Best Places To Live in the United States Brett Spencer, Reed Hogan and Jeffrey Park

Why are some cities the best places to live? ► Different Criteria for Different Demographics  Recent College Graduates  Families ► Factors We Considered  Median Age  Unemployment Rate  Population  Number of Bars  Average Temperature  Crime Rate  Percent of Population who are Married  Number of Higher Education Institutions

Motivations ► College students face the decision of where to live. ► A successfully descriptive model, which estimates quality of life in various cities for recent graduates, might help students to approach that decision. ► As individuals age and begin to build a family, their preferences change – affecting which cities are desirable to live in.

Top 10 Cities 1. New York 2. Chicago 3. Miami 4. San Diego 5. Las Vegas 6. Philadelphia 7. New Orleans 8. Cincinnati 9. Atlanta 10. Washington-Baltimore 1. Honolulu 2. Virginia Beach 3. Billings 4. Columbus 5. San Diego 6. Des Moines 7. Minneapolis 8. Madison 9. Colorado Springs 10. Santa Rosa Recent College GraduatesFamilies

Sources for Rankings

Expected Relations between Rankings and Independent Variables VariableRecent College Graduates Families Median AgePositive Unemployment RatePositive PopulationNegative Number of Bars with a 15 mile radius Negative Average Annual Temperature Negative Crime RatePositive Percent of Population who are Married PositiveNegative Number of Higher Education Institutions in the Area Negative Monthly RentPositiveNegative

Descriptive Statistics for Recent College Graduates Regression Statistics Multiple R R Square Adjusted R Square Standard Error Observations40 ANOVA dfSSMSFSignificance F Regression Residual Total395330

Descriptive Statistics for Families Regression Statistics Multiple R R Square Adjusted R Square Standard Error Observations40 ANOVA dfSSMSFSignificance F Regression Residual Total395330

Multiple Regression Coeff.t Stat P- value Intercept Median age Unemployment rate Number of bars Average temperature Coeff.t StatP-value Recent College GraduatesFamilies

Multiple Regression Continued Coeff.t Stat P- value Crime rate Percent married Colleges in the area Population Size 5.58E Coeff.t StatP-value Recent College GraduatesFamilies

Validity Tests of Recent College Grads Regression

Validity Tests of Families Regression

Is the Recent College Grad. Regression Valid? ANOVA dfSSMSFSignificance F Regression Residual Total F.05,8,31 =2.27 R.R: F>2.27 F-stat =  We can reject the null hypothesis. H 0 : B 1 = B 2 = B 3 = … = B 8 = 0 H 1 : At least 1 B i ≠ 0

Is the Family Preference Model Valid? ANOVA dfSSMSFSignificance F Regression Residual Total F.05,8,31=2.27 R.R: F>2.27 F-stat = We can reject the null hypothesis. H 0 : B 1 = B 2 = B 3 = … = B 8 = 0 H 1 : At least 1 B i ≠ 0

Conclusions ► For recent college graduates, average annual temperature and availability of bars are significant predictors of quality of life in the top 40 cities. ► As individuals begin to build a family, average annual temperature is no longer a significant variable. Interestingly enough, however, the availability of bars, remains significant, while the city’s population also becomes significant

Suggestion on Best Cities New York, NY Chicago, IL San Francisco, CA Philadelphia, PA Miami, FL 1. Billings, MT 2. Honolulu, HI 3. Manchester, NH 4. Virginia Beach, VA 5. Springfield, IL Recent College Grads Families

Sources for Independent Variables ► g/bplive/2007/ (Money Magazine) g/bplive/2007/ g/bplive/2007/ ► ► ► (Bureau of Labor Statistics)