"McDonald's" nearby – and life is wonderful!
Young people strive for big cities like New York and Boston, older people – for quiet suburbs of the Sun Belt (in other words, southern states). Men are drawn to Las Vegas (and it's understandable - that's where the capital of excitement is and you can find everything for poker and other games). But women are attracted to Florida. Wealthy families would like to live where there is a Starbucks coffee shop on every corner. And those of more modest means are attached to McDonald's.
As Voice of America notes, the differences don't end there. The divide also runs along ideological lines: Democrats are ready to move to the East or West Coast right now, closer to like-minded people. Staunch Republicans don't want to hear about these regions, but break into smiles at the word Texas.
Similar surveys have been conducted in the past. The trend in the current study, according to Pew senior analyst Richard Morin, is that today's Americans do not want a radical choice between city and countryside (or rather, suburb). They would like to combine both lifestyles, benefiting from the cultural baggage and diversity of a large city with the advantages of the suburbs (safety and affordability of housing, better schools, sports facilities, and so on).
The researchers provided a list of the most favorable cities and their surrounding areas according to survey participants: Denver, San Diego, Seattle, Orlando, and San Francisco. The survey also showed the worst ratings for cities: Detroit, Cleveland, Kansas City, and Pittsburgh.
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