New York City landed in the top five of most livable metropolises for senior citizens, according to a report released Monday, and Manhattan’s Upper West Side has the best rating in the city.
AARP, the advocacy group for older Americans, released its livability index for locations across the country and New York came scored a 62, a dozen points higher than the national average.
A section within the Upper West Side, near 93rd Street and Broadway, scored the second highest in the nation, with 77 points, while two other tracts in the vicinity scored 76.
The group said there were numerous reasons as to why that neighborhood were more hospitable to New Yorkers over 65.
“Despite its expensive housing,” the Upper West Side “offers a multigenerational and walkable community with great restaurants, world-class culture, cheap and convenient mass transit, as well as easy access to gyms and Central Park jogging paths,” it said in a statement.
AARP used census data to rate locations on 40 metrics and 20 policies across seven categories of livability, which include transportation, housing, health and environment. The city as a whole scored high in the transportation, housing and neighborhood access to goods and services.
For the city at large, plentiful mass transit options held annual household transportation costs to a median of $6,015 compared with $10,791 nationally.
Manhattan Borough president Gale Brewer, who used to represent the Upper West Side in the City Council, said the city helped make the streets better for seniors with improvements such as increased park space, better curb cuts and more senior centers.
“Every single neighborhood should emulate what works for them,” she said.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said the index should serve as a blueprint for future efforts aimed at meeting the needsof a growing senior population, particularly affordable housing. The report, he noted, showed that the median housing cost for the city was $1,389, nearly $400 more than the national average.
“We understand we are in a city in constant evolution,” he said.
The entire index is available online at aarp.org/livabilityindex and presented in an interactive map and a search by address for users.
