It is projected that by 2025, the world’s population will reach over 8.1 billion people- and a large majority of those people will be heavily concentrated in cities. While much of the focus has been on preparing and reconfiguring our already hyper-dense urban to absorb even more people, in the peripheral, smaller cities and towns around the globe have experienced significant expansion, and have defined themselves as “up-and-coming”. Places that were perhaps once overlooked are putting themselves on the map for their rapid growth, economic vitality, and affordability, among other characteristics.
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Up-and-coming cities and neighborhoods are defined as those who have not quite reached a particular quantifiable equilibrium that defines a desirable or successful city. Sometimes this means that the city has a strong job outlook, but the quality of public education lags. Other times, it can mean that housing is widely affordable, but high crime rates are deterring new residents from moving. Occasionally, it has to do with how the overall quality of life is measured through the lens of cultural attractions, access to transportation, and proximity to other cities that offer these desired amenities. While every city has its positive and negative aspects and almost nowhere achieves the much sought-after utopian status, it’s important to keep track of what cities are experiencing rapid growth because, for many, those trade-offs are still appealing.
There are many city indexes out there, that measure the past performance of cities and predict which ones are going to be desirable in the next few years, and much of this has to do with personal opinion or experience combined with data. One measurement, by Neighbor, uses metrics such as diversity, increased well-being from year to year, a change in unemployment, population growth, the growth rate of housing permits being filed, and the ratio of existing homes to residents. Altogether, the data is extrapolated and speculates on who might be moving there and why. It’s important to note that many of these cities aren’t the ones that have been gaining wide stream media attention, such as Austin, which is growing due to its young, and highly educated population, extreme increase in new development, and popularity as the next big tech hub.
Neighborhood’s projected number one up-and-coming city in the United States is Salisbury, Maryland, located in the state’s Eastern Shore. Salisbury was not largely impacted by the devastating unemployment rates caused by the pandemic, and since the country’s slow economic recovery, has experienced significant growth. The number of homes being built also outpaces the number of residents, meaning that housing is still affordable for current and future residents. Notably, this city is also within reach of Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Philadelphia.
However, the United States isn’t the only place that has been keeping close track of cities on the rise- Europe is also measuring up the next best places to live. Although relatively well known as a tourist destination and hot spot for arts, architecture, and culture, Utrecht, in the Netherlands, brings a high student population to a historic city while still experiencing economic growth. It also has become a sort of experimental hub to explore new, future-forward designs of housing. Utrecht is quickly gaining the attention of those who once only focused on the tourist-friendly Amsterdam and futuristic Rotterdam.
Is your city, or a city you enjoy on the rise? Pay close attention to how it has transformed over the past decade, and how planners and designers are working to make it better. Are new jobs being created? Are neighborhoods becoming more diverse? Are cranes beginning to do the skyline with a promise of new housing projects? If so, you may be experiencing the next up-and-coming place to be.
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