrastructure that supports green space in cities and allows the wildlife the ability to move through them unhindered. I've seen a great amount of "wildlife corridors" like bridges and tunnels that work for both us and the animals.
AS the mid west goes more progressive so will the taxes. Somebody has to pay for "Fix the Damn Roads". Seems to be a pattern. 1/2 half of the taxes to do that got earmarked for other purposes. Ask for agriculture in those states? Well those counties are predominately Republican for some reason. Could it be because farming is a business?
I choose rural life as well, but I understand that not everyone could or would make the same choice. I'm grateful for the majority who choose to stay in the cities. They make my rural paradise possible. Don't move out to the country folks! Life is hard and brutal out here! Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! (and in the case of the great lakes region, the mosquitos are huge! They can pick up and fly away with small children and pets!)
Turns out Lahaina was not a wise honorable mention unfortunately
Surprised the EPA has such high praise for cities that I would consider to be very drought prone. I figured this list would be 100% Rust Belt/Great Lakes but I'm glad they consider governance and socioeconomic factors. Anyway, I'll see you all in Duluth
I was also baffled by the relative lack of Rust Belt/Great Lakes cities. Cities like Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, and Milwaukee should be decent landing spots based on their proximity to the Great Lakes. Obviously the winter months are relevant concerns but these cities have the means to deal with massive winter storms.
@Jacob Dumas Yeah, that's my first thought, but there must be something on the administrative front that keeps these cities from ranking better. Southwest cities certainly don't suffer from the same intensity of heavy industry as Midwest cities do and they tend to be more progressive. All that being said, I'm gonna stick to the Lakes since drought and fire seem to be a growing issue. If you can handle the snow, it's hard to beat even smaller cities like Duluth, Grand Rapids, Erie, etc.
@@jacobdumas7643 The reason the Rust Belt doesn't make the list is the very deep, mostly racialized segregation in those cities. This has a big effect on governance - mostly white county governments don't want to serve black urban populations and many regions are still shedding population, in contrast with the explosive western growth.
@@yabton5110 Still a way more solvable problem than no water.
@@josephfisher426 that's debatable
Duluth has also released and is trying to implement something called the "Better Bus Blueprint" to make their bus system more efficient and try to start the transition of a couple of lines to something like Bus Rapid Transit. There are also been an effort for at least 20 years to restart rail service to the Twin Cities which might finally be gaining a little more traction. Some other commenters have noted that there has been some publicized efforts recently to either remove I35 past the Mesaba Ave exit, or at least cap it throughout downtown to create a better connection to Canal Park. I really hope the political will remains to keep these initiatives moving forward and improving the livability of the city.
Honestly, Mesaba would be the perfect spot to end the interstate. It still gives easy access for the industrial area, and that's also where the urban fabric really starts as it goes north. If they do end the highway there, and they don't have the political power to destroy that bridge, they could easily run unhindered rapid bus service on the end of I-35 from Masaba to where I-35 currently ends with stops at each of the current exits. With no traffic, it would be cheap transit with quick service.
I saw some comment about Duluth I-35 removal recently and now it gets mentioned in the video, nice.
@@officiallyunofficial1 Mesaba is where 35 originally ended before it was extended in the late’80s/early ‘90s. They originally intended to extend it all the way to the beginning of the Highway 61 expressway to Two Harbors down by Brighton Beach, however the city decided to end it at 26th Ave E and basically pocket the money that had been set aside for the additional extension.
Some of my older Duluth neighbors fought I35 hard when they wanted to extend it in the 1980s. They did manage to get some of it covered with parks and some crosswalks so at least there’s some permeability between downtown and the lakeshore. We’re fighting to get better rail access to Minneapolis. We need the same amount of fight to get better bike infrastructure.
Northern Lights Express funding bills are making their way through the state legislation as we speak, with the house bill HF409 being heard tomorrow morning!
I'm surprised to cities in NM listed. Water scarcity is a already major issue there. It's one of the main reasons why I left.
