Americans “Dislike” Oakland, “Like” SF

Public policy polling has released a popularity survey of 21 U.S. cities; Oakland ranks near the bottom

Here's something that may come as no surprise to people in the Bay Area (and especially Giants fans) - Los Angeles is not well "liked" by the country.

While Los Angeles may the second largest city in the United States, American voters seem to have an impression of LA that is just as unfavorable. Oakland did not fair much better, coming in third from the bottom.

Some 900 American voters were asked earlier this month what they thought by Public Policy Polling.

Read poll for yourself here (pdf).

Turns out the most love goes toward the Pacific Northwest. Seattle ranked No. 1 with over 57 percent  favorability. Portland ranked No. 2 with 52 percent of voters supporting the city's reputation.

San Francisco came out on the other end of the scale with a 48-percent favorable rating. 

Oakland and Los Angeles' negative ratings were 39 percent and 40 percent, respectively.

Other "liked" cities included Boston, Atlanta, Phoenix, New York, New Orleans, Houston, Salt Lake City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Las Vegas, Chicago, Cleveland, Washington D.C., and Miami.

San Jose was ignored by the pollsters. It was not on the list. 

 According to the report, women are most negative toward the cities of Oakland and Detroit, while men are most negative toward Washington D.C., LA, Oakland and Detroit.

The survey did not ask participants why they dislike or like any city, but suggested that "perhaps because women are more likely to be Democrats than men and Democrats more likely to be in urban areas than 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, SF, D.C., Chicago, Oakland, L.A., and Detroit)."

Contact Us