San Francisco County Transportation Authority
Moving the City

Everyone's talking about livability these days. The US Dept. of Transportation Draft Strategic Plan calls "livable communities" places where "transportation, housing and commercial development investments have been coordinated so that people have access to adequate, affordable and environmentally sustainable travel options." Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood boils it down to "being able to take your kids to school, go to work, see a doctor, drop by the grocery or post office, go out to dinner and a movie, and play with your kids in a park, all without having to get in your car." (See this blogpost: What Does ‘Livability’ Mean to the U.S. Government?)

At the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, we are developing a Transportation Plan for San Francisco that focuses on creating a more livable city. In an effort to gather input from the public, we held a contest on Twitter to answer the question: What does "livability" mean to you? After a month-long entry period, we voted on the best entries and announced the winners on August 4.

THE WINNING ENTRIES

Our contest ended on August 1, 2010. Thank you to all who participated!

The winning six-word definition for “livability” is:

“Accessible places, natural spaces, minimal traces.”

This definition elegantly ties together transportation and environmental aspects of livability… and it rhymes! Congratulations to AdinaR16 who will receive 2 tickets to Outside Lands!

The two runner-up entries are:

“Serendipitous encounter… dependable rendezvous… spontaneous excursion.”

—submitted by reinkingf

“Living, working, playing, all in reach.”

—submitted by Rochelle Germano

Each runner-up will receive $50 in Clipper Cash.

We had a hard time choosing winners because we received so many creative, inspiring definitions. Here are some of our other favorites:

“Next Bus: 3 minutes—meanwhile, conversation.” —by pepperquickshot
“Community connection. Neighborhood enthusiasm. Sustainable lifestyle.” —by supactive
“Explore, connect, share our vibrant city.” [submitted via e-mail]
“My neighborhood has everything I need.” [submitted via e-mail]
“Smart transportation grows spaces into places.” —by reasonablysmart
“Life’s necessities and joys within reach.” —by meebelle
“Safe streets. Places where people meet.” [submitted via e-mail]
“Like Mr. Rogers’ neighborhood, but better.” —by metalorchid
“A vibrant, welcoming community for all users.” [submitted via e-mail]
“Accessible communities promoting convenient health lifestyles.” [submitted via e-mail]
“Local hardware store sells flamingo hats.” [submitted via e-mail]
“Comfort, safety, abundance, sustainability, respect, community.” —by sophochka
“The anti-sprawl; accessible and worth accessing.” —by etlipman

Word Cloud

The word cloud below incorporates all definitions of livability submitted in contest entries. You can download an 11x17 PDF mini-poster of the cloud.

Previous weeks' wordclouds: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3

Don’t let the discussion of livability stop here! Follow us on Twitter and Facebook to share your feedback about livability and its role in the San Francisco Transportation Plan.

If you have further questions about the contest, please send an email to .