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View Poll Results: (#1) Which type of day would you prefer (a or b)? ------- (#2) Do overcast days qualify as gloomy we
a) sunny & mild (sky completely clear of clouds, 50-75 degrees F) 45 65.22%
b) overcast & mild (100% of sky covered with gray, 50-75 degrees F) 27 39.13%
Y) Yes 30 43.48%
N) No 29 42.03%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 69. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 02-05-2011, 08:20 AM
 
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POLL DETAILS: Both days are dry with no precipitation.

Question 1: Which type of day would you prefer?

a) sunny & mild (sky completely clear of clouds, 50-75 degrees F)

b) overcast & mild (100% of sky covered with gray blanket of clouds, 50-75 degrees F)


Question 2: Do overcast days qualify as gloomy weather (100% of sky covered with gray blanket of clouds)?

Y) Yes

N) No


THREAD HISTORY:

There is a "gloomy season pics" thread in the Portland forum (//www.city-data.com/forum/portl...n-pics-16.html), and members have been debating about whether people generally prefer sunny weather or overcast weather. In order to prevent this debate from derailing that thread (which is supposed to be a picture thread), I decided to do a poll and redirect people here for further debate. I will copy & paste the debate that has taken place so far so that we can continue the discussion here.

Quote:
Originally Posted by EnricoV View Post
I really fail to see how anyone can term all these gorgeous photographs as "gloomy" just because the sky is cloudy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dual Citizen CA-OR View Post
Because it fits the accepted definition?

Definition of GLOOMY
1 a : partially or totally dark; especially : dismally and
depressingly dark <gloomy weather>

I understand many like the gloom, but lets remember that the vast majority of people like blue skies and sunshine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EnricoV View Post
Thank you, but I do know the definition of gloomy. I fail to see where those gorgeous pictures are either DEPRESSING or DARK. I'd be very interested if you could point me to your poll by which you've determined what "the vast majority" likes? Personally, I do think it's possible for people to like both.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dual Citizen CA-OR View Post
I have no poll to point you to and I would agree that many like both. My opinion on the weather is only based on my experience over the years.

But I would argue that it’s a major reason why California has ten times the population of Oregon…
Quote:
Originally Posted by EnricoV View Post
Well, let's factor in that California has about double the space of Oregon first. Then, do you want to tell me that in the U.S., more people live in a California-type climate than in a more Oregon-type climate?

People choose to live in a location for a variety of reasons. Climate is probably a small factor for most of them. I'd guess that jobs, economic conditions, proximity to family, recreational and educational opportunity, etc. all would factor more heavily.

Last edited by sunscribble; 02-05-2011 at 09:04 AM..
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Old 02-05-2011, 08:21 AM
 
Location: Buxton, England
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I'll take the sunny day.

a) mild (50-75 degrees F) & sunny (sky completely clear of clouds)

If it's below 70 degrees (say 50 -70) I'd prefer full sunshine. Don't mind a few clouds for 70+ because it's warm enough.

And yes 100% overcast all day is gloomy in my book. Of course it can depend on the cloud thickness and height.

Last edited by Weatherfan2; 02-05-2011 at 08:39 AM..
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Old 02-05-2011, 08:34 AM
 
Location: Da Region
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I don't care how many clouds there are, as long as it's 50-75 degrees! I can even go cooler, to downright cold, but not warmer!
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Old 02-05-2011, 08:44 AM
 
Location: London, UK
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1) a) Sunny. Always.

100% cloudy? Absolutely gloomy and dismal.



Actually, (off topic) my gloom ranking would be, from best to worst (in terms of mood, not comfort) :
1. Blue sky, hot weather and green trees ~ summer
2. Blue sky, cold weather and snowy ground ~ real winter
3. Dark sky, hot weather and green trees ~ tropical
4. Dark sky, cool/rainy weather and bare trees ~ bloody European winter
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Old 02-05-2011, 08:44 AM
 
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For me sunny wins hands down. A "normal" winter in Oregon's mid Willamette valley can be almost lethally depressing due to constant gloom and drip. We can go from mid/late November through the end of March and not average more than 100 hours of sunshine in any month.
This year, though, we have done that and more just since the middle of January. This is the longest stretch of mild and (relatively) sunny weather I have seen in these parts since I can remember a nearly rainless January back in 1986.
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Old 02-05-2011, 08:53 AM
 
Location: USA East Coast
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Most of the studies I have read show that climates with cloudy/gloomy skies (Seattle, London...etc) are less desirable than sunny climates. I even read a study in Time mag a few years back, that some social science people said the high latitude cloudy countires (Norway, Ireland, England, Russia, South Island, New Zealand...etc) have a much higher indence of alcoholism and depression than sunny places like the Mediterranean. Who knows how vaild a study like that is however.
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Old 02-05-2011, 08:53 AM
 
99 posts, read 277,035 times
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Hey, thanks for your quick responses! It's great to have some feedback. I'm going to copy and paste the rest of the debate in the next couple of posts, just so we have the history.

Quote:
Originally Posted by EnricoV View Post
Well, let's factor in that California has about double the space of Oregon first. Then, do you want to tell me that in the U.S., more people live in a California-type climate than in a more Oregon-type climate?

People choose to live in a location for a variety of reasons. Climate is probably a small factor for most of them. I'd guess that jobs, economic conditions, proximity to family, recreational and educational opportunity, etc. all would factor more heavily.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dual Citizen CA-OR View Post
I don't believe that size it's much of a factor. The vast majority of people live in the metropolitan areas just like they do in Oregon and everywhere else.