Seems like proximity to food production was not at all a factor here. I would say that being close to fertile watered farmland is a must for long term viability
The southwest can't grow anything without irrigation.
Honolulu Hawaii. The tropics are supposed to be the least impacted by climate change. Also it’s Hawaii
I'm literally dying laughing at the proposal for a large share of the Citynerd fan base to settle into 1 underrated midsized city, consolidate power for urbanist visionary goals, and make the best city ever. This would be histarical. Wish I could take part. Sincerely 🇨🇦
Alas, the we’d have to take over the state legislature too or it would the the reason we can’t have nice things, just like is happening in Nashville. The legislature is holding city government hostage, about to cut the council districts from forty to twenty, eliminating a special sales tax zone around the convention center - all because the council declined to bid on hosting the 2024 Republican Convention in that meeting space.
A similar thing has been done before. Read up on The Free Town Project in Grafton, New Hampshire, where a bunch of libertarians moved, took over, implemented a whole bunch of libertarian ideals, then were attacked by bears.
Provinces can also be the reason we can't have nice things. Toronto has been beaten down for decades by the Ontario government.
@@tristanridley1601 I know, sad but true...
@@DRL1320 Hey at least you guys had some progress for a while. I'm in Birmingham and we haven't been able to have nice things for 70+ years because the people in charge of this state genuinely hate the city.
Fun video! I live in Albuquerque, NM and even worked as an Urban Transportation Planner... you know bus service and that Commuter Rail in Santa Fe you mentioned. My town was not mentioned in the list likely due to high crime rates. I was surprised that Santa Fe, NM, Las Cruces, NM, and Flagstaff, AZ were on the list. I know these cities well, as they are in the region I live, and they are nice smaller to mid-size cities... good for retirement. Arizona and New Mexico forests are highly susceptible to fires, and have been ravaged over the last decade. For that reason, I question why these Southwestern U.S. cities are in the top 10 for avoiding climate havoc.
Keeping northeast Ohio a secret affordable / no natural disaster / beautiful place to live
I'm pretty skeptical of the EPAs methodology since they're recommending a bunch of southwestern cities that will be out of water in like 10 years
Or sooner. Arizona seems to be in trouble now, water-wise.
Havent seen someone with a RS chathead as pfp in years...
They're planning a desal plant in the Mexico side of Sonora on the sea of Cortez for water supply but plans aren't final.
Interesting to see cities in Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada here given the news about water issues in the region. As far as I know, water scarcity is going to become a huge issue for the SW states or basically anyone who relies on the Colorado River for water, but maybe Reno and the NM cities don't have that exact issue even though the whole region is desertifying. Watched a video earlier about Flagstaff's water supply issues only a few days ago.
The Southwest is going to everything possible to shore up its water supplies before doing anything else. Desalination and very expanded water recycling specifically, even though it’s very expensive and polluting. I know many urbanists hate us, but you can’t uproot cities of millions of people overnight, and our cities aren’t getting any smaller.
@@Westlander857 idk man, it showed a lot of development in the region getting approved based on old water supply estimates. I don' think it's necessary to uproot everyone, but the type of lifestyle that people who live in the desert must adopt is going to look really different from the typical American one. I don't really see the majority demographic of these places willingly changing their lifestyles while they're still able able to get water, even as it dries of up the Colorado.
I have been thinking about it ever since Ray had been living in Vegas for awhile, I’m not sure it’s worth it to advocate for good urbanism in cities in the American SouthWest. The Colorado river and associated reservoirs are being sucked dry; and even if all communities in the region become as strict with water conservation as Vegas has, there simply isn’t enough precipitation to support that many people in an arid region. Perhaps urbanists in the arid regions of the U.S. should support the revitalization of the good urban fabric that mostly still exists in Rust Belt and Eastern cities, before we try to fix places that have urban fabric that is less conducive to active mobility and will thus be much harder to repair. If your water rates get too high out west, we’d love to welcome you to StL! There’s still plenty of room for more city nerds in the Lou. ❤ Wherever you decide to call home, keep doing what you can to make it more sustainable though. :]
Water scarcity is almost entirely due to agricultural uses. 80% of the Colorado River water goes for crops.
