http://thislandpress.com/roundups/almost-everyone-hates-okc/Oklahoma City is one of the least liked places in the U.S., according to a new survey.
The Atlantic Cities recently published the findings from a “city sentiment survey” conducted by researchers at the Kauffman Foundation and Harvard University to discover whether or not urban statistics affect public opinion of places.
Samuel Arbesman, one of the researchers, wrote:
There’s no shortage of information about cities. From population and unemployment to crime and traffic statistics, urban and regional data is swirling all around us. We’re exposed to ranking after ranking, from the best places to raise families, to the metro areas with the best public transportation or local restaurant scene, all the way down to less tangible measures like say, the worst-dressed cities.
The researchers surveyed 310 respondents, found via Amazon Mechanical Turk, “an online labor market designed to allow the completion of tasks that are hard for computers to do but easy for people,” asking them for their mental reactions the 50 largest cities in the U.S.
Oklahoma City ranked No. 4 on the list of cities with the highest percentage of negative reactions. Detroit, Michigan, was the least liked city, and Seattle, Washington, topped the list of most-liked places.
From The Atlantic: "The overall rankings by all 310 respondents are mapped above. Blue indicates a more positive opinion, while red is more negative. The size of the circles are scaled according the actual ratings."
Respondents’ zip codes were recorded in order to determine whether or not geographic location affected opinion. Those in the Midwest had a slightly higher opinion of OKC than did those in the Northeast, South, and West.
Arbesman wrote:
What we found is that our initial perceptions about cities are in fact often grounded in statistical reality. The positive or negative opinions of our survey respondents were correlated, often quite strongly, with such metrics as change in population, housing prices, and cost of living, and inversely correlated with measures like crime and unemployment. On the other hand, measures such as sales tax and traffic congestion appear to have little influence on people’s perceptions of different cities…
While certain cities are positively viewed by all regions, each region has a better view of its own cities than those cities of other regions. The South likes southern cities, the West western cities, and so forth. The Midwest appears to be the most self-hating (or at least the least positive toward itself) of the Census regions.
Not every man’s poll is every man’s opinion, though. In September of 2011, a survey of 1,370 OKC residents found that most of them are happy with where they live. “Nearly 85 percent of those polled said Oklahoma City is an excellent or good place to live,” The Oklahoman reported. “The national average is 78 percent.”
OKC is working to better its national image, according to a press release issued last month. “In 2010, only 26 (percent) ranked Oklahoma City as an 8, 9, or 10 as a place to live or do business,” the release stated. The Oklahoma City Chamber promoted “aspects of the city that scored negatively in the survey, such as nightlife, business and job climate, quality of life, and education,” especially on the West Coast. “Post-test results showed that of those who had seen the campaign, the percentage ranking Oklahoma City as an 8, 9 or 10 increased from 26 percent to 52 percent,” the release said, noting the campaign would continue in 2012.
There's a music video too.
