New York City, San Diego and Las Vegas Top List of Cities People Would Like to Live In or Near

New York City also tops list of cities that people would least like to live in or near

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Oct 20, 2010, 07:02 ET

NEW YORK, Oct. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- A new Harris poll finds that more people would like to live in or near New York City than any other city. San Diego is the second most popular city, followed by Las Vegas. The next most popular cities are Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Nashville, Atlanta, Denver and Boston. The Harris Poll has asked this question almost every year since 1997. New York has been the most popular city in every year except in 1998 when it placed second behind San Francisco.

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U.S. CITIES PEOPLE WOULD MOST LIKE TO LIVE IN OR NEAR TO
"If you could live in or near any city in the country except the one you live in or nearest to now, which city would you choose?"
Base: All U.S. Adults

	2010
New York, NY	1
San Diego, CA	2
Las Vegas, NV	3
Seattle, WA	4
San Francisco, CA	5
Los Angeles, CA	6
Nashville, TN	=7
Atlanta, GA	=7
Denver, CO	9
Boston, MA	10

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,620 adults surveyed online between September 14 and 20, 2010 by Harris Interactive.

While New York has consistently topped this list for the last 12 years, other cities positions have been quite volatile. This year several cities have improved their rankings including:

San Diego, up to #2 from #4 last year;
Las Vegas, up to #3 from #8;
Los Angeles, up from #15 to #6; and,
Nashville and Atlanta, up to a tie for #7 from #12 and #13 last year.

Cities that have lost ground and slipped down the rankings include:

San Francisco, down to #5 from a tie for #2 last year;
Denver, down to #9 from a tie for #2;
Boston down to #10 from #7; and,
Chicago down to #12 from #6 last year.

Miami, Honolulu, Raleigh-Durham and Portland which rank numbers 13, 14 and tied for number 15 have all moved up from last year into the top 15. Washington DC, Dallas and Austin have all dropped out of the top 15 this year.

Least Favorite City

When asked to name the city that they would least like to live in or near to, more people choose New York than any other city. It is followed by Detroit, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston.

LEAST FAVORITE CITY "And, which city would you least like to live in?" Base: All U.S. Adults
	2010
New York, NY	1
Detroit, MI	2
Los Angeles, CA	3
Chicago, IL	4
Houston, TX	5
Miami, FL	6
Washington, DC	7
San Francisco, CA	8
Dallas, TX	9
Phoenix, AZ	=10
New Orleans, LA	=10

So What?

It's interesting to note that several of America's favorite cities (New York, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston and Chicago) also fall in the "least favorite" list. As Americans show a wide range of opinions in the cities they prefer—many like warm weather, while others may prefer snow—what appeals to some Americans may seem miserable for others. Luckily, the United States has plenty of cities in varying sizes, climates, and styles to choose from.

TABLE 1 U.S. CITIES PEOPLE WOULD MOST LIKE TO LIVE IN OR NEAR TO "If you could live in or near any city in the country except the one you live in or nearest to now, which city would you choose?" Base: All U.S. Adults
	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2005	2006	2007	2009	2010
New York, NY	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
San Diego, CA	=7	=7	9	5	=2	8	2	2	3	2	4	2
Las Vegas, NV	*	=15	12	=6	=5	=14	4	3	5	5	8	3
Seattle, WA	2	4	2	3	4	3	=9	5	4	3	5	4
San Francisco, CA	=5	1	3	=6	=2	2	3	4	2	4	=2	5
Los Angeles, CA	*	14	=13	=12	11	10	5	12	11	=9	15	6
Nashville, TN	11	=9	11	*	*	*	*	15	*	*	12	=7
Atlanta, GA	=5	3	4	2	9	5	11	9	*	*	13	=7
Denver, CO	4	=5	6	4	=5	=6	=9	7	=7	=9	=2	9
Boston, MA	=7	=7	7	9	=7	12	=13	11	10	12	7	10
Orlando, FL	*	*	*	*	*	*	12	*	14	6	14	11
Chicago, IL	10	=12	5	=6	=7	=6	6	6	9	11	6	12
Miami, FL	13	*	*	=14	=13	11	=15	*	*	15	*	13
Honolulu, HI	*	*	*	*	*	*	=13	8	6	7	*	14
Portland, OR	12	=12	=15	=12	=13	=14	8	10	=12	14	*	=15
Raleigh-Durham, NC	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	=15
= Tied for that position * Not in top 15

CITIES NEW OR RETURNING TO TOP 15 THIS YEAR
MIAMI, FL (13)
HONOLULU, HI (14)
RALEIGH-DURHAM, NC (=15)

CITIES THAT DROPPED OUT OF TOP 15 THIS YEAR
WASHINGTON, DC (WAS 9)
DALLAS, TX (WAS 10)
AUSTIN, TX (WAS 11)

TABLE 2 LEAST FAVORITE CITY "And, which city would you least like to live in?" Base: All U.S. Adults
	2010
New York, NY	1
Detroit, MI	2
Los Angeles, CA	3
Chicago, IL	4
Houston, TX	5
Miami, FL	6
Washington, DC	7
San Francisco, CA	8
Dallas, TX	9
Phoenix, AZ	=10
New Orleans, LA	=10
Philadelphia, PA	12
Las Vegas, NV	=13
Boston, MA	=13
Memphis, TN	=15
Cleveland, OH	=15

Methodology

This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between September 14 to 20, 2010 among 2,620 adults (aged 18 and over). 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.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of Harris Interactive.

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Q885, 890

The Harris Poll® #123, October 20, 2010

By Humphrey Taylor, Chairman, The Harris Poll, Harris Interactive

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is one of the world's leading custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries including healthcare, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Serving clients in over 215 countries and territories through our North American, European, and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us – and our clients – stay ahead of what's next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.