Uploaded on 2016-08-03 by Rebecca Castaneda

Top 5 cities: 1) NYC 2) Copenhagen 3) San Francisco 4) Paris 5) London In my opinion, the following criteria makes a city liveable: 1) access to various modes of transportation and ease of travel, 2) infrastructure that allows for modern living like public restrooms and trash receptacles, water and sewer infrastructure, and recycling facilities 3) access to fresh and healthy foods as a means for sustenance, 4) policy and action taken with regard to environmental conservation locally and globally, and 5) imports and exports available from trade with other communities. The status of my own city is pretty bleak when taken in perspective to the 5 qualifiers above. I live in Buffalo, NY. Access to various transportation is limited – we have a single train line that goes 7.7 miles in the city. There are also city buses that connect. However, living here without a car is very difficult. For beyond local transit, we have Amtrak, Greyhound, and a large international airport. On point two, recycling, water, and sanitation infrastructure, our city meets my standard. But it would be nice to see the city incentivizing going above and beyond, like incorporating grey water systems into municipal buildings and emphasizing recycling. There are some parts of Buffalo where you cannot access fresh, healthy foods, especially if you do not have a car. Food deserts are common in low income neighborhoods. I would need to research my city’s environmental conservation policy greater to comment on that. As for imports and exports, this is pretty standardized in the US as it’s handled on the federal level. But our food is a huge export for us, so this is an important part of our economy.