@@elli6220 This is very true. Everyday Arizona residents generally aren’t to blame.
I live in the Las Cruces/El Paso Metro flex and we do have bike trails but no one is on them. It's too hot in the summer and fall is a very short season. Then winter comes and we are indoors by the fire during the desert winter which is very very cold. But honestly, we never have anything but sunshine and the mornings are cools as the evenings. It's a lovely area if you like sun and boring weather, which makes this an ideal place for the apocalypse
i was surprised to see Santa Fe and Las Cruces on the list. having lived in new mexico for most of my life, I've been hearing about the problems with the drought and the dwindling supply of water from all sources. I moved out and have been hesitant of moving back because I don't trust the state to survive those conditions.
Surly the politicians will see there's nothing more valuable than a good environment, even over their friend's business that they benefit from. Surly community taxes go to helping the community. They'll see reason
Agreed-exactly!
This is my thought too. It seems to me that the best places will be inland, high elevation places toward the north. The rust belt comes to mind. Also, plan to live in a place where you can grow your own food.
very skeptical about this list. Many of these cities won’t have enough water
The combination of nerdiness, humor and apocalypse make this my favorite CityNerd episode so far.
One thing that Duluth has done is they capped a huge section of I-35 and built parks right over the top that connect the eastern parts of the city to Lake Superior. It seems to work very well as those neighborhoods connect seamlessly with the lakefront. That might be a good idea for a video -- places that have freeway caps or places where they would work well.
I lived in Fairbanks, it’s actually one of my favourite cities in the US. It’s small but not very small. The people are so friendly, the cold is cold but you just throw on a few layers and you’re good. The summer day never end… Literally. It’s a really amazing place to live, knowing this I might look into moving back LOL.
Everyone sleeps on CT but please continue to do so until I buy a house
Yeah New England is the best
@Eternity row X you could say that but we still have much work to do. There’s definitely pockets of real impressive walkability however for sure
@Eternity row X yea exactly but we will get there. New haven is wonderfully walkable but is not quite “there” in a lot of other ways. 10 years from now we will hopefully see Bridgeport, new haven, Hartford etc step up. (However everyone here has been saying that since I was a kid so who knows)
Gotta say I've got an issue with the methodology in your ranking here. There is no consideration at all for availability of water. We know Lake Meade and the Colorado River are drying up, these places in the southwest are not going be desirable climate refuge destinations at all if there is no water. They're unsustainable now. The methodology also seems to not be weighting the threat of sea level rise high enough or Cape Cod would never have made the list, nor any Hawaiian islands as honorable mentions. I would have expected the great lakes to dominate this list, but instead it was the desert and that's really weird
It's the EPA study not CityNerd.
Detroit is gonna be a completely different city in 10 years. The transformation is already pretty impressive. No shortage yet of v cheap land and housing close to the center
Shh, my family is gonna buy a property there to flip in the next couple years THEN we can tell everyone that detroit is the place to be.
I’m looking to move there now from south bend
🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫 I bought in the crash!!!! Love it
I keep thinking it'll be America's next artist colony since the Rust Belt has the only affordable real estate now.
And the most ill-conceived new light rail line anyone has ever seen
I have was raised in Metro Detroit. I love it here. Our great Lakes and and interesting suburbs with several downtowns. Our weather is very stable and our up state and the UP Upper state is fabulous lots of outdoor sports, major Universities And medical care. My Grandparents migrated here from Georgia in the 1920 era for a good job. They really appreciated as I do the four distict seasons. Im staying put in an old Detroit suburb. Oh Im 68 and love our north. Lots of clean inland lakes. Great medical care and facilities that I have benefited from myself.
Has the City of Detroit made any improvement in fixing the roads and removing the blight?
