PPP polls the favorability of some major U.S. cities

[greenforest32]

Similar to their poll on the U.S. states (http://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=142287.0), PPP has now polled 21 major U.S. cities as well.

I'm not sure if they're polling the top 50 largest cities or if these 21 are just it which would be weird as they're not the 21st largest.

http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/04/american-cities-favorability-poll.html

The Pacific Northwest has a good reputation nationwide--the two most popular of the 21 prominent cities we asked about in our national poll last weekend are Seattle and Portland, OR.  57% of American voters see Seattle favorably and only 14% unfavorably, edging out Portland (52-12) by three points on the margin.

The most unpopular is Detroit, which only 22% see positively and 49% negatively.  Americans have net-negative impressions of only two other of these cities, and both are in California: Oakland (21-39) and Los Angeles (33-40).  In February, PPP found California to be the least popular state in the union.  It does have the 11th most popular city, though: San Francisco (48-29).

Between the pack are Boston (52-17), Atlanta (51-19), Phoenix (49-18), Dallas (48-21), New York (49-23), New Orleans (47-24), Houston (45-22), Salt Lake City (43-20), Philadelphia (42-22), Baltimore (37-24), Las Vegas (43-33), Chicago (42-33), Cleveland (32-25), Washington, D.C. (44-39), and Miami (36-33).

Perhaps because women are more likely to be Democrats than are men, and Democrats more likely to be in urban areas than are Republicans, women and Democrats are only negative on two cities (Oakland and Detroit), while men are on four (D.C., L.A., Oakland, and Detroit), and Republicans are on eight (Miami, Vegas, San Fran, D.C., Chicago, Oakland, L.A., and Detroit).

The biggest partisan gap is unsurprisingly for D.C.  Democrats like it by a net 44 points, while Republicans dislike it by 24, for a 68-point gap.  Not far behind are Chicago (Democrats by 61), L.A. (59), S.F. (51), N.Y. (41), Detroit (33), Vegas (Democrats by 32), Dallas (Republicans by 32), Houston (GOP by 29), NOLA (Dems by 28), Baltimore (27), Oakland (25), Boston (24), Salt Lake (GOP by 22), Philly (Dems by 21), Seattle (17), Miami (15), Atlanta (14), Phoenix (GOP by 14), Cleveland (Dems by 11), and Portland (10).

The largest gap between black and white voters is on L.A., which black voters like by 35 points and white voters dislike by 16, for 51 points.  That is followed distantly by D.C. (blacks by 34), Vegas and Chicago (30), Salt Lake (whites by 28), Atlanta and Detroit (blacks by 23), Miami (19), NOLA and N.Y. (18), Portland (whites by 17), S.F. (blacks by 15), Baltimore (14), and Boston (whites by 12).

21 cities:

City, Favorable/Unfavorable, Margin

Seattle, 57-14, +43
Portland OR, 52-12, +40
Boston, 52-17, +35
Atlanta, 51-19, +32
Phoenix, 49-18, +31
Dallas, 48-21, +27
New York City, 49-23, +26
Houston, 45-22, +23
New Orleans, 47-24, +23
Salt Lake City, 43-20, +23
Philadelphia, 42-22, +20
San Francisco, 48-29, +19
Baltimore, 37-23, +14
Las Vegas, 43-33, +10
Chicago, 42-33, +9
Cleveland, 32-25, +7
Washington DC, 44-39, +5
Miami, 36-33, +3
Los Angeles, 33-40, -7
Oakland, 21-39, -18
Detroit, 22-49, -27

[Ѕenator Αverroës]

Phoenix is more highly rated than New York, New Orleans, San Francisco, and Chicago!?!? And Las Vegas has a positive favorability rating?

[BaldEagle1991]

I'm surprised Houston is favorable. People think of Houston as a Southern version of Detroit. 

[retromike22]

Why is L.A. so low?! We have beaches and Hollywood and lots of hot people!

[Joe Republic]

And Las Vegas has a positive favorability rating?

Why wouldn't it?

[Comrade Funk]

Philly is exactly in the middle? I'll take it. Not shocked the Pacific Northwest cities are the most popular.

[cavalcade]

I was going to complain about places like Atlanta and Houston being so high...then I realized I only have favorable views of 2 of these cities and they're #s 1 and 3.

[BaldEagle1991]

Why is L.A. so low?! We have beaches and Hollywood and lots of hot people!

If you ever read the gossip stuff, you'll see why everyone isn't liking too much the Hollywood celebs and hot people, and the beaches are crowded.

[TJ in Wisco]

Cleveland is in the positive!

[freepcrusher]

Why is L.A. so low?! We have beaches and Hollywood and lots of hot people!

yes but there's also smog, overcrowding and crime.

[Senator Sbane]

Why is L.A. so low?! We have beaches and Hollywood and lots of hot people!

yes but there's also smog, overcrowding and crime.

Actually LA's crime rate is only slightly higher than the national average. Though it was much higher as late as 2001, and people's perceptions are based on the 80's and 90's, the riots and so on.
http://www.city-data.com/city/Los-Angeles-California.html

And just in case you think the crime has migrated to the rest of the LA area.
http://www.policymap.com/city-crime-rates/los-angeles-crime-statistics/index.html

[freepcrusher]

Why is L.A. so low?! We have beaches and Hollywood and lots of hot people!

yes but there's also smog, overcrowding and crime.

