Chosen winner of America's best cities ranking sparks controversy

13 June 2023 , 16:46

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New York City was named America's Best City of 2023 by Resonance Consultancy (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The list of America's best cities of 2023 is here — and the urban centre at the top of the list is one that has topped the ranking for nearly a decade.

New York City was named America's Best City of 2023 by Resonance Consultancy in a recent report, cementing its continued status as one of the best destinations in the world.

Every year, Resonance Consultancy ranks cities across the US and compiles a list of the top 100.

The global real estate and tourism advisement group uses six metrics to evaluate the American cities, which are collectively called the "six pillars of place equity": Place, Product, Programming, People, Prosperity and Promotion.

New York City beat out 99 other cities to be named the best in America (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Resonance Consultancy highlighted the Big Apple's perfect scores in Place and Prosperity and said the city was experiencing "urban recovery writ large."

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Place is defined as "the perceived quality of a city’s natural and built environment, including the sub-categories of Weather, Safety, Neighborhoods & Landmarks, and Outdoors," and Prosperity refers to "a city’s employment and corporate head offices, including the sub-categories of Fortune 500 Companies and Household Income as well as Employment Rate and Income Equality for the 2021 America’s Best Cities rankings."

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands left the city in as part of the American "urban exodus," but the company argues that many are now returning.

Expansions to hotels and transit centers highlight NYC's rebound after the COVID-19 pandemic (Getty Images/EyeEm)

"Sniping haters who declared that the big, vibrant, cheek-by-jowl city experiment was finally over as the urban exodus intensified in 2020 and vacancy in the city’s coveted real estate hit double digits were quickly silenced by the rebound," the company wrote.

The real estate industry is bouncing back, and tourism is on the rise.

The median Manhattan rent is over $5,000 a month now, an all-time high, and the city anticipates welcoming over 61 million vacationers this year — nearly as many as the 70 million who visited in 2019.

By comparison, only 33 million tourists flocked to the city in 2021.

More hotel rooms have sprung up across the city to accommodate the anticipated masses, with over 10,000 more added in 2022.

There have also been lots of large renovations and expansions to urban travel centers like the John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport as well as the Moynahan Train Hall, an extension of Penn Station.

More than 4 million people rode the subways on May 17 — a post-pandemic record, according to the MTA (Getty Images)

And the Metropolitan Transit Authority announced that over 4 million people rode the subways on May 17 — the largest number since before the pandemic.

Culturally, the city is on the rebound, too, with Broadway reopening completely last year and garnering thousands of patrons.

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A few museums have also reopened, and others are going through expansions.

Yet many are not pleased that NYC was chosen as America's best city.

Twitter user @GhostofCoby said he used to go to the city every Memorial Day weekend.

"I haven't been since 2014 and don't ever intend to return again," he wrote.

Several others detailed their experiences being robbed in the city. One said they were even carjacked.

Some brought up the more-than-20 people shoved in front of subways in 2022 and said they feel the urban center is unsafe.

And yet others brought up New York's politics, which they said were too liberal and have been causing the exodus.

"It’s clear whoever did the study hasn’t actually been there," tweeted @HillbllyAnalyst.

Resonance Consultancy is steadfast in its position, however, and encourages individuals to visit the city and perhaps view it from above by going up the Empire State building or other similar attractions.

"Do yourself a favor and make time to see the phoenix rise from above," the company wrote. "Go up, look down and breathe out. This city is back."

The top 10 on this year's list were:

1. New York City
2. Chicago
3. Los Angeles
4. San Francisco
5. Washington, D.C.
6. Miami
7. Boston
8. Seattle
9. Houston
10. San José

Jeremiah Hassel