Top 10 Design Cities in America

So architecture firm RMJM Hillier, the American Institute of Architecture, and Zogby International have just released a list of the ten best American cities for design. The judging criteria included the quality of public transportation, the number of LEED-registered buildings, the number of creative industries, and residential ratings for the city itself. Here’s the list:

1. Chicago

2. New York City

3. Boston

4. Los Angeles

5. Portland

6. San Fransisco

7. Seattle

8. Denver

9. Philadelphia

10. Washington D.C.

I guess Austin missed the cut because of the complete lack of public transportation. And the list is kind of what I expected, with the exception of Philadelphia. Interestingly, 50% of Philadelphia residents rated the standard of living in their city as poor, while 70% of Seattle and Portland residents rated their city as having excellent standards of living.

The rating criteria, however, seems kind of strange to me. Apparently the lack of historic buildings hurt Seattle’s rank, but I have to wonder what this has to do with design. What do older buildings have to do with the creativity of newer buildings?