@@tpurnell2 since the new governor, yes. The Republican leadership wouldn’t spend any money. Worst roads I have driven on in eight states I travel.
I'm a little surprised that the small city not near but dear to my heart, Burlington, Vermont didn't make the cut since Vermont rates pretty well on the EPA's list overall.
Seconded, it got snubbed here! Also has a lot of access to AMTRAK stations
Yeah I was waiting for Burlington to make an appearance
@@NoTimeForNoodles " a lot of access to Amtrak stations" is NOT really true for Burlington, VT. Granted, with the re-opening of Burlington station, the city is closely served by two different Amtrak services ("Ethan Allen Express" and "Vermonter"). but the trains go in only one direction from there-South-and they don't run frequently. The Vermonter runs once a day in each direction.
@@gcvrsa That’s still way better than other similarly-sized US cities (and even New England, which is fairly well connected by US standards). Plus, when the Vermonter is expanded to Montreal, it’ll be even better situated.
I live in VT. The cars whizzing by me on the interstate usually have MA, NY & CT plates. This is not the state for people with a City state of mind.
As someone who lived my whole life in Duluth, I never thought I would see us show up in a City Nerd video but when you described the criteria for this one, I knew it was coming. Arguably Duluth could be #1 when you consider it has the best freshwater supply in the world and many of the other cities on here could have water issues. Duluth is a lovely place with the bones to become a better city. The Northern Lights Express, a ~90mph train from Minneapolis to Duluth, looks like it’s going to get built. With that, the expanding bike network, and increasing housing density, Duluth could really become a great small city!
As a Twin Cities neighbor, I can't wait to come visit Duluth when NLX is finished! I have high hopes for Duluth being one of the greatest places to live in America, and already it is one hell of a beautiful city. Pay attention to HF409 and SF202 in the Minnesota House and Senate respectively, those bills are the funding bills for Northern Lights Express which could start construction as early as next year if funded now!
Duluth has been named in other lists as the best place to move to, especially regarding climate. Love Duluth and the North Shore!
LMAO I love the zoom in on the gopher
"When the climate apocalypse comes, and it's coming up next" Your most ominous intro yet lol, well played! For Las Cruces, it's not actually walkable, although has nice neighborhoods where you can walk or bike for miles safely. The city ran a disastrous experiment years ago by turning several downtown streets as pedestrian only. The outcome was dozens of businesses closing down to never return to the area. Nowadays, traffic runs through downtown streets where it shouldn’t be and combined with clumsy public transit options, the area is only for tourists since residents rarely saunter in it. An example of a city that really puts into perspective the effects of rising sea levels is Malé, the capital of the Maldives, a country predicted to be uninhabitable by 2050. The city has a population of over 250,000 on an island that's JUST 8.30 square kilometers. Former President Mohamed Nasheed has tried to get the world aware of the big issue the Maldives is facing by presiding over the world's first underwater cabinet meeting in 2009 in scuba gear. He then founded the Climate Vulnerable Forum for climate change-affected governments with currently 55 members.
Not sure about the arid cities on this list. Cities in New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada are some of the LAST places I'd want to be because it isn't just rising sea levels you have to think about...it's also drought. The Colorado River IS drying up, and MANY rely on the river whether it's for important agriculture or the drinking water of millions. That aside, meanwhile in Tuvalu's capital Funafuti, a place home to just over 6,000 people...when high tide hits, FORTY PERCENT of the capital is underwater. Rising sea levels there are TWICE the global average. If THAT doesn't show what can happen if we don't do our part...I don't know what will. It speaks VOLUMES when Tuvalu sees becoming the first virtual nation and recreating their nation in the metaverse as the only way to preserve their cultural identity. It's sad, and it's only gonna get worse.
Kiribati isnt doing much better than Tuvalu....
The Cheesecake Factory call-out will never get old.
Chicago's winters keep getting more mild and water is abundant.
I love Flagstaff but I think it is at a high risk of getting destroyed by wildfire.
I'm also surprised not to see more Great Lakes region/upstate NY and inland New England.
