Why Aren’t People Moving to America’s ‘Best’ Cities?

Earlier this month, real estate brokerage Redfin published a list of America’s most bicycle-friendly cities, slotting Minneapolis first. That should seem a little ridiculous to anyone who has spent a winter in the North Star metropolis. Then again, hilliness and the number of bike commuters were part of the study’s methodology. The number of days cold enough to freeze snot to your upper lip was not.

Let’s not single out Redfin, though. A quick scan of “best cities” lists offers plenty that don’t pass the sniff test. There’s the list of best places to launch a startup that touts San Diego above noted tech economies like San Francisco and Seattle. There are the 10 most livable cities for the 50-and-over crowd, as ranked by AARP, none of which are south of Washington, D.C.—despite decades’ worth of evidence that older Americans prefer shuffleboard to curling1432151914360.