Many seniors say they know within weeks whether a place feels right.
Is it the weather?
Is it the tax rate?
Nope. Neither.
It's whether people are patient when you move a little slower. It's whether anyone notices when you need help. It's the lady in the flower shop who can't speak a word of English, but who goes to the back and brings out someone who can to help you out.
At our age, we'll take all of that we can.
Lonnie Ali – Muhammad Ali's widow – should be credited for incubating a study to find the Most Compassionate Cities in the U.S. — incubated and commissioned the study along with the Ali Center, a Louisville-based nonprofit co-founded by Muhammad Ali and Lonnie in 2005. which commissioned and owns the study.
The study drew enough attention that Lonnie Ali was invited to present the findings at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Harvard thought so much of the idea that researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health called in Lonnie Ali to get schooled on the subject and they've been collaborating on ways ways to measure compassion in cities — not as a feel-good slogan, but as something that shows up in real behavior.
Amy Roeder
How “Compassion” Shows Up After 60
To someone half our age, compassion doesn't get much attention because it's almost abstract to them. For folks after 60, however, compassion has taken the lead and doesn't seem to want to give it up.
Walkability: It shows up where a city quietly makes room for people...
who’ve lived a long time — and still want to belong.
Neighborliness: It shows up in places where neighbors check in on each other in person...
not just check online (when's the last time you borrowed a cup of sugar from a neighbor?)
Dignity: It shows up where people don't sit on their hearts...
and local governments respect aging as a respected stage of life — not a problem to manage.
Volunteerism: It shows up in cities where there are literally hundreds of opportunities for citizens to help their community...
People who would rather actually get up and go several zip codes away and help out their fellow man instead of writing a check and copping the "Hey, I gave 'em some cash so I contributed" plea.
Where Compassion Shows Up in the Daily Life of American Seniors
What did Ali Center researchers determine to be America's Most Compassionate places?
Let's count 'em down...
There are other cities who fit this model, too, but the study is still in its first year, and the Ali Center has said it plans to expand the Index to more cities over time.
Smart Senior Daily Staff
The Signal is Clear
The cities where older adults tend to feel most at home aren't necessarily the warmest, the cheapest, or the most scenic. They're the ones where people still notice each other.
That may be the most Muhammad Ali thing about this whole project. The man who once said "Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on Earth" didn't leave a legacy of statistics. He left a standard of behavior.
The cities at the top of this list aren't there because their mayors gave a speech about kindness. They're there because their residents — when asked directly — said they actually feel it.
For those of us who've learned to read a room pretty quickly, that matters more than the tax rate.
