The email only included that which you see here, along with a link to a US News & World Report report titled Best States Rankings Measuring outcomes for citizens using more than 70 metrics.
Of course I assumed the reason Spencer Jack and Jason were emailing me this had to be that Texas had come in #1 when US News & World Report ranked the states.
I clicked on the link and read the first two paragraphs of the article before I got to the rankings, where I was shocked, shocked I tell you, to see which state ranked #1.
First those first two paragraphs...
Some states shine in health care. Some soar in education. Some excel in both – or in much more. The Best States ranking of U.S. states draws on thousands of data points to measure how well states are performing for their citizens. In addition to health care and education, the metrics take into account a state’s economy, its roads, bridges, internet and other infrastructure, its public safety, the fiscal stability of state government, and the opportunity it affords its residents.
More weight was accorded to some state measures than others, based on a survey of what matters most to people. Health care and education were weighted most heavily. Then came state economies, infrastructure, and the opportunity states offer their citizens. Fiscal stability followed closely in weighting, followed by measures of crime & corrections and a state's natural environment.
Well, reading some of what the criteria is for these rankings had me worrying maybe Texas might not have done as well as I had presumed, what with the metrics measuring health care, education, roads, bridges, the state's economy, public safety and opportunity.
But, I am always hearing, from Texas locals (of the right wing nut job type) about the Texas Miracle.
I have never understood what in the world is meant by that "Texas Miracle" phrase, but it always seems to be tied to supposedly so many Americans escaping their supposedly liberal high tax states to move to cheap liberty loving Texas.
Usually it is Californians escaping California for Texas which are mentioned. With no understanding of the fact that California has a big population, hence statistically you are gonna have more Californians moving around the country, than any other state.
That and the fact that California has what would be the world's 5th largest economy if it were an independent nation. California businesses, when expanding to other less prosperous states, such as Texas, move some of their California employees to run whatever business moved part of an operation to Texas.
Now, let us finally find out which state US News & World Report ranked as the Best State in America.
Oh my, I am truly shocked, it is my old home state of Washington which is the Best State in America.
I am additionally shocked that Texas is not even in the Top Ten. This must be fake news. Or a product of the corrupt left wing media.
Let's scroll down the list til we find Texas.
Okay, scrolling past the Top Ten, we are almost to the Bottom Ten when we finally find the Texas location on the Best State list, coming in at #38.
That does not seem too good a place to be for an imaginary miracle.
When I saw that in the "Natural Environment" category Washington only ranked #14 I was perplexed. I figured natural environment meant something like ranking a state for scenery diversity, or some similar type thing.
The article explains what is meant... "The natural environment ranking looks at the quality of air and water in a state, as well as exposure to pollution and toxins."
Still perplexing, what with Washington having relatively clean air and water, at least compared to other locations I have witnessed. That and a lot less litter.
If the ranking for "Natural Environment" had been based on scenic diversity I would have had California at #1, what with that state's long coastline, beaches, mountains, Yosemite, Death Valley, redwood, sequoias, along with manmade scenic wonders like the Golden Gate Bridge.
Utah would be my pick for most scenic state, though that state does not have the most diverse scenery. Arizona is also rather scenic, as are Wyoming, Montana, Oregon and several others. Like Alaska, Hawaii and Florida.
I would never have guessed the state US News ranks as #1 for quality of air and water and exposure to pollution and toxins. Or scenic diversity.
Rhode Island.
Are there lakes and rivers in Rhode Island? Is the state big enough to account for any air pollution which might hover above?
I will be returning to the Best State in America next summer, for the first time since 2017. Big Ed is also returning to his former old home state, for the first time since 2002. He has been back to modern America since 2002, only once, that being a month in Arizona in 2018. He experienced some culture shock at that point in time, and now we learn that Arizona is only the 34th Best State in America, barely better than Texas, so that Arizona shock was nothing compared to what awaits on the west coast.
Yes, Washington is going to be a bit of culture shock for Big Ed.
The air clear, clean and smelling of Christmas trees. Little litter. Everything looking clean and new. The state liquor stores closed, with booze now sold in grocery stores (unlike Texas where large parts of the state haven't gotten the memo that Prohibition ended a long time ago). Pot stores. Many more casinos than when last Big Ed visited Washington. Multiple Cabela's sporting goods stores (you know the store that was gonna give Fort Worth the imaginary biggest tourist attraction in Texas). Ballot boxes like mailboxes, for easy voting. Light rail now covering many miles, with many more under construction. The Seattle skyline hugely altered, after years of never seeing the Fort Worth skyline change. The Seahawk stadium where the Kingdome used to be. The Amazon campus. The new transit tunnel under downtown Seattle which began construction at the same time Fort Worth started trying to build three little bridges over dry land. The embarrassing homeless camps along I-5 through downtown Seattle. And much much more, like the Tacoma waterfront.
I wonder what it would take to make a state in the condition Texas is in into the Best State in America? Better education? A dose of progressive enlightenment? Better leaders? An end to Republican dominance? More Californians moving east...
No comments:
Post a Comment