I know Athens solely from REM and Elephant 6 music. I&#x27;ve never been there.<p>Saline and Ypsi are suburbs of Ann Arbor.<p>Ann Arbor itself is mostly walkable, tree-lined, mixed-use, and connected by public transportation.<p>More than 90% of the population of Ann Arbor lives in Ann Arbor and not Ypsi or Saline. :)<p>What are the rest of the variables? I&#x27;d like to drive to specificity. If there&#x27;s a set of US midsized cities that defies your characterizations, maybe there&#x27;s something interesting that ties them together.<p>I&#x27;m certainly not going to deny that there are crappy cities!