Actually LA's crime rate is only slightly higher than the national average. Though it was much higher as late as 2001, and people's perceptions are based on the 80's and 90's, the riots and so on.
http://www.city-data.com/city/Los-Angeles-California.html

And just in case you think the crime has migrated to the rest of the LA area.
http://www.policymap.com/city-crime-rates/los-angeles-crime-statistics/index.html

yes that's all true. I think that people still unfairly think of LA that way probably due to Watts and Rodney King (even though both were at least 20 years ago). I find it interesting how in CA, the smaller cities such as Stockton or even San Bernardino have worse crime rates.

[Ѕenator Αverroës]

And Las Vegas has a positive favorability rating?

Why wouldn't it?

James Howard Kunstler puts it better than I can:

Las Vegas evolved as a crude extrapolation of several elements of American culture:  the defiance of nature, abnormally cheap land, vast empty space for expansion, and the belief that it is possible to get something for nothing -- these elements all presenting themselves there in the most extreme form. [...] If ever a setting was designed to ravage the central nervous system and induce acute agoraphobia, the Strip is it.

I'm sure that any resident must hold a more subtle image of the city, perhaps one that is easier to appreciate. But this is how Las Vegas is portrayed and promoted to the masses, and I struggle to understand its allure.

[Vermin Supreme]

Why is L.A. so low?! We have beaches and Hollywood and lots of hot people!

yes but there's also smog, overcrowding and crime.

Actually LA's crime rate is only slightly higher than the national average. Though it was much higher as late as 2001, and people's perceptions are based on the 80's and 90's, the riots and so on.
http://www.city-data.com/city/Los-Angeles-California.html

And just in case you think the crime has migrated to the rest of the LA area.
http://www.policymap.com/city-crime-rates/los-angeles-crime-statistics/index.html

yes that's all true. I think that people still unfairly think of LA that way probably due to Watts and Rodney King (even though both were at least 20 years ago). I find it interesting how in CA, the smaller cities such as Stockton or even San Bernardino have worse crime rates.

Watt riots happened 47 years ago.

[Senator Sbane]

And Las Vegas has a positive favorability rating?

Why wouldn't it?

James Howard Kunstler puts it better than I can:

Las Vegas evolved as a crude extrapolation of several elements of American culture:  the defiance of nature, abnormally cheap land, vast empty space for expansion, and the belief that it is possible to get something for nothing -- these elements all presenting themselves there in the most extreme form. [...] If ever a setting was designed to ravage the central nervous system and induce acute agoraphobia, the Strip is it.

I'm sure that any resident must hold a more subtle image of the city, perhaps one that is easier to appreciate. But this is how Las Vegas is portrayed and promoted to the masses, and I struggle to understand its allure.

Yeah, I gotta say I really don't like Vegas. What I found really amusing is the pretentiousness of their clubs. Like seriously, you aren't NYC or LA, you're just Vegas. San Diego has a better clubbing scene than you. Deal with it!

And I'm not a huge gambling guy, and only really enjoy Blackjack and poker. At least when I was living in California, it was just much easier to go to the Indian casinos.

[Reginald]

I'm surprised Houston is favorable. People think of Houston as a Southern version of Detroit. 

Do they really now? It's quite unreasonably high on this poll, yeah, but comparable to Detroit? I'm from Dallas, and even I admit this is a tad extreme.

[BaldEagle1991]

I'm surprised Houston is favorable. People think of Houston as a Southern version of Detroit. 

Do they really now? It's quite unreasonably high on this poll, yeah, but comparable to Detroit? I'm from Dallas, and even I admit this is a tad extreme.

Yep they do. It's hard to believe but it's true.

[retromike22]

Why is L.A. so low?! We have beaches and Hollywood and lots of hot people!

yes but there's also smog, overcrowding and crime.

The smog is actually worse in the Central Valley. And all the cars here have smog checks so it's actually not that bad. EVERY CITY is crowded! That's why it's a city. And the crime in L.A. is lowe now than any point since the 1950s. You just hear about it more often because since there are more people here, there are more crimes committed. But as a crime rate, it's actually pretty low.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Why is L.A. so low?! We have beaches and Hollywood and lots of hot people!

yes but there's also smog, overcrowding and crime.

The smog is actually worse in the Central Valley. And all the cars here have smog checks so it's actually not that bad. EVERY CITY is crowded! That's why it's a city. And the crime in L.A. is lowe now than any point since the 1950s. You just hear about it more often because since there are more people here, there are more crimes committed. But as a crime rate, it's actually pretty low.

Second to Bakersfield in air pollution.
http://www.citymayors.com/environment/polluted_uscities.html

[Lloyd Bentsen's Ghost]

I'm surprised Houston is favorable. People think of Houston as a Southern version of Detroit. 

I don't get the comparison. We actually have money and jobs.

[bgwah]

This is a weird sub-forum for this thread.

[greenforest32]

This is a weird sub-forum for this thread.

Yeah, now that I think about it, this and the state favorability thread fit much better in something like the "Political Geography & Demographics" sub-forum. Not sure what I was thinking