What all to a city makes way for a human, and the person being that human, to live better than decent? You're going to want: Lots of employers seeking lots of employees. Well paying jobs. Supply of plentiful fresh water. City not prone to wild fires, floods, tornados, earthquakes, hurricanes, smog, or droughts. Lots of close by places to shop to get what you need and want without you having to relie on an automobile. But with different types of public transportation (city buses, taxi cabs, ppl movers, trollies, etc) if those places are not so near by. Side walks (I cant stand having to walk or bike down a street with no side walk continuing) You're going to also want the ppl in the community full of financially independant types so no one is around pulling scams to get in your way of earning money. Etc. (What else? Add on.)
How about instead of just financially independent people, people who are willing to put forth the time and effort to create a community? Folks who look out for one another... keep an eye out when neighbors are away; will show up every so often to spend an evening as friends; who invest effort in local affairs and are politically active? A city should be more than a warehouse for workers- to store people for the hours between their eight-hour stints as corporate machinery.
