As the smallest large city in our ranking, Tucson is buoyed by its sense of place, ranking #15 in our Place category, with strong scores for the subcategories of Weather (#6) and Parks and Outdoors (#15). The city is poised to ascend up future national rankings, due to a torrent of new investment in all manner of green and common space. Its new Sun Link LRT is sure to improve quality of life, creating a focus on fewer cars and more walkability that’s designed to pull the sprawling population together, closer to downtown. Urban innovation that taps its outdoor bounty by increasing access to it is not a hard sell for a town where almost 25% are aged between 20 and 34. You can thank the University of Arizona (ranked #32 nationally in our Product subcategory) for the city’s youthful bounce.