The 2023 ranking of towns and villages where life is good in France, published by the JDD, includes “environmental protection” and “security at the municipal level”.
FRANCE – Two municipalities double the bet. THE Sunday newspaper (JDD) published as every year on February 26 the ranking of cities and villages in metropolitan France in which we live best. And it’s Angers (Maine-et-Loire) and Guéthary (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) which are in the lead, for the second consecutive year.
The western facade is clearly in the spotlight this year, as Bayonne and Biarritz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) rank respectively in second and third position for municipalities with more than 2,000 inhabitants. While for municipalities with less than 2000 inhabitants, Epron (Calvados), and Martinvast (Manche), complete the top 3.
In the most pleasant cities with more than 2000 souls, we also find Anglet (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) in 4th position, La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime) in 5th, Lorient (Morbihan) in 6th, or Annecy (Haute-Savoie) in 7th. At the end of the peloton, we find Orléans (Loiret) in 39th place, Cannes (Alpes-Maritimes) in 45th and Hyères (Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur) in 50th.
This time in municipalities with less than 2000 inhabitants, Peltre (Moselle), Authie (Somme), Saint-Quay-Perros (Côtes-d’Armor) are in the top 5. Saint-Pavace (Sarthe), Cuvry ( Moselle), Lavau (Yonne) are the last three of this top.
What about your municipality? See the full list at the website of the association Towns and villages where life is good.
Medium-sized cities are popular
Apart from the two leading cities, the JDD notes a complete upheaval in its ranking due to the change in methodology for ranking cities for this fourth edition. Among the 198 criteria used to classify 34,820 municipalities, we now find the ” Environmental Protection “. The “ community-wide security » — like the number of burglaries — is also now taken into account.
The JDD also explains that this ranking highlights the fall of metropolises in favor of medium-sized cities, “acclaimed for their quality of life”. The government’s announcement to release 12 million euros to promote the establishment of local businesses in rural areas should make the smallest towns in France even more attractive.
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