I was expecting more cities in the northern Midwest on this list given the much greater amount of water in that region.
Just an FYI for CityNerd: There isn't much skiing in Grand Junction, Colorado (number five on the list). I live here. It's high desert, a four inch snowfall is likely to mean that the kids get a 'snow day'. There's a small, two lift ski hill an hour's drive away, with some outstanding cross country skiing a little further on, but the snow doesn't stick around long in the valley itself. What the area is known for is outstanding mountain biking, great hiking, wineries, and elected officials with rather unhinged ideas about the 2020 election. You should come for a visit, I can show you the sights. The city has a quirky history that's reflected in its urban development.
I love that we're at the point of having to move instead of dealing with the problem at hand
This is bias but as someone from Toronto whose also loves learning about cities and staying up to date with climate change (but admittedly don't really know anything) I feel like I live in one of the best cities in the world for surviving climate change. There's so many layers to it, location is only 1 aspect. Toronto/Ontario has done a relatively good job of building a storm resistant city after hurricane hazel in 1953. The current city planing is focused on making the city a zero emissions city by I think 2040. Toronto might also have the greenest canopy in North America (I think). Although political leaders change given the demographic of the city I don't see this focus changing, only improving. As for weather being in Canada means water will never be an issue which it will for most of the world - if it isn't already. Southern ontario/the great lakes is a great place for growing food as well, although, yes, we are currently way to reliant on California and other provinces. Amentities and services are also a lot better than your average nortn american city n the provinces master plan for transportation called "the big move" is quite ambitious making it so a lot of southern ontario is all connected. Moving in and out the city will be more accessible with time. Hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, drought, wildfires, earthquakes are not things we really worry about. Ice storms in the spring and polar vortex in the winter are our biggest issues. Ice storms are a real threat, they can destroy cities. I'm surprised they aren't reported on more. Cost of living is the biggest issue living in Toronto, and it's a big one as I think Toronto is now the biggest housing bubble on the globe. But if you already have a foundation here, there is no reason to leave. And just a fun fact we're also the fastest growing n most multicultural city in North America. Which does matter since diversity is a huge benefit when faced with adaptation. Were used to, and willing to change here as the city is already always evolving. Sorry for the rant but I needed to state my case for my city lol
As someone from northern NY i have to agree. The Great Lakes region as a whole is probably the safest from a climate & geologic perspective, our worst natural disaster is basically just winter weather. (And personally i consider an ice storm a lot less scary than a wild fire, earthquake, or tornado. Maybe I'm just used to dealing with it but basically every way an ice/snow storm has to kill you can be prevented with a little bit of diligence. The main threat is how they shut down travel making it harder for emergency services to reach you.)
On a trip to Toronto a couple years ago, my wife and I half-joked / half-serious stated instead of wintering in Florida when we retired (like everyone else) we're going to summer in Toronto. It's a great city.
This methodology is insane. "Drought prone wildfire risk" would not be high on my list of climate-safe cities
Five months later and already one of these cities is gone.😣
Did not expect a soundgarden reference but I’m here for it
Hi. Duluthian here. Our income inequality is pretty bad, and if your audience moves here then they'd better be prepared to help fix our broken housing and jobs markets. You don't get to come to Duluth without also rolling up your sleeves to help make Duluth a better place for everyone.
I think most of the audience would help to get more votes on projects that can improve Duluth. I live here and it seems there is still a divide on essential improvements with more affordable housing, better bus service, bike lanes, removing the section of i-35 from downtown and renovating the space to benefit the residents and generate jobs and revenue, etc... There are many Duluthians who say things like 'this ain't the cities!' when these things are brought up.
@@veziculorile I'm just laughing about removing *-35 from downtown. I used to come to the North Shore when it had one traffic light and one restaurant - and Duluth was just something to get to. Then Duluth decided to become a destination, and part of that was building I-35 so the North Shore traffic didn't clog up the town. So I hope you have a good plan.
