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Post by FWS on Mar 4, 2014 12:44:39 GMT -6
Gallup Poll: North Dakota Happiest State in U.S.By Dennis Lynch International Business Times February 22 2014  An oil drilling rig outside Watford, North Dakota, October 20, 2012. Thousands of people have flooded into North Dakota to work in state's oil drilling boom. REUTERS/Jim UrquhartNo offense to North Dakotans, but their state doesn’t exactly rush to mind when one thinks of the “happiest states” in America. According to the Gallop-Healthway Well-Being Index, however, the Peace Garden State deserves some recognition. North Dakota made the jump from No. 19 in 2012 to the No. 1 spot in 2013. It unseated the far more predictable happy state of 2012, Hawaii. The Gallop-Healthways Well-Being Index is based on a set of metrics that take into consideration residents’ personal relationships, economic stability, community, life outlook and physical health. Gallop polled more than 178,000 people across the U.S. for their data. With all due praise for North Dakota state, the Gallop index shows that happiness may be a Midwest thing. Three of the top ten happiest states in the country border North Dakota: South Dakota, Nebraska and Minnesota. Three others in the top ten: Iowa, Nebraska and Colorado, are nearby as well. North Dakota ranked first in two of Gallop’s sub-indexes: work environment and physical health. Dakota’s recent oil boom has provided residents with well-paying jobs. The state has created 56,600 private-sector jobs since 2011, and it has the lowest unemployment rate in the country (3.1 percent). On the other end of the spectrum, West Virginia is again the lowest-scoring state in the index. West Virginia scored lowest in five of the six sub-indexes, and only Mississippi scored lower in the work environment metric. Other notable figures from the Gallup index: Massachusetts scored the highest in basic access, which measures “feeling safe, satisfied, and optimistic within a community.” Alaska scored highest in emotional health, which measures “daily feelings and mental state.” Vermont scored highest in healthy behaviors, which measures “engaging in behaviors that affect physical health.” All in all, the Gallop-Healthway index shows the U.S. is continuing its steady road of recovery from the 2008 recession: "Well-being has been fairly stable nationally since 2008. However, since 2010, the first full year after the Great Recession officially ended, 11 states' well-being scores have shown year-over-year improvement."
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Post by trappnman on Mar 4, 2014 15:24:47 GMT -6
the Gallop index shows that happiness may be a Midwest thing
the only logical conclusion, must be we eat real food, not bait..... HA!
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Post by mostinterestingmanintheworld on Mar 4, 2014 18:13:47 GMT -6
money buys happiness, no truer statement
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Post by trappincoyotes39 on Mar 4, 2014 18:27:50 GMT -6
Money is ok in most parts of the Dakota's but the outdoors and not having much road rage or living on top of one another is a plus as well. Both states have super low unemployment and state taxes are none or really low. The only bad part if your not a winter lover is 6 months of it most years. Plenty of public access for the number of people in the Dakota's and a lot of room to roam.
if you get up by the oil boom area in ND south of there is teddy Roosevelt national park which is really great and medora,ND has awsome pitch fork fondue and a really cool golf course for those that like such called the bully pulpit green surrounded by badlands really neat to see. They also have a trappers themed resteraunt and motel as well. The door handles are 3 long springs and a neat place to stay and eat. They also have a nice little bar that serves awsome pizza. Place is called the trappers kettle and has many pictures of badlands Bob Gargorski fampus trapper from the area, not to far away is where Gary jepson calls home.
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Post by PamIsMe on Mar 5, 2014 0:49:07 GMT -6
Well, if Alaska ranks the highest for emotional health, I would have to doubt their results about North Dakota as well. lol
Cheers,
Pam
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Post by bblwi on Mar 5, 2014 11:44:49 GMT -6
I think Joel is correct over the short term that high income and money does "medicate" many ills. Over time however the desire to raise families with better housing, infrastructure, education and cultural attributes will show up unless one just wants a high income, transient workforce with limited amenities etc. That is a decision many municipalities in ND will need to face if not already. With a lot of single workers or workers with families not in the area a lot of the revenue and GPA leaves the area and is not put back into infrastructure locally and if that continues then there may be little to change the cultural and social aspects of the region.
Bryce
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Post by FWS on Mar 5, 2014 17:36:28 GMT -6
If you really applied logic to this you'd probably find that those happy Midwesterners haven't really been anywhere else, with many not having been more than a few counties from where they were born, raised, and still live. Given the financial resources, once they started traveling around a bit and sampling the cultures, foods (there's more out there than white bread, bologna, ketchup, and yellow mustard), climates, and scenery of other places they probably won't be as happy to stay in North Dakota year round.  |
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Post by trappincoyotes39 on Mar 5, 2014 19:31:34 GMT -6
FWS more to the Midwest than you mentioned food wise. Ever have Chislic? great stuff and a SD tradition and origin food. lamb Chislic is served in many resteraunts and bars across the state and also many ranhc homes. They also have calf fries fried fresh out on the prairie after a cutting party. Many times served with scrambled eggs. People of The Dakota's have it so good they have NO need to see other areas outside of Wyoming and Montana for the most part. Good pay, low unemployment, low taxes plenty to choose from to eat and none of it is raw meat no need to eat bait . Same can be said for other places in the Midwest we have great BBQ and more traditional US meals served . Kansas City can offer you much in the way of food choices if one looks around. The farmers market is well known for its diversity of foods offered for sale. 140 vendors and been doing it since 1857. |
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Post by FWS on Mar 5, 2014 21:10:42 GMT -6
Getting to be more diversity now but it is still way behind many other areas. Not really, I run into too many transplanted Midwesterners here who prefer living here than back there. But you do add to my point that many have never traveled outside their home areas so they don't know what else there is. Actually CA's BBQ history is a few hundred years older than that of the Midwest. Acorn mush and various roots and tubers buried in the coals ? The traditional meals of the early European colonists was heavy on saltwater fish. Cod, eels, herring, etc. |
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Post by PamIsMe on Mar 6, 2014 2:38:11 GMT -6
"In the last decade, North Dakota had one of the country's highest suicide rate increases for people 35 to 64. In North Dakota, someone takes their life, every 4 days. Between 1994 and 2002, the suicide rate in North Dakota was higher than the national
average for 8 of the 9 years. Suicide by firearms is almost three times more prevalent than the next most common
method, which is hanging/suffocation."
