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Taggerung-Thank you for this thread idea-I really really like this. I actually want to take a stab at ranking them all too, but I think to do so, I'm gonna use a 1-5 scale with 5 being highly desirable and 1 being completely frivolous.
Two variables you didn't add that I'd consider immensely important would be safety: 5/5, perhaps above even education, and, housing stock, but mainly when I say that, I mean a place that isn't like San Francisco, and where people within the community at large aren't drowning in debt, etc, homeless, etc. in order to be able to afford a roof over their head.
-Higher education: 5/5. We are talking human capital here. People can say what they will about places "indoctrinating" students, but first, if you look at the number of candidates from both parties coming from elite schools, that's simply not true, and also, objectively speaking, cities with more universities ranked highly are more likely to be at the forefront of things, and perform well in other metrics, nationally/globally, and fill productive jobs which causes more high paying jobs to be concentrated in said area. However, I'll say this applies to the entire education spectrum. Which place does really good at filling technical school jobs? Which state or country has the highest literacy rate? Which place has a good state university system that fills employment options for students who don't necessarily qualify for the Ivy Leagues? This one is central IMO.
-Parks and recreation: 4.5/5. I think this one, being close to some naturally beauty I enjoy is great, but especially having healthy infrastructure, bike trails, rec facilities, etc that encourage the populace to live an active lifestyle is even more important to me in choosing an ideal place to live. Both for personal enjoyment, and I think, for what it does and says about the people that live there.
-Public transportation: 4/5. Important, I think, perhaps a little over walkability. I don't know if it's absolutely essential, at least stateside, there are very successful economies and cities that don't have it that strong, and this is true of other countries as well, but having a functional system would be nice. First of all because of the improvement it would lead to in health/environmental factors, but also, because it's considered the most important factor in a person's ability to have upward mobility/escape generational poverty.
-Walkability: 3.5/5. Pretty important, but not as important as public transport IMO. The reason I say that is in a lot of the world, places are somewhat walkable because of density and transit, but they aren't necessarily most walkable or elegant, per se, to use a term my Urban Files cohost mentioned/coined. So, I think you want to have a baseline of walkability that is solid to be sure, but, I also don't think it's necessary to be Paris or Tokyo or NYC, either.
-Finance/business: 3.5/5. Having a good business scene is important. So too is having leaders in that business community that actively care about the overall economy of the region their in, and make strategic decisions within their business with other professional networks and industries within the community that promote overall growth. I don't think a corporate base is necessarily a bad thing, but I also don't know if it's the most important factor, either.
-Sports: 3/5. I mean, you said what I like lol. And, I really do like sports, watching it, seeing venues etc. Having actually successful sports teams though, while it might make me happy if my personal teams win, is perhaps less important than just being able to regularly attend games. I see it, almost as an extension of culture, like going to an opera or orchestra or theatre, but unscripted, and performers who are best in the world at what they do, and venues that are among the best at showcasing what they do, both in terms of aesthetics, layout, and fan interactivity-again, this one here I don't know how much practical benefit it adds, but having sports teams around is great for me.
-Architecture: 3/5-Mid level. I mean, I think aesthetics in a place are pretty cool. You do want to appreciate the beauty of where you live at least somewhat. But ideally a place with legitimate substance and not just filled with later starchitect projects in an attempt to bring some sense of pride to a city. I certainly would rate history more important on personal biases, but overall, I would say this is an ideal fit-function is more important than form IMO, but often, the function of a place is dictated by form-so it doesn't have to be the most stately place ever, but ideally one where decent form allows for positive function.
-Cultural institutions: 3/5. Probably about the same as sports for me-I think it's useful, it creates something in the populace, and also says something about the nature of the people there that they support it.
-Attractive people: 2.5/5. So, if this one was phrased slightly differently, it could've been much higher. To me, being known as a place with gorgeous people, like say, Rio, isn't all that important. But, public health? I might have put that one as 5/5, esp. if we are talking health food options available, level of fitness activity of residents, lowering obesity rates, average lifespans, etc. The superficial stuff, eh, because you'll pretty much find attractive and less attractive people regardless what the stereotypical norm is, but, having a population that appears healthy, etc, yeah, I'd say that's highly important to me.
-Shopping/retail: 2.5/5. Mildly important. What I think it does show is a healthy economy within the community, and provides service sector jobs. But beyond a base level, I don't think this is all that important. What I think is more important is being a community that does a particularly good job of avoiding food deserts and providing good access to grocery stores, and perhaps some other base services.
-Entertainment: 2.5/5. I mean, I don't want to live in an overly boring place, but this one also isn't particularly important to me, and in fact in some cases, can potentially be detrimental to living in a place, if it's a place everyone vacations or retires to for instance, it can artificially inflate costs above what they should be.
-Nightlife: 2/5. I suppose this is evident of a vibrant culture, or something of the sort, but at the same time, I really don't see a need for my city to overly be known as a destination where people party either. I don't exactly want to be in a place where liquor sales are banned on Sunday or last call is super early, but I also don't necessarily want to be Vegas or Miami or NOLA here either haha.
Higher education, Walkability, and Business & Finance.
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