Surprised by the amount of desert cities
I'm glad to see Duluth at the number two spot for this list, another Minnesota win! Duluth is truly a beautiful city, one of the most climate resilient in the country and already home to a growing population of climate migrants from all over the US, especially the sun belt, moving up to Minnesota to escape climate change disasters. The political leadership in Duluth is solid, with a mayor and city council looking to tear down a good chunk of I-35 along the waterfront and building new density and parks. There's also the Northern Lights Express higher speed rail plan from Minneapolis to Duluth, which has awaited state funding for years and is one of Amtrak's most shovel ready projects in the country. State funding for NLX is making its way through the legislature as I write this comment, with a hearing on it tomorrow in the House for the house version of the funding bill (HF409 if you want to look). There's also the Lake Superior railroad museum and the gorgeous North Shore Scenic Railroad, which has a great lakewalk with trains and multimodal two way pedestrian paths along the Lake Superior shore. Duluth Transit Agency also has a robust bus network with millions of annual ridership, and is working on what is effectively a BRT plan to upgrade bus routes. Overall, if you want a mid-sized, climate resilient city to transform into an urbanist paradise, Duluth is one of your best options. Glad you gave it some much needed love!
I've thought about this for years. I live in MN and feel like it's easily the safest area on many levels. A little snow and cold is a small price to pay.
The whole great lakes region is great. Personally, I think michigan is the best state from a survivalist perspective. IDK if we'd have to import anything if we closed our borders. We have fruits, metals, salt, lumber, manufacturing, education, etc. all within our state. We even have oil and natural gas fields, though not enough to supply domestic demand, idk if our reserves could sustain us. Other than that though, we're a 1 stop shop.
A little cold? A little snow? Hah!!
@@Mimi-iq4ll All relative. If it gets to 50 degrees in Cali in Dec, ppl break out scarves. When it turns 30 in MN in Feb, ppl break out shorts.
@@Mimi-iq4ll My home won't burn down due to wildfires, or get inundated with water, or crumble to an earthquake, or run out of water. and the ocean isn't going to make MN smaller. I'll take the trade off every time.
A little cold, a little snow lol. My West Coast ass cannot comprehend
No Ann Arbor, MI? I always think of Michigan as one of the most climate-change resilient states, sad to not see it on here as it's got all of the favorable criteria, especially water access.
As soon as he mentioned infrastructure as a criteria, I wrote off the entire state of Michigan. But I agree with you.
@@conorreynolds9739 haha that's why I said Ann Arbor, it's probably got the best infrastructure and transit in the state. Very walkable.
@@8bitWWII If you think Ann Arbor has good infrastructure, you don't know what you are talking about. The power has been out in parts of the city for going on 9 days now due to an ice storm. The city utilities are notoriously bad.
HEYY! I couldn't agree more. And we're a very blue dot in the state, too. I feel like Traverse City and Grand Rapids would be solid picks, too. Even somewhere like Ypsi or Chelsea would be nice.
That's OK--we make enough top-10 lists as it is. Housing is already expensive enough. And I'm not sure it would be possible to fit in any more progressives without pushing out ones that already live here.
City Nerd- which cities are least captured by their local Fraternal Order of Police chapter? Which cities have the most mayoral autonomy (as it relates to police)?
Old Mesilla is a gorgeous, walkable historic part of Las Cruces!
This surprises me? From the little bit of research that I've done, those already warm areas are where people will be leaving in droves because of the increased heat and drought risks.
