July 3, 2011 - New Yorkers Love New York As A Place To Live And Play, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Gas Prices Take A Toll On Spending, Vacation Plans Word format A total of 80 percent of New York State voters say the Empire State is a "very good" or "fairly good" place in which to live, while 18 percent say it's "fairly bad" or "very bad," according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. And 91 percent of voters rate their own community as a "very good" or "fairly good" place in which to live. All age groups agree. When they want to play, 90 percent of New Yorkers say the Empire State is a "very good" or "fairly good" place for a vacation, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds. Again, voters of every age group are in general agreement. In fact, 62 percent of New Yorkers plan to spend time vacationing or sightseeing in the state this summer and 85 percent would recommend that out-of-state family or friends get in a New York State of Mind by vacationing here. A visit to New York City is the top attraction for 21 percent of New Yorkers, including 30 percent of suburban voters, 22 percent of New York City voters and 14 percent of upstate voters. Other favorites are: Ocean beaches, 14 percent; State parks, 13 percent; Sightseeing, 9 percent; Niagara Falls, 7 percent. "We might battle about everything from same-sex marriage to rent control, but we do love New York, especially our own little corner of the Empire State, and we'd love to have everyone else come here on vacation," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "Almost two-thirds of New Yorkers are going to spend at least some of their vacation in the state. The Big Apple and the sandy beaches of Long Island are the big destinations. "From Jamestown to Montauk, New York beckons tourists and New Yorkers know that tourism is a big plus for the state economy," Carroll added. A total of 96 percent of New York State voters say tourism is "very important" or "somewhat important" to the state's economy. Gas Prices The price of gasoline is a "very serious" or "somewhat serious" problem, 70 percent of New Yorkers say. As a result of rising gas prices: 49 percent of voters are cutting back on household spending; 53 percent are cutting back on driving; 25 percent are changing summer vacation plans. While 54 percent of upstate voters and 53 percent of suburban voters are cutting back on spending, only 41 percent of voters in New York City are cutting back. And while 58 percent of upstate voters and 57 percent of suburban voters are driving less, only 45 percent of New York City voters are driving less. Fewer New York City voters are changing their vacation plans. "Some of us have cut back a bit on vacations and more of us have cut back on driving and on household expenses because of soaring gasoline prices," Carroll said. "But subway-riders feel less pain when gas prices rise." From June 20 - 26, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,317 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.7 percentage points. Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones. The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio, Virginia and the nation as a public service and for research. For more data or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or follow us on Twitter. 29. How would you rate New York State as a place to live - very good, fairly good, fairly bad, or very bad? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Very good 29% 26% 34% 24% 29% 29% 29% 28% Fairly good 51 43 52 59 50 52 49 51 Fairly bad 11 17 7 9 13 9 13 9 Very bad 7 10 4 7 5 8 7 8 DK/NA 2 4 2 1 2 2 2 3 UpStat NYC Sub 18-34 35-49 50-64 65+ Very good 22% 33% 37% 36% 29% 24% 33% Fairly good 47 55 50 47 51 57 47 Fairly bad 18 6 8 11 11 13 8 Very bad 11 4 2 5 8 4 9 DK/NA 2 3 3 1 1 2 2 30. How would you rate your community as a place to live - very good, fairly good, fairly bad, or very bad? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Very good 50% 56% 48% 47% 48% 52% 55% 31% Fairly good 41 36 44 44 42 41 37 56 Fairly bad 4 3 4 6 6 3 4 6 Very bad 4 5 3 2 3 4 3 6 DK/NA 1 1 1 - 1 1 - 2 UpStat NYC Sub 18-34 35-49 50-64 65+ Very good 51% 43% 59% 49% 47% 46% 61% Fairly good 40 46 36 43 43 45 33 Fairly bad 4 6 2 5 5 5 3 Very bad 4 3 2 3 5 4 2 DK/NA 1 1 1 - - - 1 31. How would you rate New York State as a place to take a vacation - very good, fairly good, fairly bad, or very bad? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Very good 52% 53% 55% 50% 52% 53% 53% 48% Fairly good 38 34 38 40 38 37 38 40 Fairly bad 5 8 4 6 6 4 5 6 Very bad 3 5 2 3 3 4 3 7 DK/NA 1 - 2 1 1 2 1 - UpStat NYC Sub 18-34 35-49 50-64 65+ Very good 48% 53% 58% 46% 50% 54% 59% Fairly good 43 36 33 39 42 38 31 Fairly bad 5 6 5 10 4 4 3 Very bad 4 4 2 3 4 3 5 DK/NA 1 2 1 2 - - 1 32. Would you recommend to out of state family and friends, that they vacation in New York State, or not? