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Both are popular but which one do people generally find more desirable and rather live in more? Based on quality of life, and what it has to offer.
Since you are asking individual people on City-Data, you'll get mostly subjective answers as people will mostly be speaking of themselves or their families or whatever.
However they do ask this question annually or used to ask annually and they phone call thousands of people to do that (by they I mean Harris Interactive). They ask "what city other than the one you live in would you most want to live in?" and Seattle has been ranking in the top 3 or top 4 for 15 years + now. The list is (in order) New York, San Diego, Seattle, Dallas, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Honolulu, and Denver.
It was third the last time I remember this ranking. Washington state also scores highly. Washington D.C. is almost never on the "cities people most want to live in" list though, it never has been in all the years the poll has been conducted, whereas it is on the "cities I would least like to live in" category.
Now for my own subjectivity, I'll go with Seattle. Prettier, better weather for me anyway, better location for me, more wildlife, less social issues, more integrated, better spicy foods, extremely lush and green, hot job market with real brag-worthy industries, close to very nice and mostly likable Portland, Vancouver, and Victoria. I could go on all day. I lived in Washington D.C. not that long ago, it was great for what it was and is a really good city, but I'd like more of what Seattle is and has honestly.
That being said though, the topic of desirability is answerable through real estate valuations. Constrained supply, expensive labor costs, overly torrid pace of demand (relative to available supply), high-income job openings and salaries in lucrative and valuable industries, and potential geographic restraints have both among the most valued real estate markets in the United States. So the general desirability is there, especially for Seattle as it has high prices plus high price increase rates.
LOL ummmmm what? Seattle is a cool city but the fact that you think it's a clear winner is pretty funny.
I pick Washington, D.C. for a multitude of reasons.
- Great history
-Better Architecture
-Better located(and not so isolated like Seattle)
-Has great 4 seasons and is not as cloudy and grey all the time
-People are not as stuck up
-Better public transportation system
-Basically all of the museums(which are world class) are free
- It's a quick flight or train ride to NYC
- Although seattle wins in outdoor life, DC has the Potomac river, many biking and hiking trails, it's near the coast,ect.
- Has better higher ed
- Has some of the best hotels and new restaurants in the country.
DC area is also growing and developing really quickly and the amount of new projects coming into the city is great. I would pick to live in DC over Seattle any day of the week.
The list is (in order) New York, San Diego, Seattle, Dallas, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Honolulu, and Denver.
Dallas? Sorry but I can't take that list seriously now with that city high up there. I been there many times, and while you get good cost of living, there are certainly very little redeeming qualities that makes it desirable. I have many friends that live there that echo the same thoughts, and generally says it's very boring and don't plan to stay there forever. So to have it ranked number 4 in the country as a favorite over Chicago and San Fran and others makes me question whether this really was a poll...
Dallas? Sorry but I can't take that list seriously now with that city high up there. I been there many times, and while you get good cost of living, there are certainly very little redeeming qualities that makes it desirable. I have many friends that live there that echo the same thoughts, and generally says it's very boring and don't plan to stay there forever. So to have it ranked number 4 in the country as a favorite over Chicago and San Fran and others makes me question whether this really was a poll...
Your post has nothing to do with Seattle versus Washington D.C. though, the point of comparison of your thread and my post (that you quoted). The list was posted to demonstrate where Seattle is and where Washington D.C. is not in the public conscience of those polled.
I also doubt Harris Interactive is worried about their credibility. Their credibility is fine and established and yes, they did conduct an actual poll. Look, there are cities on the list that I wouldn't ever put in my top 10 either but I am not going around and making things up about this agency just because I disagree with some of their selections (namely Boston, Chicago, and Dallas).
Here's their credibility by the way:
Quote:
Harris Poll #1 Online Research Poll for General Election Result Predictions
14 May 2010 - London: Harris Interactive’s® final prediction of the election result topped the charts as the most accurate poll produced through online research.
According to the British Polling Council, the Harris prediction was the second most accurate of nine, and the most accurate of those produced through online research. Companies’ final estimates of the outcome of the General Election were compared with the election result across Great Britain. The Harris Poll predicted that the Conservatives would receive 35% of the vote, Labour would receive 29% and that the Liberal Democrats would receive 27%. The final election result percentages
were 37% for the Conservatives, 30% for Labour and 24% for the Liberal Democrats.
Quote:
ROCHESTER, NY –November 6, 2008–(NASDAQ:HPOL) - The Harris Poll® issued its final presidential popular vote predictions late on election eve: Senator Obama
On average, preelection polls from 23 public polling organizations projected a Democratic advantage of 7.52 percentage points on Election Day, which is only about 1.37 percentage points away from the current estimate of a 6.15-point Obama margin in the national popular vote.
"The 2008 presidential election provided us with a unique opportunity to further prove the effectiveness of our online survey methods," said Kimberly Till, CEO of Harris Interactive. "Election predictions are highly public tests of the efficacy of any methodology, and Harris Interactive proved once again that our online research methods are fast, are very accurate, and are equal to, if not better than the best in the industry."
Oh and you say you don't think they really conducted a poll:
Quote:
The poll asked 2,463 adults which city they'd choose to live in outside their home, and the answers were all over the map.
LOL ummmmm what? Seattle is a cool city but the fact that you think it's a clear winner is pretty funny.
I pick Washington, D.C. for a multitude of reasons.
- Great history
-Better Architecture
-Better located(and not so isolated like Seattle)
-Has great 4 seasons and is not as cloudy and grey all the time
-People are not as stuck up
-Better public transportation system
-Basically all of the museums(which are world class) are free
- It's a quick flight or train ride to NYC
- Although seattle wins in outdoor life, DC has the Potomac river, many biking and hiking trails, it's near the coast,ect.
- Has better higher ed
- Has some of the best hotels and new restaurants in the country.
DC area is also growing and developing really quickly and the amount of new projects coming into the city is great. I would pick to live in DC over Seattle any day of the week.
- Seattle being in the middle of nowhere can go either way - better outdoors, but DC is near many other cool cities like NYC and Philly and beaches (actual beachtowns like Ocean City and Virginia Beach), and still has lots of nature nearby like the Appalachians and Shenandoah.
- Seattle's weather is a joke while DC has four season and an actual summertime (which you can enjoy a nearby beach). Seems like for every 5 people who move to Seattle, 3 or 4 will soon leave simply because of the depression-inducing climate.
- Seattle has really weird passive aggressive isolationist people, DC doesn't have the best people in the world but they don't have the "Seattle Freeze".
- DC has better history and architecture, and the area is also a lot more diverse.
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