The beach at the end of First Street, a popular destination for children and dogs alike. (Photo by Nick Sestanovich)
Benicia has cemented its status as a waterfront community by being named as one of the most livable “beach towns” in the United States by personal finance site WalletHub. It even bested last year’s rank of No. 34 by slotting in at No. 22.
Of course, what constitutes a “beach town” is purely subjective. Many would dispute Benicia’s notion of being a beach town, since residents would associate other qualities with the town than the beaches and the beaches themselves are a lot smaller and less crowded than, say, Stinson or Muir or other nearby beaches. Nonetheless, the staff at WalletHub used their own parameters and metrics to determine what qualifies as a “beach town.”
For starters, the towns listed must have populations between 10,000 and 150,000 people and have at least one beach listed on TripAdvisor. The towns were judged across six dimensions: affordability, weather, safety, economy, education & health and quality of life. The dimensions were then evaluated using 58 relevant metrics, which were graded on a 100-point scale with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for beach-town living. The weighted averages of the metrics for all the cities were determined to calculate their total score and used the total scores to rank-order the sample.
Four questions were also asked of a panel of experts, which dealt with what people should be looking for in selecting a beach property, the benefits of living in beach towns with year-round populations compared to seasonal populations, the impact on the value of beach properties over time and the effect on beachfront real estate due to rising sea levels.* Based on the metrics, Benicia— which is home to beaches at 9th Street Park and the end of First Street— ranked at No. 22 out of 161 cities. It ranked seventh out of cities in California, being bested by Mill Valley, Santa Monica, Encinitas, Sonoma— which is not directly on the coast but was included in the rankings because it was within 20 miles of the coast), Carlsbad and San Clemente. Benicia ranked 10th in terms of affordability, seventh in terms of weather, 32nd in terms of safety, 30th in terms of economy, 74th in terms of health and education, and 102nd in terms of quality of life.
The three highest ranking cities on the list were Lahaina, Hawaii; Naples, Fla.; and Sarasota, Fla. An additional list was published of the most livable “lake towns,” which was topped by Traverse City, Mich.; Eden Prairie, Minn.; and Folsom. South Lake Tahoe clocked in at No. 20.
For the full list and further description of the methodology ranking, go to https://wallethub.com/edu/best-beach-towns-to-live-in/36567/.
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“…and 102nd, (out of 161 cities), in terms of quality of life.”
As usual, the city pretends to be what it’s not.
This is probably another of those things that border on fake news. After all, we were beat out by Sonoma which has no beach whatsoever and we only have a beach during low tide. Seriously, do you think of Benicia as a beach town?
And this is what happens when the judges have access to recreational cannabis. Obviously they were delusional as hell. I love Benicia but we ain’t no beach town. In fact, the entire listing looses all respectability when a County with no beaches is named as a beach town.
“Sonoma— was included in the rankings because it was within 20 miles of the coast” — So by that definition, Walnut Creek is a “beach town”. Seems like the term is too loosely defined to have any real meaning.