Posted on 09/10/2007 9:30:04 AM PDT by qam1
Easy access to the beach seems to be a key factor in deciding which state people would choose to live. According to a new Harris Poll, California remains number 1 this year, followed by Florida, which moved up from number three and Hawaii, which has dropped from number two. Florida has been in the top three ever since this question was first asked in 1997. When it comes to which city people would live in, New York City comes in as number one for the ninth time (out of the last 10 opportunities), San Diego, CA moves up one spot to second and Seattle, WA also moves up one place to be the third most popular city.
These are some of the results of The Harris Poll®, a nationwide survey of 2,694 adults conducted online between August 7 and 13, 2007 by Harris Interactive®.
The next most popular states in which people would like to live are: North Carolina (#4, remaining the same as last year); Colorado (#5, moving up from #7); Texas (#6, dropping from #5); New York (#7, moving up from #8); Arizona (#8, moving up from #9); and Oregon (#9, moving up from #10). Three states are tied for the tenth spot on this list: Washington (was #6 last year); Tennessee (was #11 last year) and Virginia (was #12 last year).
Age plays a small role in the state people would choose to live in. The top choice for Baby Boomers (those aged 43-61) would be Hawaii, while California is tops for the other generations. For Echo Boomers (those aged 18-30), Texas moves up and is their number 2 choice. Generation Xers (those aged 31-42) and Matures (those 62 and older) break ranks with their 5th spot; for Gen Xers it is Pennsylvania and for Matures, the number 5 position goes to Oregon.
Favorite U.S. Cities to Live In
After NYC, San Diego and Seattle, the trend is to go West with one exception: San Francisco, CA (which dropped from #2 to #4). Las Vegas, NV remained the same as last year (#5); while Orlando, FL (#6, jumping up from #14), Honolulu, HI (#7, dropping from #6), Phoenix, AZ (#8, moving up from tied for #12), Denver, CO (tied for #9, dropping from tied for #7) and Los Angeles, CA (tied for #9, up from #11) all changed positions. Returning to the list of the 15 top cities this year are Charlotte, NC at #13 and Miami, FL at #15. Dropping out of the top 15 are Atlanta, GA (tied for #7) and Nashville, TN (#15).
Top 15 States
California
Florida
Hawaii
North Carolina
Colorado
Texas
New York
Arizona
Oregon
Washington
Tennessee
Virginia
Georgia
Pennsylvania
Alaska
Top 15 cities
New York, NY
San Diego, CA
Seattle, WA
San Francisco, CA
Las Vegas, NV
Orlando, FL
Honolulu, HI
Phoenix, AZ
Denver, CO
Los Angeles, CA
Chicago, IL
Boston, MA
Charlotte, NC
Portland, OR
Miami, FL
All I can say it that wherever you go, there you are. I’m perfectly happy in the hills of West Virginia. I can’t think of anything quite as boring as sitting on a beach all day.
For the record, the last two places in the nation that I’d choose to live would be in the hell holes of urban NY or CA...and I live in Louisiana...
Beaches are the reason people like to live in a particular state, Colorado is number five on the list, something missing?
The popularity of Florida still eludes me. I just can’t imagine living in a hurricane zone.
What about Aspen, Vail, or Lake Tahoe — resort towns w/ no pollution? How can people pretend to enjoy traffic jams and foul air? That’s not paradise.
You've never seen the Colorado ocean? It's a sight to behold.
One would assume that geo-demographic statistics would demonstrate which areas of the US are most desirable simply by viewing which areas are gaining in population and which are in decline. To use a poll to determine where people prefer to live would result in bias towards where the respondent currently lives.
Oh, gee, look at that, California and NYC are among the most populated places, so people must want to live there. Of course, pay no attention to the recent declining population trends.
I suspect that people list the cities and states they would enjoy vacationing in, thinking that living there would be the same experience. It wouldn’t be.
Huh? No offense to any Keystone staters out there, but PA is NOT where this Gen Xer would go, if he could get out of NJ.
Even from atop a 14,000 foot peak I haven't been able to see far enough to spot an ocean. Blue Mesa is the closest thing to a major body of water that I know of.
Courtesy of the US Army, I got to see quite a bit of the states and the world for that matter...there are lots of the proverbial “nice places to visit,” where people wouldn’t want to live.
North Carolina, Colorado, Texas, and Virginia are all places that I have lived (unfortunately the culture is being ruined by liberal yuppie/pop-culture sheep whom (READ Liberal for all yall that moved from the NE and CA to get away from weirdos-those that acutally like the native culture; We welcome you ;)) are from NE and California that want to turn our US paradise states into socialist-communist colonies of which they left..
Colorado used to be a mountainous paradise (open beautiful mountains-there biggest city denver was merely a commerce center for the livstock industry, and a transportation (RR) hub back in the day..now california wants to fornicate on it!0).
Both sides of my family have ties going back eighty or ninety years in Colorado.
I drove through The Rocky Mountain National Park two years ago, it has to be right near the top of the most beautiful places in the country, plus it was the first time I had ever seen it snow in June.
The screen saver on my computer has a series of pictures taken on the fourth of July at a little over 9,000 feet, we had a snow storm that turned everything white.
If you live at the beach you don’t lay on the beach all day. You walk along the surf for exercise or swim, surf, scuba, free dive, fish, boat, barbecue, and buy little chairs, umbrellas, and coolers so that when you are on the beach you are comfortable. It’s not a terrible life.
I was at Yellowstone one year when it snowed in July.
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