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I actually liked the list and agreed with most of it -- I have been to 29 states and lived in four of them -- but then I am definitely partial to mostly rural and northern states. Of course, to each his (or her) own.
Oh, and their last category is the nebulous Quality of Life. Here they rank North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and South Dakota at the Top of Category.
Quality of Life should include sports, symphony, opera, ballet and night-life, which are practically non-existent in the Dakotas.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ocnjgirl
Per Wikipedia, there are over 3,000 counties in the U.S. To say it would be "too much work on the author's part" is an understatement. For that matter, it's too much work for the reader, the thing would be hundreds of pages.
In the age of computers and soft-ware, it is an easy task. For example, the 100 Counties with the lowest Cost-of-Living:
Butler County, AL
Chambers County, AL
Clay County, AL
Conecuh County, AL
Dallas County, AL
Escambia County, AL
Fayette County, AL
Lamar County, AL
Macon County, AL
Marion County, AL
Monroe County, AL
Perry County, AL
Pickens County, AL
Sumter County, AL
Wilcox County, AL
Winston County, AL
Adams County, MS
Alcorn County, MS
Amite County, MS
Attala County, MS
Benton County, MS
Bolivar County, MS
Calhoun County, MS
Carroll County, MS
Chickasaw County, MS
Choctaw County, MS
Claiborne County, MS
Clarke County, MS
Clay County, MS
Coahoma County, MS
Covington County, MS
Holmes County, MS
Humphreys County, MS
Issaquena County, MS
Jasper County, MS
Jefferson County, MS
Jefferson Davis County, MS
Kemper County, MS
Leake County, MS
Leflore County, MS
Lincoln County, MS
Marion County, MS
Montgomery County, MS
Noxubee County, MS
Pike County, MS
Prentiss County, MS
Quitman County, MS
Scott County, MS
Sharkey County, MS
Simpson County, MS
Sunflower County, MS
Tallahatchie County, MS
Tippah County, MS
Tishomingo County, MS
Tunica County, MS
Union County, MS
Washington County, MS
Wayne County, MS
Wilkinson County, MS
Winston County, MS
Yazoo County, MS
Marshall County, MS
Franklin County, MS
Jones County, MS
Neshoba County, MS
Panola County, MS
Allendale County, SC
Bamberg County, SC
Barnwell County, SC
Chester County, SC
Chesterfield County, SC
Clarendon County, SC
Colleton County, SC
Dillon County, SC
Hampton County, SC
Lee County, SC
Marion County, SC
Marlboro County, SC
Orangeburg County, SC
Williamsburg County, SC
Barbour County, AL
Bullock County, AL
Laurens County, SC
Coosa County, AL
Randolph County, AL
Union County, SC
Ashley County, AR
Bradley County, AR
Chicot County, AR
Clay County, AR
Desha County, AR
Drew County, AR
Franklin County, AR
Fulton County, AR
Hempstead County, AR
Howard County, AR
Independence County, AR
Izard County, AR
Jackson County, AR
Johnson County, AR
Lafayette County, AR
US News has outdone all the rest of the Pretenders to the Title and published their 2018 Best States List. The link to the List of States is cleverly concealed within the article. I'll save you the trouble of reading thru their dreck by posting the link to the actual List here.....
Using factors like Health Care, Education, Economy and Opportunity -- they sum the numerical rankings to arrive at their conclusion. In my opinion, any list that ranks my former state of New Jersey in the Top 20, is rubbish. And South Carolina at 42 consigns this list to the trash bin.
Oh, and their last category is the nebulous Quality of Life. Here they rank North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and South Dakota at the Top of Category.
They must love Winter.
I disagree.
I think the best states cherish and promote education, health care, gender and racial equality, are accepting of GLBTQ people, are not obsessed with guns, have a low quantity of teenage pregnancy, make contraception available, permit women to govern their own bodies. and tend to be somewhat progressive.