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Yes 85% 84% 88% 84% 86% 85% 86% 80% No 14 16 10 16 13 14 13 20 DK/NA 1 1 1 - - 2 1 - UpStat NYC Sub 18-34 35-49 50-64 65+ Yes 84% 85% 88% 79% 87% 89% 87% No 15 13 12 19 13 11 11 DK/NA 1 1 1 1 - 1 2 33. Do you plan to spend time vacationing or sightseeing in New York State this summer? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Yes 62% 57% 63% 66% 63% 62% 61% 64% No 35 39 36 31 34 36 36 34 ALREADY HAVE(VOL) 1 2 1 2 2 1 1 2 DK/NA 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 - UpStat NYC Sub 18-34 35-49 50-64 65+ Yes 62% 63% 63% 67% 73% 64% 49% No 36 34 34 29 26 34 49 ALREADY HAVE(VOL) 1 1 2 2 - 1 1 DK/NA 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 34. About how long do you think you will (or did you) vacation or sightsee in New York this summer - a few days, about a week, about 2 weeks, or more than that? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk A few days 34% 34% 35% 36% 30% 38% 33% 42% A week 31 33 29 31 34 28 33 23 2 weeks 16 15 17 17 17 15 17 15 More 17 17 16 16 17 17 15 17 DK/NA 2 1 3 - 1 2 1 4 UpStat NYC Sub 18-34 35-49 50-64 65+ A few days 32% 35% 38% 31% 41% 34% 32% A week 30 28 38 39 30 27 27 2 weeks 19 17 10 12 13 19 20 More 19 17 13 16 15 19 17 DK/NA 1 3 2 1 1 1 3 35. Which of the following do you most like to do in New York State - sightsee, go to state parks, amusement parks, lake beaches, ocean beaches, New York City, Niagara Falls or other upstate vacation spots? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Sightsee 9% 10% 9% 8% 9% 8% 7% 13% State parks 13 12 13 14 13 13 15 8 Amusement parks 3 2 4 1 2 3 2 6 Lake beaches 6 7 6 7 5 7 8 4 Ocean beaches 14 14 11 20 14 14 15 7 New York City 21 19 24 18 20 22 20 20 Niagara Falls 7 7 10 3 6 8 5 16 Other upstate spots 20 21 19 23 23 18 22 17 DK/NA (VOL) 7 7 6 7 6 8 7 8 UpStat NYC Sub 18-34 35-49 50-64 65+ Sightsee 9% 10% 7% 5% 10% 9% 10% State parks 19 12 4 19 12 12 12 Amusement parks 3 2 3 1 5 2 2 Lake beaches 12 2 3 5 11 6 5 Ocean beaches 3 16 30 13 18 12 11 New York City 14 22 30 26 21 19 17 Niagara Falls 6 9 5 10 5 7 7 Other upstate spots 24 19 15 18 15 26 23 DK/NA (VOL) 8 8 3 3 3 6 13 36. Which of the following is most important for you when you go on vacation - visiting places of historical and cultural interest, recreational activities, fine dining, activities for whole family, or relaxing? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Historical/Cultural 26% 27% 24% 27% 25% 27% 29% 22% Rec activities 12 10 13 10 13 10 10 20 Fine dining 7 5 8 8 8 6 6 10 Family activities 23 23 24 20 23 22 19 25 Relaxing 28 28 26 30 26 30 31 18 DK/NA 5 6 4 5 4 6 5 4 UpStat NYC Sub 18-34 35-49 50-64 65+ Historical/Cultural 27% 26% 23% 21% 19% 27% 35% Rec activities 11 12 11 14 9 13 8 Fine dining 6 8 7 6 7 6 8 Family activities 21 22 26 24 36 19 15 Relaxing 28 27 28 33 27 31 26 DK/NA 6 4 5 2 3 4 8 37. How important do you think tourism is to New York's economy -Very important, somewhat important, not very important or not important at all? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Very important 80% 77% 83% 78% 77% 82% 78% 84% Smwht important 16 18 15 17 19 14 18 13 Not very important 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 - Not important at all 2 4 1 3 2 2 2 3 DK/NA 1 - - 1 1 1 1 - UpStat NYC Sub 18-34 35-49 50-64 65+ Very important 74% 84% 82% 74% 80% 80% 83% Smwht important 21 13 13 21 16 19 11 Not very important 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 Not important at all 3 1 2 4 1 1 3 DK/NA 1 - 2 - - 1 2 38. How much of a problem has the price of gasoline been for you and your family lately - a very serious problem, a somewhat serious problem, a not too serious problem, or not a problem at all? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Very serious problem 33% 35% 28% 39% 31% 35% 31% 40% Smwht serious 37 43 35 35 36 37 40 35 Not too serious 14 12 17 12 16 13 15 11 Not a problem at all 14 11 18 12 15 13 14 12 DK/NA 2 - 3 1 1 3 1 2 UpStat NYC Sub 18-34 35-49 50-64 65+ Very serious problem 35% 29% 35% 33% 42% 29% 28% Smwht serious 41 29 42 38 31 41 40 Not too serious 14 16 13 15 15 15 14 Not a problem at all 9 23 9 15 11 15 15 DK/NA 1 3 1 - 1 1 3 39a. As a result of the recent rise in gas prices, have you - cut back significantly on your household spending or not? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Yes 49% 52% 45% 51% 47% 50% 46% 63% No 50 47 52 49 52 47 53 37 DK/NA 2 - 3 - 1 2 1 1 UpStat NYC Sub 18-34 35-49 50-64 65+ Yes 54% 41% 53% 52% 53% 46% 45% No 45 57 46 48 46 54 52 DK/NA 1 3 1 - 2 1 3 39b. As a result of the recent rise in gas prices, have you - cut back significantly on how much you drive or not? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Yes 53% 60% 45% 59% 50% 56% 52% 57% No 43 38 50 39 48 39 46 39 DK/NA 4 2 5 3 2 6 2 4 UpStat NYC Sub 18-34 35-49 50-64 65+ Yes 58% 45% 57% 54% 54% 56% 49% No 41 47 41 42 45 42 46 DK/NA 1 7 3 4 1 2 6 39c. As a result of gas prices, have you - changed your summer vacation plans? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Yes 25% 32% 17% 29% 23% 26% 25% 23% No 73 66 81 70 75 71 73 76 DK/NA 2 2 2 - 2 2 2 1 UpStat NYC Sub 18-34 35-49 50-64 65+ Yes 30% 19% 25% 25% 30% 26% 18% No 68 78 73 75 68 74 78 DK/NA 2 3 1 - 1 - 4
