MD residents say MD is one of the worst states to live (Columbia: transplants, sales)

[yamota]

According to a new gallup poll, MD residents don't have much state pride

http://www.gallup.com/poll/168653/mo...erm=Politics#1

[PylesFord]

Marylanders keep re-electing a perpetual liberal State government whose favorite word is TAX, what would you expect???

[alfoa]

I wouldn't say its the absolute worst, but its down there. Pretty much the only people living in Maryland who think highly of Maryland grew up in Maryland. They tend to not know how much better life can be!

[WhoDatInMD]

What was the criteria that the 600 MD residents used for their rating? I'm sure it wasn't all/only about the state govt.

For the first time, Gallup measured whether residents view their states as "the best possible state to live in," "one of the best possible states to live in," "as good a state as any to live in," or "the worst possible state to live in."

What specifically was asked to the residents to measure these broad categories? Did they ask about the job climate? Did they ask about the weather? Did they ask about entertainment/recreation activities in the resident's area? Did they ask about mass transportation projects? Did they ask about population density? Did they ask whether the residents lived/visited other states before as that can affect how one views their own state. Did they ask about the state's handling of gay marriage? And what is the distribution within the state of those polled? For example, some residents in rural MD who have to support urban projects that they may not benefit from would typically view the state negatively compared to those in urban areas who benefit from them.

That's the problem with polls like this, they don't list any specifics. So the reader must form their own opinion as to why the residents responded the way that they did.

I for one, would list MD much higher than Louisiana, a place I lived for a good chunk of my life, for a number of reasons including education, social activities and entertainment, climate, availability of jobs in my field, and the weather.

[westsideboy]

Well, you have the transplants that are only here for jobs and don't give a crap about the state, some actively loathe it but still want to collect their big paychecks.

Then you have the natives, many of whom sincerely feel our state is being taken from us by "one size fits all" leftist politics.

Not too many left to say "Yeah, Maryland is great!"

I say "Western Maryland is great!"

[phlinak]

Originally Posted by WhoDatInMD

What was the criteria that the 600 MD residents used for their rating? I'm sure it wasn't all/only about the state govt.



What specifically was asked to the residents to measure these broad categories? Did they ask about the job climate? Did they ask about the weather? Did they ask about entertainment/recreation activities in the resident's area? Did they ask about mass transportation projects? Did they ask about population density? Did they ask whether the residents lived/visited other states before as that can affect how one views their own state. Did they ask about the state's handling of gay marriage? And what is the distribution within the state of those polled? For example, some residents in rural MD who have to support urban projects that they may not benefit from would typically view the state negatively compared to those in urban areas who benefit from them.

That's the problem with polls like this, they don't list any specifics. So the reader must form their own opinion as to why the residents responded the way that they did.

I for one, would list MD much higher than Louisiana, a place I lived for a good chunk of my life, for a number of reasons including education, social activities and entertainment, climate, availability of jobs in my field, and the weather.

You are spot on.

Unlike the usual complaints about taxes from the usual suspects, the likability/favorability of the state should be measured by the totality of the opportunities (employment, education, recreation, etc.) that are available.

Yes, Maryland, Minnesota, and some other progressive states can be viewed as having high taxes but the real question is what are the residents getting for their dollars.

For example, here in Alaska, we have a relatively low tax burden compared to Maryland and Minnesota but we also have inferior public schools, no medical, dental, law, or veterinary schools, very minimal availability of public safety services (like police, fire, and EMS) and a very marginal and limited system of roads and highways compared to those states.

We have no state income tax, a few localities have a very small sales tax (up to 3%), and property taxes are very reasonable but conversely, with the exception of the public sector, the petroleum industry, the fishing industry, and tourism, there is very little economic diversity or opportunity here. We don't invest nearly enough into our infrastructure (schools, libraries, hospitals, bridges, highways, dams, rail lines, or utilities) and we pay a price for those decisions, in lives, as well as money.

The availability of opportunities and quality of life are the real determinants of whether or not people want to live in a particular state.

[EricS39]

Lived in Maryland 4 years in Montgomery County and strongly disagree

Virginia has a car tax, Maryland does not. Maryland has nice suburbs of DC on the red line so you can spend little on car maintenance if you work in DC

Maryland is clean and has great topography variety between Appalachia, the Chesapeake, eastern shore, havre de grace,

And great capital city of Annapolis (very pretty state capital region)

And love Great Falls, Maryland

And also Ellicott City

And Gaithersburg is a nice hip town

Germantown has a great Oktoberfest

Lots of civil war history and haunted ghost spots like Blair witch woods

And the Marc train system

Maryland is the southernmost politically progressive state

[EricS39]

I liked Maryland in every regard

Taxes weren't any higher than Virginia when factoring VA has DMV tax

[alfoa]

Its not all about taxes. Its about quality of life. That is what the residents were judging the state on.

I could disagree with every point EricS39 made. Gaithersburg is a nice hip town? Nice suburbs on the red line? I'm not sure you were in Maryland.

And I certainly don't consider topography when factoring quality of life. You can drive to various places in the country and see varied topography.

[EricS39]

Maryland quality of life may be top of the nation because it has woods, mountain escapes from summer heat like Frostburg,

Great War history

Amazing 24-hour diners

The laid back eastern shore

Great farmers markets

And good public transport

Good bike trails

Organic markets

Easy metro into DC for free smithsonian stuff or anything you want to do in DC
Georgetown
Adam's Morgan
Old town
GW parkway

Hikes on the patomac

And lots of universities

Silver spring has a great artsy theater

I forgot to mention the merriweather outdoor concert pavilion in summer in Columbia

And Maryland unlike the northeast gets real spring foliage and beautiful April colors