I’m gonna say that I don’t really agree with this list. How is Reno going to survive the water shortage that is already imminent? It’s only gonna get worse. Grand Junction as well… The more southern ones are going to be so hot… and also dealing with water issues. Top few are pretty solid though, except I would also be worried about water for Flagstaff
I’m actually surprised Syracuse doesn’t make this list. Tons of fresh water from Lake Ontario, not a huge flood risk or hurricane risk (all of New York could potentially be affected by a big enough hurricane, but the Downstate counties are where the real risk is). It isn’t at significant risk of wildfires (we do get them in New York, the Catskills would know about that, they had multiple at one time last year). It isn’t a major area for tornados either. While it is hot and humid in the summer, the humidity isn’t oppressive like in Downstate, where most of it is actually classified as humid subtropical. And the infrastructure is there to deal with the snow and cold and plenty of social programs. Would certainly consider Syracuse over any drought prone city. Also Plattsburgh NY-Burlington VT Metro would be a good pick for similar reasons with an even milder summer and Canada is right there. Montreal is an hour away straight up I-87/Autoroute 15 from Plattsburgh.
The great lakes region is being slept on. They made the list without considering what areas would handle population growth, they were just looking at sustainability for what's there now. The regions with enough water to deal with tens of millions of refugees is pretty clear, at least in the USA.
Lahaina being an honorable mention for climate resilience did not age well.
As one who deals with the snow/winter, I see it as basically irrelevant in terms of real danger. I can sit in a lawn chair in the middle of a snowstorm. I can't sit in a fire, I can't sit in a tornado, I have never been in a hurricane, but I probably can't really sit in that either. Snow at best just kinda limits your mobility for a bit.
lol, I love your take on hurricanes. Couldn't agree more!
The only perk of a hurricane is that it moves very slow. If you die in one, you pretty much had it coming.
@@Mmmmkaaay As a Katrina survivor, that is a really unkind thing to say. Not everyone has the means or the ability to evacuate.
@@kirstencorby8465 obviously I don't include people who can't get out. That would be unkind. But let's be real, there are plenty of people who can put some bottled water in their car and drive away that still stick around.
@@Mmmmkaaay It was not obvious at all. And there are way more people like that than you think.
I have a home near Rochester, NY. I feel good about my prospects as the climate is very stable aside from the occasional blizzard.
I have extreme skepticism that the American Southwest is going to be a good place to ride out a climate apocalypse; access to *water* seems pretty fundamental and when I see overhead shots where the non-irrigated ground is baked brown, I kind of think "naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah".
As someone who needs to be somewhere relatively warm, it's good to see Las Cruces on here, even though it's one of the cities everyone else is dunking on.
Reno is getting pretty cool. Just enough hipster injected into the old school casino scuzz. Midtown has expensive pastries and coffees and stuff and they’ve got a cool indoor public market with tacos and expensive home decor now.
Why on Earth aren't you (and the EPA) not taking fresh water availability into account?
So fun seeing Reno on this list right after watching the video about how unlivable it is by Yet Another Urbanist.
Oh snap I just posted this exact comment before finding yours!
Reno is a great location but it has a very poor excuse for a Transit System. I used to live there.
Yay NM! I would love to discuss the walkability of Santa Fe for tourists vs locals. And downtown Las Cruces has been converted to a walking area, but the incentives to go there are still minimal.
This video didn’t age very well. He mentioned Maui, which is basically destroyed now.
A city list isn't complete without a Cheesecake Factory mention 😂
As a Reno resident, hard to see it ranked so high when we close schools every fall as the wildfires in the west cause smoke to sink into the basin and cause the worst air quality in the nation multiple times per year for month at a time.
“Literally tens of people who don’t fit that description” lol 😂😂😂😂
I live in Reno; lived in Tahoe for years. Have never seen a winter like this! Just saw that Reno made the list. Depending on where you live, it can be pedestrian and bike friendly. Drivers aren't always considerate toward pedestrians, yet I'm grateful that I'm a 5-minute walk from work (after 2-4 hour commutes in Tahoe, this is heaven!). The city is fairly compact regarding shopping, dining, etc. I can't offer my views about public transportation because I don't use the bus. We have an Amtrak station downtown. I'm not a high desert fan, and it does get very hot in the summer. That's not an issue right now...lol! We have been hit hard by the ever-growing wild fire season. A friend estimated that we lose about a month's worth of outdoor fun due to the unhealthy air quality. That includes the Tahoe Basin. Enjoy your videos!