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Denver scored tops 43% - I go there often and its a great place but I do hate traffic and Denver's sometimes is horrible.
San Diego - 2nd - I think because of overcrowding its just not as nice as it used to be.
Detroit was at the bottom 8% - it sure is getting cheap though but high real estate taxes and crime are killers.
People are pretty evenly divided between city - country suburb etc.
Some interesting places were not included though. Buffalo has become the 2nd most drivable city - great old buildings - manufacturing and pollution gone - but horrible real estate taxes - and fairly high crime.
Corpus Christi - the most drivable city -great warm weather -cheap to live- ugly refineries on one side of town though. Clean air in the rest.
Of course individual smaller towns weren't listed. Ive lived all over the US and moved to Rockport TX not for a job. Its 20-25 minutes from Corpus, a nice mix of people because they come for the ocean - birds and the wildlife area. No polluting industry allowed. Sort of different from many parts of Texas and very slow paced.
The middle coast of California didn't have enough big cities to be mentioned.
HERE IS A LINK TO THE OFFICIAL REPORT not your newspapers version
"Geography matters, too. Seven of the public's 10 most popular big cities -- Denver, San Diego, Seattle, San Francisco, Phoenix, Portland and Sacramento -- are in the West, and the other three -- Orlando, Tampa and San Antonio -- are in the South. The five least popular big cities -- Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Kansas City and Minneapolis -- are all in the Midwest. These attitudes reflect what government data indicate about the nation's migration patterns: Americans are leaving the Northeast and the Midwest in favor of the South and the West."
The first northeast city to be mentioned is Boston, at 28%
People are leaving the Northeaster region because they are overtaxed and the cost of living, utilities, insurance and doing business is extremely high except in a few of the rural areas of the region.
Kansas City is actually growing as is Minneapolis. Kansas City has little appeal as a place to live unless someone is from the KC metro area or one of the rural adjacent areas and moves to the big city to find work. While there are some people from other regions of the country that call KC home, I've met far fewer transplants from other regions here than any other metro area I've lived.
Considering the strong preference for warm-weather cities, I was thinking that the survey had probably been conducted in the dead of winter. Turns out the survey was done from Oct. 3-19, 2008.
People do come to Denver from all over, but many are intimidated by our winters, which really aren't that bad, especially if you're from the east or midwest.
"Geography matters, too. Seven of the public's 10 most popular big cities -- Denver, San Diego, Seattle, San Francisco, Phoenix, Portland and Sacramento -- are in the West, and the other three -- Orlando, Tampa and San Antonio -- are in the South. The five least popular big cities -- Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Kansas City and Minneapolis -- are all in the Midwest. These attitudes reflect what government data indicate about the nation's migration patterns: Americans are leaving the Northeast and the Midwest in favor of the South and the West."
The first northeast city to be mentioned is Boston, at 28%
That is a crappy analysis by that survey. Are they seriously trying to convince us that people would rather live in Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, Orlando and Tampa over NYC, Boston and Chicago or even Houston? HAHA, ROTFLMAO!!!!
That is a crappy analysis by that survey. Are they seriously trying to convince us that people would rather live in Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, Orlando and Tampa over NYC, Boston and Chicago or even Houston? HAHA, ROTFLMAO!!!!
Well considering the survey states only 23% of respondents want to live in a city, it's not that's much of a surprise when you think about it that way. But I agree though that some of those cities like Orlando and Sacramento surprised me when they beat out what I would think are more desirable cities like Boston.
There are some interesting some of the results from different categories such as city preference based on income, education, age, party affiliation, ideology, etc...
Only 14% of people who make over $100K want to live in LA vs 33% who make less than $30K. So it looks like not even wealthier people want to live in LA.
Both Denver and San Diego beat out SF, Boston, and Seattle for the percentage of college grads who prefer those cities, which kind of surprised me given each cities reputation.
A slightly higher % of democrats preferred San Diego over San Francisco, another surprise given each cities political repuatations.
A higher percentage of republicans wanted to live with like minded people compared to democrats, 35% vs 24%.
There are some interesting some of the results from different categories such as city preference based on income, education, age, party affiliation, ideology, etc...
Only 14% of people who make over $100K want to live in LA vs 33% who make less than $30K. So it looks like not even wealthier people want to live in LA.
Both Denver and San Diego beat out SF, Boston, and Seattle for the percentage of college grads who prefer those cities, which kind of surprised me given each cities reputation.
A slightly higher % of democrats preferred San Diego over San Francisco, another surprise given each cities political repuatations.
A higher percentage of republicans wanted to live with like minded people compared to democrats, 35% vs 24%.
pretty interesting report when you look at it....
Maybe there is a trend toward college grads tending to want to locate to cities which are not yet saturated with top talent like NYC, Boston, Houston, SF, LA etc. I found it interesting that all the largest cities were kind of low on the survey as I mentioned before. I do agree that in the right neighborhoods, SD and Denver are great but I am very puzzled about at least 5 of those top cities.
I didn't read the report, but a lot of things come into play for me. First and foremost, I think distance to my home (Des Moines, IA) is a big factor. As is cost of living, and proximity to outdoor recreation.
If cost of living were no factor, Boston would be my number one pick. I always loved Denver, and have wanted to live there. It's relatively affordable, tons to do, and relatively close to home. The thing that concerns me about Denver is the influx of people. It seems like the hometown feel would get lost.
I guess my picks would be:
1. Home
2. Boston
3. Denver
4. San Jose, CA (if I got a job making $300,000/year)
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