Living in paradise

[frorider]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/w...atural-beauty/

Turns out the Midwest is a shithole when it comes to attractive outdoor features and climate. It's science.

[schuss]

the fact that all of Utah is blue makes me suspect this, as parts are just wasteland

[bushman]

Ha ha the only good place in Minnesota is the Grand Portage Indian reservation.

[TBS]

Humboldt County CA is in the top five?
Bwahahahaha!

[smmokan]

So the southern half of Florida is more naturally beautiful than the southern half of Utah and all of Idaho and Montana? Uh... yeah, OK.

[hutash]

Humboldt County CA is in the top five?
Bwahahahaha!

Yes, if being stoned 24 hours a day is your version of paradise.

[hutash]

So the southern half of Florida is more naturally beautiful than the southern half of Utah and all of Idaho and Montana? Uh... yeah, OK.

The map is brawn by counties, and if you consider just the coastal parts of southern Florida, then yeah. The beaches, keys, glades and swamps are pretty spectacular.

But I agree, at least the mountain parts of UT, ID and MT are pretty nice, a lot of the other parts, not so much.

[ScrewYou]

So the southern half of Florida is more naturally beautiful than the southern half of Utah and all of Idaho and Montana? Uh... yeah, OK.

Thinking the same thing. Ive lived in both, and anyone with a soul would agree the Northern Rockies are more beautiful..

The beaches are nice in florida, but the rest of the state is a freakin armpit. Id rather live in twin falls than in orlando.

[muted]

the fact that all of Utah is blue makes me suspect this, as parts are just wasteland

Makes me suspect you don't know Utah very well. Some parts look like a flat void, but are filled with ridiculous slot canyons, dinosaur tracks, or Anasazi houses. Other parts are some the most scenic places in the world. A few parts are 'wasteland' to anyone, but other parts are only wasteland on first impression.

[hutash]

Ventura County, Calif., is the absolute most desirable place to live in America.

No it's not, it's a hell hole. Stay away if you value your soul!!!

[hutash]

Thinking the same thing. Ive lived in both, and anyone with a soul would agree the Northern Rockies are more beautiful..

The beaches are nice in florida, but the rest of the state is a freakin armpit. Id rather live in twin falls than in orlando.

I think that is the point. The beaches, keys, everglades are freakin' great, but the rest of the state sucks. I think the Orlando area got a good rating for the Kissimee (sp?) river area, it sure as fuck is not because of Orlando itself or Disney fucking World. A lot of people don't like swamps, but on a natural scale they are pretty cool, at least if you are a biologist/naturalist. Coastal southern Florida is pretty awesome, at least in January for a few weeks, I sure as hell wouldn't live there.

[huckbucket]

Whole study is crap. Finger lakes in Western NY got a "low" rating. OK.

[capulin overdrive]

Yup, load of crap.


Everybody should move to eastern New Mexico, it's awesome!

[hutash]

Whole study is crap. Finger lakes in Western NY got a "low" rating. OK.

A major factor, right or wrong, are warm temps and sunshine. I don't imagine there is an abundance of either between January and March.

[I've seen black diamonds!]

Whole study is crap. Finger lakes in Western NY got a "low" rating. OK.

And Kings county NY is average:

[iceman]

And Kings county NY is average:

Seems okay to me.

[ill-advised strategy]

flawed algorithm. It clearly over-emphasizes winter sun and low humidity.

Since they have the data and the ability to map it, it would be sick tits if they would just set something up so you could indicate your own values and get a map based on what you like...versus some bean-counting D.C. pussy who can't handle a snowy winter.

[schuss]

Makes me suspect you don't know Utah very well. Some parts look like a flat void, but are filled with ridiculous slot canyons, dinosaur tracks, or Anasazi houses. Other parts are some the most scenic places in the world. A few parts are 'wasteland' to anyone, but other parts are only wasteland on first impression.

Listen, I love quite a bit of Utah, but if you're saying there aren't reasonably vast dead spaces in that state, you're wrong. I agree it has some stunning scenery etc., I'm just saying that having every county in the state in the top categories is likely inaccurate as there are a few duds.

[muted]

Listen, I love quite a bit of Utah, but if you're saying there aren't reasonably vast dead spaces in that state, you're wrong. I agree it has some stunning scenery etc., I'm just saying that having every county in the state in the top categories is likely inaccurate as there are a few duds.

It's probably because of the moderate winters it's ranked high, but I'm not going to agree on saying Utah has a lot of wasteland. Lots of desert, sure, but if you take time to go in there you'd be surprised on what's hidden in plain view. Then again, a lot of people see high mountains as wasteland too.

[iceman]

flawed algorithm. It clearly over-emphasizes winter sun and low humidity.

Well it's certainly flawed in that there should be some more levels to the thing. Warm winters are a positive but 120 degree summers are a negative, yet summer heat is not a factor in the algorithm, for example. That's why Death Valley is in there as fkn awesome. But overall it's clearly correct as you can see from population trends.

Where I am at the moment is average by that calculation. Is this average? I guess so.

some bean-counting D.C. pussy who can't handle a snowy winter.

hey now. back off son.

[frorider]

Whaddya mean ice? They did acct for summer temps and high humidity. As they should.

It appears that copious snowfall was not a negative, provided there was lots of sun in winter. Makes sense. I tell you these govt types are geniuses

[Rodneyyee]

No it's not, it's a hell hole. Stay away if you value your soul!!!

Ventura is a low rent version of So. Cal with worse weather. Shitty waves and weird losers wandering around thinking they live in paradise-get gas and keep going.

[iceman]

Well I didn't study it in great detail. "These measures are warm winter, winter sun, temperate summer, low summer humidity, topographic variation, and water area. "

I guess "temperate summer" got by me. You'd think that measure would drag some places down that are high on the list. <shrug>

[that dude who did that thing]

The only thing funnier than an attempt to objectivize natural beauty is how the PR reacts to it. I think we all would choose to weigh different factors differently, we would also weigh them differently if we were deciding where to vacation, where to live, where to have our ashes spread, etc. But only a moron would try to read more into the map than what was actually put into it.

[lionelhutz]

Yea, when most of the ADK and Vermont are "below" average, and much of the parched desert southwest is "above average" including some sunbaked shit holes you know the math is flawed.