Where in the US do dopers live?

In My Humble Opinion
41

I agree that this poll is FUBAR and should probably be shut down and restarted. I live in the outer Boston area (ever heard of it?) and it isn’t on the list either so New Englanders can’t be represented even if they live in the biggest penthouse in downtown Boston itself. I think there is something wrong with that. New York City is the closest but I have only been through that outfit a couple of times and don’t know much about it because it is 200 miles away.

I wouldn’t go with states either though. Regions are much better for your purposes. The greater Boston area encompasses or greatly influences all six New England States for example but not all of any of them including Massachusetts itself. Parts of Connecticut are part of the greater New York City MSA as is all of New Jersey and some of Pennsylvania. You can go on and on all day with examples like those.

It isn’t easy to make a neat poll like this. The U.S. is too big to be well suited for it.

42

It isn’t really hard. You just have to start with the right data. The census people have pros that spend all year deciding how to partition the US in practically meaningful ways. The only problem here is that our Dear **TD **just grabbed the wrong census list.

I do agree that any homemade partitioning is bound to be pretty silly / useless.

43

I’m inside the Beltway in the DC area, but given the choices in the poll, I went with “sticks.” (Sure not choosing Baltimore…)