Our Best City is our Worst City

America's Most, and Least Favorite Cities to Live in and Work In

Q: Where do people most want to live?
A: New York

Q: Where do people most want NOT to live?
A: New York

Huh??

Freud was famous for saying, among other things, that all human relations are ambivalent, except for the love of a mother for her first-born son. Guess who was their mother's first-born son ... but let that pass.

Ambivalent we are, both within ourselves, and among ourselves.

This survey proves once again that ONE MAN'S MEAT IS ANOTHER MAN'S POISON.

The survey can be found on yahoo here:

Meanwhile a few points. We are not given a full list of attributes, but you glean them as you read. Things I noticed and I made some charts for you:

AMERICA'S MOST, AND LEAST FAVORITE CITIES (sorted for your enjoyment)

OF NOTE

1. New York ranks #1 in BOTH categories. Talk about one man's meat is another man's poison.

There is a similar love/hate relationship with:
Las Vegas, #3 Best, #3 Worst
Los Angeles, #4 for Best, and #7 for Worst
Chicago, #9 Best, #5 Worst

2. The category "THE PEOPLE: Residents' backgrounds, talents and perspectives" appears only twice. It is the #3 reasons people DO want to live in San Francisco. It is the #1 reason why people do NOT want to live in Dallas. (I think that one of the amrphous reasons why I don't like it here!)

3. The category "Community - connectivity and sense of place" occurs only twice. It is the #2 reason why people want to live in Seattle. It is the #2 reason why people do NOT want to live in Chicago.

4. The category "Good place to raise a family" appears only once in the survey. It is the #1 reason why people want to live in Boston.

5. Considered "affordable" are Las Vegas, Denver, Phoenix, Chicago. It is never listed as the #1 reason TO live somewhere. It is the #1 reason NOT to live in New York, Los Angeles, and D. C.

6. Median home value in Detroit is $80,140. Poor Detroit. I ranks #1 on Yahoo's Misery Meaure, too.

7. One reason people consider Las Vegas more affordable is that housing values there have decreased 25.2%.

8. In ranking the Best, our "new society" apparently looks most for "entertainment opportunities."

9. The Worst of the Worst list seems to be about health and safety.

BEST
New York
San Diego
San Francisco
Las Vegas
Los Angeles
Seattle
Denver
Phoenix
Chicago
Boston

WORST
New York
Detroit
Los Angeles
New Orleans
Chicago
Washington, D. C.
Las Vegas
Cleveland
Dallas
Miami


I live in Dallas. It is ranked #9 on the Worst list for these reasons:
The people - backgrounds, talents and perspectives
Environment
Image

They say Dallas has "a reputation for traffic, crime and sprawl." While I live in an area of that urban sprawl called "the Metroplex" that is very low in crime (Southlake - the most affluent neighborhood in the U.S., the word that now comes to my mind when I think of "Dallas" is "traffic."

Individual coaching - monthly contract or single sessions
Consultations
EQ in the Workplace Program for businesses
Coach Certification - all fields
sdunn@susandunn.cc
817-741-7223