CALIFORNIA BUSINESS MINUTE
Best Place to Live
10-07-09
Hi, I am Tim Johnson and welcome to the California Business Minute.
For the sixth year in a row, California tops the annual Harris Poll that
ranks states that Americans would choose to live in if they did not live
in the states where they are now. Florida, which was the most popular
state in 2001, retains second place on the list and Hawaii is number three,
as it was in 2007.
The Harris Poll has asked these questions almost every year since 1997.
Florida topped the list of the most popular states every year from 1997
to 2001. California jumped to the number one position in 2002 and has
remained there ever since.
After California and Florida, the states where the largest number of Americans
would like to live are Hawaii (#3), Texas (#4), and Colorado (#5). Next came
three states tied for 6th place: Arizona, North Carolina and Washington and
filling out the rest of the top 10 states are Tennessee (#9), Oregon (#10).
New York City tops 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. The other most popular cities on
the top ten are San Diego (#4), Seattle (#5), Chicago (#6), Boston (#7),
Las Vegas (#8), Washington, DC (#9), and Dallas (#10). Los Angeles ranked (#15).
According to the Harris Poll, this is much more than a beauty contest. The most
popular states and cities where large numbers of people would like to live tend
to attract tourists and business. They are places where people like to take
vacations and where companies like to have their offices and factories.
The 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, two of the most popular cities, New York City and Denver,
get snow and low temperatures in winter.
It is worth nothing that California is still top of the list of states in spite
of the widely publicized economic problems and the political battles to control
its budget deficit and snow shovels are not require!
I am Tim Johnson and this has been the California Business Minute.
|