Doesn't sound all that happy to me.
Cheers,
Pam
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Post by trappnman on Mar 6, 2014 7:21:16 GMT -6
I've been to CA
I've been to the east coast several times-
I've been south-
I CHOOSE to live where I live
Minnesota nice, isn't a myth-
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Post by trappincoyotes39 on Mar 6, 2014 18:38:02 GMT -6
Actually FWS the Indians where the first to smoke meats. hence the word barbecque comes from the Indian word bardbacoa. cattle drives had BBQ for sure but ask most people where the best BBQ today comes from Memphis and Kansas City tops on the list. The American Royal is known as the World Series of BBQ each year in the US. It is the largest BBQ contest in the world. Hickory nuts are good eating acorns to bitter for my taste. Same can be said for many of the California transplants to the Midwest and upper Midwest as well. many want to leave the high taxes and big govt state of California. |
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Post by trappincoyotes39 on Mar 6, 2014 18:43:03 GMT -6
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Post by FWS on Mar 6, 2014 21:28:39 GMT -6
That was in the Caribbean and it was the Spanish that "discovered" it, the indigenous peoples used it to smoke fish, birds, rodents, and probably marine mammals. And they were not the first to smoke meats, that was going on in Africa for 10's of thousands of years before. The Spanish brought pigs and cattle to the New World, including CA in the 1500's.
Probably some, but most miss the climate here as well as the other amenities. CA is full of transplants from all over, most of the antis I've dealt with are from other states.
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Post by mostinterestingmanintheworld on Mar 7, 2014 0:43:30 GMT -6
WTF, FWS you think only Californians travel?
For being such a PC "diversity" kind of a guy you are sure loose with the stereotypes.
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Post by trappincoyotes39 on Mar 7, 2014 5:42:55 GMT -6
Yes FWS I believe your statement about antis as they find a safe haven and common ground in California many of th states they come from they had to be closet antis due to the make up of the Midwest overall. California is far more anti friendly for sure. many of the California transplants I talked with where professional types and came to SD because there money while less than cali would go much further and could buy far more house with less money and far,far lower taxes and no state income tax left them with 1,000's more in their pockets. They also told me far less regulation in their lives in SF than Cali. Many are hunters and snow sport types and love the black hills and the bird hunting in SD. Many where doctors, specialized medicine, lawyers and orthodontist. The Africans and Spanish have nothing on today's BBQ in the Midwest |
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Post by Steve Gappa on Mar 7, 2014 8:13:59 GMT -6
I think FWS could show me a CA that I'd fall in love with- CA does have a tremendous amount of opportunity for hunting and fishing.
Its interesting to me, on how some people can move 3000 miles at a drop of a hat, and others die within miles of their birthplace.
Count me in the later- I value my heritage- I grew up in these hills and marshes and rivers ..with the biggest river of all running not only through my backyard, but at not only the widest spot on the river, but on the Upper Mississippi Refuge- an outdoorsmen's paradise.
using guns and traps and fishing rods my dad, and his brothers, and my granddads used- in the same fields and streams.
I like that- I like the continuity
the only place I that could tempt me would be the sagebrush rock outcrop type of the west- I did feel a kinship to the land while staying at the kids coyote trapping a few years ago. I like mixed badlands type & can well imagine if I'd have been born there, I'd have never left
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Post by RdFx on Mar 7, 2014 11:31:48 GMT -6
I think when one could get the feel of the land and been there for awhile, you could say you are one in the area such as Steve says of his area. First time i trapped yotes on the Montana , ND border i was lost as had the woods mentality and could see things right in front of me, out there on the Montana border need binocs and had to drive over to check things out..... one can adapt.... but can you imagine the wind during the winter out in the open range, whooooeee.... i thought it was something else trapping yotes in October....
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Post by FWS on Mar 7, 2014 11:46:35 GMT -6
That from a guy who's never been East of the Rockies................. And I never said that, but by their own admission there are many who have not traveled and are vocally opposed to doing so, we've seen that here. Doesn't appear to be a stereotype at all. More so they find a diversity of natural resources to try to 'save', so there is much more activity here as a result. And they've been aided and abetted by your Federal legislators in doing so.................... Sure they do, since most of the ingredients and the cooking methods themselves originated in Africa and Mesoamerica, and were adopted and refined by the Spaniards and Mexicans, which were then adopted by African slaves in the Americas who brought their own knowledge. A lot of the crops we grow and foods we eat originated in Mesoamerica. |
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Post by bblwi on Mar 7, 2014 13:18:23 GMT -6
Does ones statement that if you knock off the Indian Reservations we would be lower imply that you are just stating facts as they are or that Native Americans on Reservations are considered 2nd class citizens by many ND citizens and they just screw up our cultural and social norms for us?
Suicide rates for active military are off the charts compared to the norm, prior to, during and after service yet we don't read posts regarding taking those of the lists so we can improve on our national status.
Bryce
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