AARP Livability Index puts Rochester fair to midland; city officials refuse comment

Rochester's downtown, all aglow for the holidays (John Gisis photo)

CONCORD - Earlier this month AARP New Hampshire released its Livability Index rankings on communities across the state, with Rochester scoring just above the average, at 52, while Portsmouth scored 62, Dover 57 and Manchester 57, all in the top ten.
The overall scores range from a high of 73 to a low of 23, with an average score of 48.

The comprehensive, web-based ranking scores every neighborhood and community in all 50 states and the District of Columbia for the services and amenities that improve people's quality of life, according to AARP officials.
Based on the AARP Livability Index platform, the other top Granite State communities are Hanover, Exeter, Keene, Concord, Lebanon, Newmarket, Pembroke, and Plaistow.
Ir should be noted that The Rochester Voice asked for comments from several City of Rochester officials over a period of about a week, including Mayor Paul Callaghan, City Manager Katie Ambrose and Public Information and Community Engagement's Matt Wyatt. The only reply came from Wyatt, who only said "Thanks for the opportunity."

"The AARP Livability Index provides people throughout New Hampshire with the information they need to create vibrant and welcoming environments for people of all ages," said AARP NH State Director Christina FitzPatrick. "We look forward to working with local leaders to innovate and adapt to help people thrive."
Scoring on various metrics included Neighborhood, Transportation, Environment, Health, Engagement and Opportunity.
What The Rochester Voice found in several of these metrics was a mixed bag.
For instance in housing, with a score of 54, the study found that the availability of housing was getting worse while the percentage of income spent on housing was getting better at a little below 18 percent of income.
The neighborhood metric came in with a score of below average, even though the study found crime was going down and access to libraries, stores and supermarkets was in the top third. The ranking, however, also showed that access to jobs was in the bottom third.
Interestingly the civic and social involvement scored a respectable 61, with broadband access, voting rate and social involvement all in top third. However, the opportunity for civic involvement was in the bottom third.
Launched in 2015, the AARP Livability Index platform scores livability by using more than 50 national data sources, such as the U.S. Census Bureau American Communities Survey, across seven categories: housing, neighborhood, transportation, environment, health, engagement, and opportunity. The tool measures every city, county, and town against 61 indicators of livability, ranging from monthly housing costs to access to transportation, opportunities for social connections to the presence of age-friendly community plans. Users can search the interactive online tool by address, ZIP code, or community to find an overall or category score, identify challenges in their community and compare their neighborhood to others across performance benchmarks.
To view the AARP Livability Index platform - which this writer found very easy to navigate -visit aarp.org/livabilityindex.