Hello, neighbor! Phoenix-area city ranked among most friendly cities in the nation
Dec 21, 2015, 5:48 PM
(AP Photo)
(AP Photo)
PHOENIX — One Arizona city was ranked among the most friendly cities in the nation, according to a recent report from WalletHub.com.
Scottsdale, Arizona, ranked No. 10 on WalletHub’s list of 100 most friendly cities in the nation. The Phoenix-area city also ranked No. 1 for caring for the vulnerable and homeless.
Jill Gonzalez with WalletHub said the city prioritizes sheltering its homeless population, which helped contribute to its high ranking.
“When we look into the percentage (in Scottsdale) of homeless people who are sheltered, Scottsdale has one of the best numbers — up above 85 percent,” she said. “That is a really good number. I mean, if you look at California cities, you maybe see only a quarter of homeless people being sheltered.”
Gonzalez also said Scottsdale ranks “very low” in terms of child poverty and “very high” in terms of residents who work in the social service department.
Some of the other Arizona cities that made the cut were Gilbert at No. 14, Chandler at No. 19, Mesa at No. 45, Tucson at No. 62, Glendale at No. 74 and Phoenix at No. 82.
Gonzalez said many of Arizona’s bigger or more populated cities rank lower on the list due to a fewer amount of resources allocated to helping those in need.
“We see a lot of bigger cities toward the bottom of the list because they’re stretched thin,” she said.
The list also ranked cities with the percentage of people who do favors for their neighbors and Phoenix and Mesa tied for last place. For the percentage of workers per city who carpool, Glendale ranked among the top cities at No. 3 while Scottsdale ranked among the bottom at No. 98.
Gilbert also ranked No. 2 for the lowest child-poverty rate.
