The City of Tracy has always made efforts to improve the town. And it is paying off.
From housing to park upgrades, improvements are evident, and just recently, the city has learned that it’s doing something right, as Tracy has been listed in the American Association of Retired Persons’ (AARP) America’s Top 10 most livable communities in the United States as part of the 10th anniversary of its AARP Livability Index platform.
Tracy was ranked No. 6 against other communities ranging in population from Tracy’s size, all the way up to Falls Church, VA, with a population of more than 14,500. The vignette says, “Tracy is a small town in southwestern Minnesota that embodies prairie spirit and agricultural heritage. This tight-knit community rallied remarkably after a devastating 1968 tornado that destroyed much of the town. Today, Tracy serves as a regional hub for surrounding farms, with grain elevators dotting the horizon.”
If Tracy residents are pondering a place to put their feet up for good, they don’t have to look too far. But this list, city officials believe, is more than simply a snapshot of a good place to go when one reaches a certain age.
“We have said it over and over — we have so much to offer as a community of 2,100 — much more than most people understand,” Tracy Community Development Director Tom Dobson said. “If that entered into this, that’s understandable. We have infrastructure and amenities of a city of 10,000 people.”
The index ranked communities using more than 50 national data sources across the following categories: Housing, neighborhoods, transportation, environment, health, engagement and opportunity.
Metrics measured how livable communities currently are; data are collected and analyzed from local, state, federal and private sources. Policies measure how communities might become more livable over time based on actions taken now. Policy data are derived from publicly-available data and information and cover the entire United States.
While the source of the index is an organization geared specifically toward people of retirement age, Dobson said making the list is just one piece of fabric of a much larger community quilt.
“Quality of life is for everyone … the things that we offer are not geared specially for seniors,” he said.
“I have always said that we need to find out who we are,” Tracy City Administrator Jeff Carpenter added. “We are not a retail hub; we are self-sustaining.”
