Have you ever wondered how well your city ranks against other areas for kid friendliness?  Well, Population Connection offers rankings and suggestions for improvement that are intended to encourage parents and local citizens to take action.  According to the website FAQs, “...Our report should inspire families, individuals, activists, and officials to work together to create better communities.  It is not a relocation guide....” The folks at Population Connection are also not suggesting that all relevant criteria are covered in their report because the data may not compare properly across regions.  The point is that this information can be a starting place for communities to take stock, and ultimately take action to create better communities for their children, in whatever way makes sense for them. 

Population Connection offers data on a variety of factors including of course, population, but also education, health and community.  One of the interesting factors in rating community is “percent growth in urbanized land,” or sprawl, as we usually call it.  The argument offered is that children’s quality of life decreases if they spend more time in the car to run basic errands.  I would also add that high-density growth detracts from the quality as well because schools and other services become overburdened.  Regardless of what “utopia” means to you, this report reminds parents and community leaders to think outside of their sometimes overwhelming day-to-day tasks and think about the world they want to create for their children.