Livability.com Names Top 10 Foodie Cities

Livability.com has named the Top 10 Foodie Cities, 2014, which represent cities that strongly support local farmers, showcase regional cuisine and provide residents with bountiful opportunities to discover new flavors, textures, cooking techniques and healthy foods.

Top 10 Foodie Cities in rank order are: New Haven, Conn.; Scottsdale, Ariz.; Boston; Asheville, N.C.; Traverse City, Mich.; Berkeley, Calif.; Boulder, Colo.; Burlington, Vt.; Omaha, Neb.; and Washington, D.C.

For this list of cities, editors analyzed data from Esri about how frequently families eat at locally owned restaurants and how much the average resident spends eating out. They also examined the accessibility residents have to healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables and quality meat using data from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Also taken into account were cities with established farmers’ markets and restaurants that use locally grown ingredients, as well as critically acclaimed restaurants, successful chefs and winners of James Beard Foundation Awards.

“There’s a real foodie renaissance going on in U.S. cities,” said Matt Carmichael, Livability.com’s editor. “You’re seeing that coast to coast, but these cities really stand out as great places to live and eat.”

Photo: Curate helps make Asheville, N.C., one of this year's Top 10 Foodie Cities (courtesy of Livability.com).