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Believe it or not, California is even more lopsided in terms of population centers vs rural. The big 'uns are LA/San Diego (same place) and San Francisco metro. There are millions of acres of national forests and parks. There just isn't much of anything big north of Sacramento and the Bay Area, and plenty of space in the southern half too.
Of course California has much more pristine and rural land, and a good portion of it is uninhabitable due to terrain (either mountains or deserts). However, the population in California is distributed much better compared to New York State. Half of the New York State population lives in 0.6% of the state's land area!
Of course California has much more pristine and rural land, and a good portion of it is uninhabitable due to terrain (either mountains or deserts). However, the population in California is distributed much better compared to New York State. Half of the New York State population lives in 0.6% of the state's land area!
It's also because much of California's land is protected by the Government, through National Parks, Wilderness, etc.
You know, because it's pretty and worth protecting.
Quality of Life is sometimes defined by the United Nations' Human Development Index(HDI) that it puts out every year comparing the quality of life of all nations.
NY(.959) and CA(.958) are nearly identical and both in the top tier.
Quote:
These are the 76 top countries ranked by human development index score, with the 50 states interposed to show their relative level of development.
1. Iceland - .968
2. Norway - .968
3. Canada - .967
4. Australia - .965
5. Ireland - .962 Connecticut - .962 Massachusetts - .961 New Jersey - .961 District of Columbia - .960 Maryland - .960 Hawaii - .959 New York - .959
6. Netherlands - .958
7. Sweden - .958 New Hampshire - .958 Minnesota - .958 Rhode Island - .958 California - .958 Colorado - .958 Virginia - .957 Illinois - .957
8. Japan - .956
9. Luxembourg - .956
10. Switzerland - .955
11. France - .955 Vermont - .955 Washington - .955 Alaska - .955
12. Finland - .954 Delaware - .953
13. Denmark - .952 Wisconsin - .952
14. Austria - .951 Michigan - .951
15. United States - .950 Iowa - .950 Pennsylvania - .950
16. Spain - .949
17. Belgium - .948
18. Greece - .947 Nebraska - .946
19. Italy - .945
20. New Zealand - .944
21. United Kingdom - .942
22. Hong Kong - .942 Kansas - .941
23. Germany - .940 Arizona - .939 North Dakota - .936 Oregon - .935 Maine - .932 Utah - .932 Ohio - .932
24. Israel - .930 Georgia - .928 Indiana - .928
25. South Korea - .927 North Carolina - .925
26. Slovenia - .923
27. Brunei - .919
28. Singapore - .918 Texas - .914
29. Kuwait - .912
30. Cyprus - .912 Missouri - .912 Nevada - .911
31. United Arab Emirates - .903
32. Bahrain - .902 South Dakota - .902
33. Portugal - .900
34. Qatar - .899 Florida - .898
35. Czech Republic - .897 Wyoming - .897 New Mexico - .895
36. Malta - .894 Idaho - .890
37. Barbados - .889 Montana - .885
38. Hungary - .877
39. Poland - .875
40. Chile - .874
41. Slovakia - .872
42. Estonia - .871 South Carolina - .871
43. Lithuania - .869
44. Latvia - .863
45. Croatia - .862
46. Argentina - .860
47. Uruguay - .859
48. Cuba - .855
49. Bahamas - .854
50. Costa Rica - .847
51. Mexico - .842
52. Libya - .840
53. Oman - .839
54. Seychelles - .836
55. Saudi Arabia - .835
56. Bulgaria - .834
57. Trinidad and Tobago - .833
58. Panama - .832
59. Antigua and Barbuda - .830
60. Saint Kitts and Nevis - .830
61. Venezuela - .826
62. Romania - .825
63. Malaysia - .823
64. Montenegro - .822
65. Serbia - .821
66. Saint Lucia - .821 Kentucky - .820
67. Belarus - .817 Tennessee - .816 Oklahoma - .815 Alabama - .809
68. Macedonia - .808
69. Albania - .807
70. Brazil - .807
71. Kazakhstan - .807
72. Ecuador - .807
73. Russia - .806 Arkansas - .803
74. Mauritius - .802
75. Bosnia and Herzegovina - .802 Louisiana - .801 West Virginia - .800 Mississippi - .799
76. Turkey - .798
Quality of Life is sometimes defined by the United Nations' Human Development Index(HDI) that it puts out every year comparing the quality of life of all nations.
NY(.959) and CA(.958) are nearly identical and both in the top tier.
Location: where you sip the tea of the breasts of the spinsters of Utica
8,297 posts, read 14,163,488 times
Reputation: 8105
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chad Bruce
LOL, this topic is easiest question to answer... in terms of quality of life the winner is:
California - if you're homeless
New York - if you are rich
Everybody else has to split the difference, with the deciding factor being whether you hate the cold, or if you like four seasons.
California very definitely is better if you are rich. People who are rich don't need to work - the whole point of living in NYC is to work to get rich, so you can retire while still young to California. It has a nicer climate and more space around the big cities for a nice mansion, plus the views are usually less hazy from humidity. That's why there are many more billionaires living in California than NYC (or at least primary residence, probably most of them have a home on both coasts).
This is a very hard question because they would both be very close. I think California *just* edges out New York for me just because it has good weather, at least in SoCal. However, New York state would be very close because of NYC which is a very walkable big city that California doesn't have (except for San Francisco being a much smaller version).
Luckily you are not representative of the total NYC population at all. My family from Brooklyn is not even this close-minded about what goes on outside of NYC.
I dont think his post is close minded. If you ever visited places like Buffalo or Rochester or even Albany you'd realize there is no reason to ever visit them again. They are, hm, struggling which is reflected in huge population losses in the past few decades.
Of course there is beautiful scenery in Adirondacks and Niagara Falls but unless you spend most of your time looking at nature scenery hardly defines a quality of life. For most of us, at least here on CITY-data, quality of life means access to job market, culture, entertainment, food choisces plus, of course, level of public safety and availability of high quality medical care. And in all those area upstate New York simply can't compete with NYC. I agree with Gantz, most of NYS is agricalture, national parks and then some declining Rust Belt cities. Nothing to brag about.
California very definitely is better if you are rich. People who are rich don't need to work - the whole point of living in NYC is to work to get rich, so you can retire while still young to California. .
Nah. New Yorkers traditionally retire to Florida: West Palm Beach and Boca Raton which some people claim is the richest town in the world, but only in the winter, when the snowbirds come from the north
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