States Ranked by Cost of Living

[Screw_Michigan]

The District isn't a state.

[mvscal]

You're right. They meant to say, "shithole."

[BSmack]

The District isn't a state.

But it does have three electoral votes.

[Screw_Michigan]

It's amazing we even have that.

[Left Seater]

The District isn't a state.

Hence, the paragraph dedicated to the District.

The results show the District of Columbia, in 2012, had the highest “regional price parity” of any state. Granted, D.C.’s really a city, not a state, and set against their more natural comparisons, it ranks fifth, behind the Urban Honolulu area, New York-Newark-Jersey City, San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk and San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward.

[Screw_Michigan]

It's not a city, either. It's a federal district.

[Goober McTuber]

It's still a shithole.

[Left Seater]

We all understand that, but it more closely acts like a city.

[Smackie Chan]

It's not a city, either. It's a federal district.

I contend that it is a city, one that just happens to be the only one in the District. Otherwise, there'd be no reason to call it Washington; it would just be the District of Columbia, and there'd be no need for a Mayor (for life?) and a city council. That's why it's annotated and referred to in the same way that cities in states are; e.g., Anaheim, CA & Arlington, VA (which is another strange case, since Arlington is the only city in Arlington County, but that's another story). Actually, Arlington & Alexandria both used to be part of DC.

Washington used to be a separate city within the larger District of Columbia, along with other municipalities like Georgetown and Alexandria. There were also a few smaller towns within the District (but outside the city limits) in what was then-called "Washington County."

The southern portion of the District was returned to Virginia in 1846, and became the present-day City of Alexandria and Arlington County. In 1871, Congress revoked the individual charters of the City of Washington and Georgetown, and created a new government for the entire District of Columbia.

Even though it no longer had its own government, Washington still continued to exist as a place. As the city grew over the next few decades, the Washington street grid was extended beyond the old city limits and the individual towns within the District eventually became city neighborhoods. As a result, the entire city is referred to as "Washington, D.C."

Florida Avenue used to be the northern boundary of the old City of Washington. Historians now call that original area the "L'Enfant City" or the "Old City."

[Wolfman]

A bit surprised by Ohio's ranking. What say 88?

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

A bit surprised by Ohio's ranking. What say 88?

No doubt counselor will be by to provide a long-winded but intelligent answer. In the meantime, I'll try to quench your curiosity with this simple summary: it's a shithole.

[Smackie Chan]

it's a shithole.

So is New Jersey, but idiots pay big $$ to live there. I don't get it. Then again, many would consider where I live to not be much better, so I may not be one to talk.

[Screw_Michigan]

S_C--Arlington is not a city. Also, Alexandria was never part of the District. It's always been an independent city in the commonwealth of Virginia. What was ceded by DC back to VA became Arlington County.

The name Washington came back from when there were two other "cities" in DC: Georgetown and Washington. Both became part of the District in the 1800s. Now the colloquial term for Washington refers to the federal government, the term DC refers to local life.

[Screw_Michigan]

DC is not supposed to be a state.

I never said it was supposed to be a state, did I? Let's not get ahead of ourselves here.

[BSmack]

If you take the NYC Metro area out of the equation, the rest of New York would be somewhere in the area of Nebraska on that list.

[Smackie Chan]

Arlington is not a city.

Technically, you're right, although it is often referred to as one.

Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is coterminous with the U.S. Census Bureau-designated place of Arlington, which is the second-largest "Principle City" of the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. As a result, the county is often referred to in the region simply as "Arlington" or "Arlington, Virginia". In 2013, the county's population was estimated to be 227,146, and would be the fourth-largest city in the state if it were incorporated as such.

Alexandria was never part of the District. It's always been an independent city in the commonwealth of Virginia. What was ceded by DC back to VA became Arlington County.

I'd argue against that, at least as far as Old Town is concerned:

In 1791, Alexandria was included in the area chosen by George Washington to become the District of Columbia. A portion of the City of Alexandria---known as "Old Town"--- and all of today's Arlington County share the distinction of having been originally in Virginia, ceded to the U.S. Government to form the District of Columbia, and later retroceded to Virginia by the federal government in 1846, when the District was reduced in size to exclude the portion south of the Potomac River. The City of Alexandria was re-chartered in 1852.

The name Washington came back from when there were two other "cities" in DC: Georgetown and Washington. Both became part of the District in the 1800s. Now the colloquial term for Washington refers to the federal government, the term DC refers to local life.

They were always part of the District, they just had their individual charters revoked in 1871. That may make me concede that Washington is technically no longer a city, especially when combined with the fact that referring to the DC Council as the City Council is considered improper. But for all intensive purposes, it's a city.

[Screw_Michigan]

Huh, I stand corrected re: Alexandria.

[BSmack]

New Jersey has an ocean, Ohio is a land locked shit hole

All the decent places in Jersey are nowhere near the ocean. To understand the dynamics of New Jersey, you need only fly over it. To the west of the Garden State Parkway is nice, to the east is a toxic waste dump. Guess witch side the ocean is on.

[smackaholic]

Northwest Jersey is the nice part. Looks a lot like Vermont. South Jersey ain't too bad if you stay away from AC. The rest is the arsehole of the east coast. And that really is saying a lot, given the stiff competition.