I’m proud to say that I was born in New York and have lived here my whole life. Not only do I identify with being a New Yorker, even more so with being from Brooklyn.
Are you happy and proud of the state where you live?
I came across an article from USA Today which touches on this topic.
The article, Which U.S. states have the most pride is based on information taken from a Gallup Poll which surveyed people in all 50 states to find out what percentage of residents say their state was the very best or one of the best places to live.
I found the results to be pretty interesting.
There were two clear winners. People from Alaska and Montana have the most pride with 77% of their residents saying their states were the best or one of the best to live. Other states with high marks were Utah (70%), Wyoming (69%) and Hawaii &Texas (68%).
And now for the lowest scores. The states with the least pride are Rhode Island with 18% and Illinois at 19%. I was a bit surprised seeing these two at the bottom. I’ve been to each of these states a couple of times and both seemed to be like places that would be appealing to live. A few others with low scores were Mississippi (26%), Louisiana (27%) and three which tied at 28%- Michigan, New Mexico & New Jersey.
How did my home state of New York do? Surprisingly only 41% of New Yorkers polled said their state was the best or one of the best places to live. I expected a higher sense of pride for the state and am guessing if just NYC was polled, the scores would’ve been at the top.
Let us know what state you are from and if you feel that it’s one of the best to live in.
Check out the full USA Today article here.
DaninSTL- Thanks for the info- I’ve only visited Chicago so I can’t comment on the rest of the state of Illinois.
I think people from Chicago have lots of pride like people from Brooklyn do of where they live but it’s doesn’t equate statewide. Illinois is really two states, Cook County (Chicago) and the rest. This wouldn’t be a problem but most of the state is fairly conservative (Either Republican or Conservative Democrat) and Cook County is, well, Cook County.
I would have guessed Alabama, Texas and Tennessee to lots of pride and states like Delaware, RI, Colorado to be less.
Brian- Maybe a Brooklyn-based travel meetup should be planned for one of these days! On the topic of bialys, I am willing to bet that you are talking about the shop on Coney Island Avenue between Avenues T & U.
Antignos- Awesome! I don’t think I could say that I’ve ever met someone from MT! 🙂
I guessed MT right off the bat. If you ever met anyone from MT you’d understand. They love their state and it’s always home.
As you know, I am a fellow native but displaced Brooklynite — and I am proud of it.
One day when we finally cross paths, we will break bread over the best bialys in the world — from Brooklyn, of course.
Can you guess whose bialys I believe are the best? Just those alone are part of my pride of being from both Brooklyn and New York.
OMG, what part of Rhode Island and Illinois did you visit that seemed like it’d be a nice place to live?? They’re both a cesspool of taxation and corrupt government. Not to mention their climates are almost intolerable half the year!
I’ve always thought that Newport would be nice in the Spring/ Summer, not as a year round place to live. As for Illinois, I really like Chicago.
I can’t say that I’ve looked into their tax situation or government (or that I’ve seriously ever thought of moving).