{"id":52048,"date":"2011-12-12T10:12:08","date_gmt":"2011-12-12T15:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=52048"},"modified":"2011-12-13T11:48:50","modified_gmt":"2011-12-13T16:48:50","slug":"measuring-quality-of-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2011\/12\/measuring-quality-of-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Measuring Quality of Life"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>
The cover of the 2011 Winter edition of 'The Connecticut Economy' shows a visualization of the Storrs Center development, discussed as an example of mixed-use development with the potential to improve quality of life.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The winter issue of The Connecticut Economy<\/em> examines how we might live in the future, assessing quality of life and ranking Connecticut 12th in a survey of which states offer the best value for the money.<\/p>\n

North Dakota, where winter temperatures average 2 degrees F in parts of the state, ranked first.<\/p>\n

Like beauty, quality of life is in the eye of the beholder, says Steve Lanza, executive editor of the quarterly magazine, which is published by the Department of Economics in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.<\/p>\n

But his weighted scale of life\u2019s quality, in which housing prices and taxes help determine an ideal environment, gives North Dakota the edge for having the highest quality of life at the lowest cost.<\/p>\n

The variables in his analysis fell into two broad groups: assets, such as health, education, and income; and liabilities, such as pollution, crime, poverty, and unemployment.<\/p>\n

Rainfall, one of the variables considered in the scale, might have worked against Connecticut this year, the state\u2019s wettest ever.<\/p>\n

New Hampshire ranked second nationally on an \u201cefficiency index\u201d that measured high quality at low cost. Vermont was fifth, and Massachusetts eighth.<\/p>\n

Maine and Rhode Island ranked 13th and 14th, just behind Connecticut.<\/p>\n

In weighting the variables other ways, Connecticut ranked as high as second (when assets were considered more important than liabilities), or fifth (when assets and liabilities had equal weight), and as low as 14th (when liabilities were given more weight).<\/p>\n

Chief among the state\u2019s liabilities was income inequality.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no shortage of statistics that reflect the quality of life,\u201d Lanza wrote in the new issue. \u201cThe trick is to combine these apples-and-oranges indicators of general well-being into a single metric.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, he says, \u201cNo matter how you slice it, Connecticut offers a premier quality of life. What\u2019s more, 13 percent of the U.S. population, one third of the country\u2019s income, and 18 percent of its advanced-degree holders lie within a 200-mile radius of Hartford.\u201d<\/p>\n

To hear Lanza discuss the survey, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Prospects for improving the quality of life are considered in the new issue, including the growing interest in mixed-use development. Often called \u201csmart growth,\u201d mixed use developments combine retail, residential, and commercial uses in close proximity, requiring \u201can extraordinary degree of cooperation and coordination between developers, builders, financial institutions, community groups, and various layers of government,\u201d says Dennis Heffley, professor of economics.<\/p>\n

The Storrs Center development, now being built, might become a model for how small college towns can attract the amenities of a big city, Heffley writes.<\/p>\n

But the idea for mixed use is an old one, he notes. Gurleyville, a village of Storrs-Mansfield that thrived in the 19th century, was an early version. It consisted of a button factory, a gristmill, a corner store, and colonial homes. Residents could walk to work on the farm, mill, or factory.<\/p>\n

That model disappeared in the late 1800s and early 1900s, followed by a long period of suburbanization.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce regarded as a planning anachronism, mixed-use development has enjoyed a rebirth of popularity,\u201d Heffley says.<\/p>\n

The first phase of Storrs Center, slated to open in August 2012, may provide a glimpse of this future.<\/p>\n

Also in the winter issue is an assessment of poverty rates since the recent recession. Connecticut has fared worse relative to other states, and the data suggest a longer-term increase in the incidence of poverty here, according to an analysis by Arthur Wright, emeritus professor of economics.<\/p>\n

In the jobs outlook:<\/p>\n