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California, NYC Most Desirable US Locations »
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California, NYC Most Desirable US Locations
Despite its ongoing economic woes, sunny California - for the sixth year in a row - basks at the top of the list of US states that Americans would choose to live in if they did not live in the state they do now, while New York City caputures the honors as the most desirable city as it has for 12 of the past 13 years, according to a recent Harris Poll from Harris Interactive. In terms of other states, Florida - which was top-ranked in 2001, continues in the #2 spot on the list of most desirable states. Hawaii ranks at #3, as it did in 2007.
For cities, New York City is followed by #2 Denver and #3 San Francisco, the poll found.
Most Desirable States
California jumped to #1 position in 2002 and has remained there ever since, according to the survey. After California, Florida and Hawaii, the states in which the largest number of Americans would like to live are Texas (#4) and Colorado (#5). Three states ended up in a tie for sixth place: Arizona, North Carolina and Washington state.
The top 15 states:
Virginia, which was #10 in 2008 dropped off the top-15 list this year, as did Pennsylvania (was #14) and Alaska (was #15) .
Cities by Numbers
New York City has topped the list of cities where the most people would like to live in or near, every year, since 1997, except in 1998 when it slipped behind San Francisco. However, Denver and San Francisco, now tied for second place, have moved up from # 9 and #4 last year. This is the first time in the thirteen-year series that Denver has placed higher than #4.
The top 15 cities:
Washington, DC (#9); Dallas, TX (#10); Austin, TX (#11); Nashville, TN (#12); Atlanta, GA (#13), are new to the list this year, while
Honolulu, HI (was #7 last year); Phoenix, AZ (was #8); Charlotte, NC (was #13); Portland, OR (was #14); and Miami, FL (was
#15) dropped off the list for 2009.
In terms of trends for appealing states to live in, climate appears to be important. The majority of the states and cities listed have hot or warm climates, and the top four states are all in the Sun Belt. However, the two most popular cities, New York City and
Denver, get snow and low temperatures in winter.
Harris Interactive suggested that although it it may be easy at first to dismiss these results as a geographical “beauty contest,” it is important to marketers and others to understand the rankings, since the most popular states and cities where large numbers of people would like to live tend to attract tourists and businesses, among other economic development.
A similar study conducted earlier this year by Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends project ranked Denver at #1, and found that more than two-fifths (43%) of the US population would like to live in the Mile-High City or its surrounding metro area. Detroit fared worst in that survey.
Regardless of state of residence, another study by the Pew Research Center found that one-third of Mexicans would immigrate to the US if they could and that the majority of Mexicans (57%) think life is better in America.
About the survey: This Harris Poll was conducted online within the US on August 10 and 18, 2009, among 2, 984 adults
ages 18+. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.