I agree that there’re many reasons why people live where they do, I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree on how much the weather plays a part.
Quote:
Originally Posted by palvar View Post
The rapid growth of the Sun Belt is a pretty good counter argument to this point. Though, I'll admit that low cost of living in Georgia, Texas, Nevada, Arizona and Florida do play into it as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EnricoV View Post
Can we agree on "lower" cost of living. I'm not sure anywhere has low cost of living.

Based on most recent figures (according to Wikipedia) though, you're off on where people are moving. California, Florida, Hawaii all have lower rates of growth than Oregon. Looks like the mountain states are the latest hot-spots for growth. And then there's poor old Michigan.

Even going back 10 years, growth was lower in New Mexico, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi ... all part of that same sun belt. But with less a attractive economic climate.

Last edited by sunscribble; 02-05-2011 at 09:06 AM..
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Old 02-05-2011, 08:55 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryant View Post
I think people want both. How many people from the desert come on here saying they love rain?
...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brenda-by-the-sea View Post
It may be that many people from the desert come here saying they love rain...based on their familiarity with transient rain storms in the southwest that last an hour or two (after which the sun then reemerges). But many of them don't stay and head back to bluer skies after a year or two. What they didn't count on is the gloom: long expanses of sun starvation that lead to melancholy and Vitamin D deficiency.

I came from the desert and I find that rain and gloom is much like heat. I don't mind it getting up over 100F now and then and cooling off at night. What I don't care for is day after day after day when you wake up and it is already 95F and you haven't had breakfast yet -- no relief from the heat. Similarly, rain that passes through and returns to sunshine (as we often see in April) is pleasant. But the unending gloom of waking up to dark gray brooding skies every single day (rain or not) is tough on one psychologically. Again, it is the lack of relief, not the hardship of any given moment, that breeds dissatisfaction.

One only needs to look at where the great waves of discretionary migration were in the late 20th century to see what most people prefer. Sunbelt cities like Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas, Albuquerque, Dallas-Ft. Worth, San Antonio, Austin, etc. had record rates of growth. Areas north of 35 degrees north grew at a much more modest rate, and a great many saw negative population growth.
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Old 02-05-2011, 08:59 AM
 
99 posts, read 277,035 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EnricoV View Post
People choose to live in a location for a variety of reasons. Climate is probably a small factor for most of them. I'd guess that jobs, economic conditions, proximity to family, recreational and educational opportunity, etc. all would factor more heavily.
I would agree that most people living in the United States (including those living in Oregon) have chosen their location for reasons other than climate.

However, that doesn't mean that people don't have climate preferences. A substantial amount of research has been done on the subject of climate preference, and every study that I have seen reveals a preference for warm or sunny weather:

"Older individuals are uniformly attracted to warmer climates" (1).

"These migrants tend to be strongly attracted by states with warm winters...Elderly migrants tend to choose states with fewer cloudy days" (2).

"Summer temperature at the destination is potentially the most important determinant of destination choice, with very hot summers being repulsive. Migrants are strongly attracted to sunny locations and strongly repulsed by very cold winters" (3).

So yes, people do have climate preferences, and studies show that most people prefer sunny weather, as long as it is not accompanied by oppressive heat. Does that mean that ALL people prefer sunny days to overcast days? Of course not!

SOURCES:
(1) Journals of Gerontology:
Place Characteristics and Residential Location Choice Among the Retirement-Age Population

(2) International Journal of Population Geography:
State magnets for different elderly migrant types in the United States
State magnets for different elderly migrant types in the United States - Frey - 2000 - International Journal of Population Geography - Wiley Online Library

(3) Annals of Regional Science:
Location-specific amenities, topography, and population migration
Location-specific amenities, topography, and popul... [Ann Reg Sci. 1987] - PubMed result

Last edited by sunscribble; 02-05-2011 at 09:10 AM..
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Old 02-05-2011, 09:01 AM
 
99 posts, read 277,035 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EnricoV View Post
I'll 100% give you that "elderly migrant types" --- that is, older people who move --- primarily move for weather reasons. But California is not their destination. And that's only a small portion of the migrating population, and only a small portion of the elderly population. Most prefer to stay right where they are. But that has nothing to do with the entire migrating population. Those trends can be found in the link in my last post. That does not translate into most people preferring to live in everlasting summer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EnricoV View Post
I'll 100% give you that "elderly migrant types" --- that is, older people who move --- primarily move for weather reasons. But California is not their destination.
You seem to be setting up a straw man argument (a type of logical fallacy - see Straw man - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). I never proposed that elderly migrant types primarily move for weather reasons. Nor did I say that California was their destination.

Quote:
Originally Posted by EnricoV View Post
And that's only a small portion of the migrating population, and only a small portion of the elderly population. Most prefer to stay right where they are. But that has nothing to do with the entire migrating population.
If you read the first study, you will see that it represents the decisions of non-migrants as well as migrants.

If you read the second study, you will see that it addresses the California issue. It cites California as a revolving door migration state that attracts well-off elderly migrants but loses others due to other factors.

If you read the third study, you will see that it wasn't about the elderly types. It was more of a general study. So I think these articles actually do a pretty good job of covering the issues being discussed.

Quote:
Originally Posted by EnricoV View Post
Those trends can be found in the link in my last post.
I see no such link. I did find an interesting article on the Sun Belt though: Sun Belt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Last edited by sunscribble; 02-05-2011 at 09:12 AM..
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