New York City: a nice place to visit, but ... (Opinion Pulse).(Polling Data)(Brief Article)

In 1939, a near majority of Americans told pollsters that New York City was a good place to visit, but they wouldn't want to live or work there. Interest in visiting dipped to 34 percent in the crime-ridden late 1970s. More recently, the portion that says New York City is a good place to visit is up sharply, but interest in living there still lags far behind. The way questions are worded affects responses about whether and how the World Trade Center complex should be rebuilt.

 
Question: With which of these statements do you 
          come closest to agreeing ...? 
 
New York City is ... 
 
                                  1939 
 
A good ptace to visit for a        47 
short time, but I would not 
 want to work or live there 
 
   A good place in which to        11 
       work and make money, 
       but no place to live 
 
     One of the best places        10% 
      in the world in which 
           to work and live 
 
           One of the worst         8 
     places in the world to 
        either work or live 
 
       A good place to live         1 
     but not to do business 
 
Note: Table made from bar graph. 
 
Source: The Roper Organization, March 1939. 
 
Question: How would you rate New York City? 
 
New York City is ... 
 
                   1977     1996     1998 
 
  An excellent      34%      51%      61% 
       or good 
place to visit 
 
  An excellent       6       11       15 
       or ...