It's not necessarily about whether you have kids or not getting an education in that community. Bad or declining schools indicate other problems in the community. White collar, upwardly mobile, college educated, upper middle class people (read: the type of people you may want to be surrounded by) are not going to locate in communities on the decline with failing schools. This is your productive class that pays the taxes and keeps the wheels of society greased and rolling. If the schools suck, these people and their tax dollars, along with jobs and other services catering to these people, will go elsewhere.
The parents of kids in areas with failing schools are unlikely to have good jobs. The parents may not be able to help the kid academically, or advise on a career path. The peer group is likely cut from the same cloth. It's much easier to get into trouble as a kid if you're not in a community with strong parenting and an ethical peer group.
Bad schools are often also going to correlate with higher crime, poverty, and about any negative metric you can think of.
While I understand this premise, how do we explain that Jersey is # 2 in Education but number 49 in Quality of Life and Financial Stability??? Doesn't add up.
I think the best states cherish and promote education, health care, gender and racial equality, are accepting of GLBTQ people, are not obsessed with guns, have a low quantity of teenage pregnancy, make contraception available, permit women to govern their own bodies. and tend to be somewhat progressive.
Fact.
Not opinion.
You said "I think" and then you said "Fact." The Fact is ......it's your Opinion on a number of Hot Button Issues.
You may feel free to put together your own Best States List. It's your First Amendment Right.
Back to USNW's List -- They could have used Metropolitan Statistical Areas instead of Counties, there's only 382 of those. The Data is readily available. MSA's would provide the basis for ranking Education, Health Care, and Opportunities within a homogenous area. The Quality of Life aspect ?? That would depend on an individual's preferences.
Last edited by FiveLoaves; 03-01-2018 at 07:23 AM..
To each his own, I say. I read the best of with a grain of distrust as many times they rank thing like percentage of graduate degree holders and diversity.
Education for educations sake is a waste of most people's money, especially if we tell our young people to take on massive student loan debt.
Diversity is perversity in my opinion. When you come to America, its a melting pot not a salad bowl. Learn our history, speak English in public, get a job, support your children, and become a citizen. For all others, go back home. It will be the death of the USA in my opinion if unchecked, illegal immigration is allowed to continue.
While I understand this premise, how do we explain that Jersey is # 2 in Education but number 49 in Quality of Life and Financial Stability??? Doesn't add up.
NJ is well known for having highly paid teachers with cushy benefits and good schools in the affluent areas. It also has financial problems. They go hand-in-hand.
To each his own, I say. I read the best of with a grain of distrust as many times they rank thing like percentage of graduate degree holders and diversity.
Education for educations sake is a waste of most people's money, especially if we tell our young people to take on massive student loan debt.
Diversity is perversity in my opinion. When you come to America, its a melting pot not a salad bowl. Learn our history, speak English in public, get a job, support your children, and become a citizen. For all others, go back home. It will be the death of the USA in my opinion if unchecked, illegal immigration is allowed to continue.
Although I basically agree with the bold, I disagree with your statement that the U.S. is a melting pot and not a salad bowl. Now I think it IS a salad bowl, and that is where we went wrong, imo. Once the U.S. was established in the late 18th century and until about 1975 or so, it was expected that if you came to the U.S. to live, you would learn English (if you did not speak it already), you would become a citizen if you intended to live here, you would support your family as soon as you could without direct government assistance, and you would adopt the prevailing culture and customs (with the exception of religion, which is one of our most basic freedoms.) That is how it was for my ancestors, many of whom arrived before 1776, and one who did not arrive until 1923. Now, however, it seems that most new arrivals refuse to adapt and in fact, expect us "natives" to adapt to THEM, and it seems that the U.S. government is encouraging this attitude, to say the least. Again, I think this is WRONG because of many reasons. (And, btw, I am a political moderate and definitely NOT a Trump supporter!!)
My favorite piece on this subject was made by Colorado Governor Dick Lamm (a Democrat, btw) almost 20 years ago.
Quality of Life should include sports, symphony, opera, ballet and night-life, ...
not opera, or ballet...not really relevant
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