Ten Lovely Cities You Can Migrate To and (Maybe) Survive Climate Havoc

Since I started making videos about affordable walkability and underrated urbanism, I've gotten several requests to do something specifically around small and mid-sized cities. Well, this video isn't EXACTLY that, but it's adjacent!

It turns out, if my brazen misapplication of the EPA's Climate Resilience Screening Index is to be believed, small and mid-sized cities are going to be pretty good performers under trying climate conditions. So, if you were to pack up all your stuff and move to a place that had the least risk / most resilience, and was STILL a legitimate city, what city would it be? Well, this video has ten ideas for you. Ignore them at your peril!

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Previous CityNerd Videos Referenced:

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Images
- USA - California Wildfires - Deadly fire in rural Northern California / California wildfire leaves swathe of devastation in Keswick / Twin Northern California fires threaten 12,000 homes / California Wildfires Seen from Space / Smoke from western wildfires blankets Seattle, Associated Press/NOAA slug footage, ID G12833

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Music:
CityNerd background: Caipirinha in Hawaii by Carmen María and Edu Espinal (YouTube music library)

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[EthanEves]

Did the EPA not factor in water supply in their evaluation? So many desert cities on this list with highly precarious water supplies.

[JoshKablack]

I'm gonna be really disappointed if your April Fool's episode isn't a list of most transit-accessable Cheesecake Factory locations.

[mrright]

10. Barnstable Falls MA
9. Santa Fe NM
8. Reno NV
7. Las Cruces NM
6. Coeur d'Alene ID
5. Grand Junction CO
4. Bend OR
3. Missoula MT
2. Duluth MN
1. Flagstaff AZ

[LeeHawkinsPhoto]

I love how Duluth (and that town on Cape Cod I guess) is the only city that isn’t directly downwind from the wildfires and actually has a great water supply. I seriously expected more of the Midwest and Northeast to show up on this list, but I guess the EPA doesn’t bother to notice how dry some places are and how the Great Lakes are really about as good as it gets, because we don’t get anywhere near the trouble that happens in the South or the West. We don’t get fires, we don’t get hurricanes, we don’t get a ton of hail or tornadoes, we don’t get blizzards much anymore, and flooding is nowhere near as bad with these heavy storms as it is in the Southeast. I love the West, but let’s get real…you gotta be thinking about a lot of smoke when those fires get big…and worse yet, water is scarce!

[striderSA]

I'm not an expert, but I'm deeply surprised to see so many cities rank highly in the more arid states. Since one of the biggest challenges with Climate Change will be sufficient water supplies, I'd have expected anywhere arid to rank poorly (especially as compared to the Great Lakes, which alone could supply literal thousands of years of fresh water supply).

[aerob]

In North America, my votes are for Montreal, Toronto, Chicago, Pittsburgh. and Minneapolis. Gotta have good access to fresh water, mild summers, and decent-to-great urbanism.

[Nobody-womb]

I live in Las Cruces, NM. I’m VERY surprised it makes the list because we have many summer days that reach above 100 degree heat. You step outside at noon and it feels like an oven outside. If anything happens to the grid, it is unlivable without air conditioning. Plus we are always in a drought, with no natural water sources most of the year.

[susanb]

I moved to Maine last year and expected to be housebound for much of winter but discovered that Maine is expert at snow removal from roads and sidewalks. Benefits of experience that I should have anticipated. Winter 2022/2023 was my first Maine winter but it certainly was not Maine’s first.

[dustyrusty]

Ah, Reno. A great man once told me "what happens in Vegas, is cheaper in Reno."

Anyhow, I'm questioning the EPA's methodology here. I was expecting more from the great lakes region. Mild climate, access to fresh water, well above sea level, affordable, and good historical urban fabric are huge assets here.

[Jarekthegamingdragon]

As a portland resident, the wildfires are getting terrible. I run an annual tournament and I'm changing the date this year from late aug to early july just to avoid wildfire smoke.
Oh god northern Idaho. No other place in the world, not even the deep south, did I feel more unsafe with my not white room mates than there. Place is a hell hole.

[intreoo]

In my opinion, the Great Lakes region will be the safest in North America for climate change. Constant water supply, colder climate, swaths of arable land, easy access to the world's transport routes.

[Warriorwolfivy]

As a Colorado native my immediate reaction to hearing Grand Junction was a physical recoil and a loud "Eugh".

[monovision]

It seems like the EPA didn't consider water supply at all.

[dougclendening]

Detroit. The most fresh water in any part of the world, with an incredibly low cost, with the ability to take part in reshaping a big city.

[williamquigley]

At 70 and having lived in Michigan all my life, with the emergence of global warming, I truly feel lucky to be here. If I were an aware 20 year old right now and lived anywhere south of the Ohio river, I would want to move here if not actually Canada.

[charlesajones]

I live in Virginia and we get off pretty easy. Especially up in the mountains. Generally, we're too far north for hurricanes, too far south for blizzards and too far east for tornadoes.

[cannotgetstarted]

I'm surprised, most of these cities are places that have, historically, had issues with lack of water and drought. Am I missing something, or does that seem like a big deal?

[martinmcnulty]

The Duluth waterfront Collective is working hard on trying to remove I-35 from the waterfront! Duluth would be magical without that eyesore on the lake front

[hawaiianmoonlight]

Lahaina is your honorable mention? West Maui has had a history of fires and now Lahaina is gone!

[justingerald]

So as a Black family, we definitely would have to move to a less diverse area. Fun.