Are you happy living in Royal Oak?
According to Movoto real estate brokerage site, you should be. Movoto published a list of the happiest small places in America, looking at data for cities between 40,000 and 61,000 residents and ranked them based on income, marital status, stress factors, and safety.
Royal Oak came in at No. 8 on the list.
“It’s nice to be recognized and know that people are paying attention to the kind of stuff we’re doing,” Mayor Jim Ellison said.
In addition to the success of high-profile events such as Arts, Beat and Eats and the Woodward Dream Cruise, Ellison believes much of Royal Oak’s success has to do with having a legitimate downtown and all it offers. He also noted the city’s extensive parks system.
“One of our greatest assets is that we have over 50 parks,” he said. “There is a park within 2-1/2 blocks of any house in this community.
“We have a lot of opportunities to make people happy and that’s why they are happy.”
According to Movoto, besides the Detroit Zoo, the motorcycle rallies, and multitude of festivals, the city had happy numbers across the board, citing low stress factors, one of the better safety rankings for low violent crime, and a decent median income. Royal Oak also had a solid marriage rank and walkability score, and Movoto noted that “enjoying a stroll in the lovely small-city atmosphere is an easy feat.”
“I was at a DDA meeting a couple of weeks ago and we checked the city’s walkability ranking and it was almost perfect,” said Shelly Kemp, executive director of the Royal Oak Chamber of Commerce. “It takes into account how close people are to the library, the police station, shops, restaurants and the farmers market.”
The Movoto report also highlighted education, with 64 percent of the population having at least a bachelor’s degree. Royal Oak is also one of the few places on the list that isn’t home to a major college, so there’s no need to worry about tests and homework, the report said.
Kemp grew up in Royal Oak and the high ranking did not surprise her. She believes it has a lot to do with the people who live and work in the city.
“One of the things I’ve always found really interesting about Royal Oak is the degree of volunteerism and the way the people care about the community. It’s amazing to me.
“There are so many people who dedicate hundreds of hours each year to make the city a better place to live. That has a lot to do with it. I’ve lived in other towns, and the commitment people have to this town is something I’ve never seen before.
“People are obviously happy to be here. Otherwise, they wouldn’t work so hard to make it a better place to be.”
To see the complete list, click movoto.com/blog/top-ten/happiest-small-cities/.
Photo Credit: InsatiableWanderlust / Shutterstock.com
