Nevada County ranks 28th nationally for its scenery

The Washington Post published an article that ranks every county in America by scenery and climate, and Nevada County ranked #28 out of the 3,111 counties.

“Nevada County, CA: This county has extremely high natural amenities. Rank: 28 out of 3,111 counties.

“In the late 1990s the federal government devised a measure of the best and worst places to live in America, from the standpoint of scenery and climate,” the article said. “The ‘natural amenities index’ is intended as ‘a measure of the physical characteristics of a county area that enhance the location as a place to live.’

“The index combines ‘six measures of climate, topography, and water area that reflect environmental qualities most people prefer.’ Those qualities, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, include mild, sunny winters, temperate summers, low humidity, topographic variation, and access to a body of water.

“These ‘natural aspects of attractiveness,’ as the USDA describes them, are intended to be constant and relatively immutable. They’re not expected to change much over time, so the USDA hasn’t updated its data beyond the initial 1999 scoring. “Natural amenities pertain to the physical rather than the social or economic environment,” the USDA writes. Things like plants, animals or the human environment are excluded by definition.

“We can measure the basic ingredients, not how these ingredients have been shaped by nature and man.” I stumbled on these numbers after reading about a recent study linking natural amenities to religiosity. (U.S. counties with nicer weather and surroundings tend to have less religious residents.)

“I’ve mapped all the counties above according to where they rank on the natural amenities index — mouse over to check out how desirable (or not) your own county is.

“You’ll see that Sun Belt counties fare pretty well — especially ones in California and Colorado. In fact, every single one of the 10 highest-ranked counties is located in California. After Ventura County, Humboldt, Santa Barbara, Mendocino and Del Norte counties round out the top five.”

To read the full article and view the maps, click here.

A 1G internet network is in the works in Nevada County CA too. A video is here:

(Photo: Michael Weissenborn)