Quick survey for those in the US - please help me test out an interesting theory

[Katieinwonderland]

My DD read/heard something rather interesting and I though the DIS would be a great place to test it out. Please answer the following questions WITHOUT reading any of the responses first. This is the one time it is a GOOD thing to poast before reading all the replies. Once enough people have replied, I'll come back with the hypothesis and whether or not it seems to have proven correct:

1 - How far is the closest grocery store from your house?
2 - What state do lyou live in (if you are not comfortable posting this information, you can just give the part of the county you live in)
3 - What state or part of the country have you lived in for most of your life?

Thanks!

1 - I shop at Publix which is 10 minutes from my house, although there is a Target less than five minutes away
2 - Florida
3 - I've spent most of my life (up until I was 21) living in England, but other than that I've only ever lived in Florida.

 

[Disneyluvr]

1 - How far is the closest grocery store from your house? 5 miles
2 - What state do lyou live in? AZ
3 - What state or part of the country have you lived in for most of your life? AZ

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

less than 5 mins drive
upstate NY for both questions

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

1. Less than a mile
2. Idaho
3. Idaho

 

[avgeek81]

1. Grocery store is about 5 min
2. live in Florida
3. lived most of my life in CT(was about 10 min from store there)

 

[FireDancer]

If I'm giving someone directions I'll sometimes use time as opposed to distance but since this is a survey it is important to give accurate information. Since the time to go somewhere is variable (time of day, weather conditions, ect) and distance is fixed I think giving distance is a more accurate metric.

 

[Kathi OD]

about 3 minutes
NJ
PA

 

[goodstarr]

1. 3-4 miles

2. NJ

4. PA

 

[lemondog]

1 - How far is the closest grocery store from your house?

LESS THAN 1 MILE

2 - What state do lyou live in (if you are not comfortable posting this information, you can just give the part of the county you live in)

TENNESSEE

3 - What state or part of the country have you lived in for most of your life?

TENNESSEE/SOUTHEAST US

 

[bumbershoot]

grocery: about a mile, but I rarely go to that one.

WA

The West Coast.

 

[bumbershoot]

Carly, you are close. The theory is that people from the south respond in minutes, while northerners respond in miles. We really need more responses from Southerners! Also, I thought it was interesting one poster responded both ways. BTW, I am from the south and always refer to distances in terms of time even if I have to qualify it (ie - 30 minutes with no traffic 45 minutes during rush hour).

South vs North...you're ignoring quite a lot of the country there.....


People in WA tend to give longer "distances" in time. Seattle is approx half an hour away from Tacoma, for example. When it's not rush hour. And when there's not a game going on.

But across town??? Too many variables.

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

1. Less than a mile.
2. Oregon
3. Pacific Northwest

ETA: I say the distance in miles probably 99% of the time. Instances where I wouldn't are far distances such as: it's 3 hours to Seattle or 10 hours to San Francisco. But in shorter distances, I'll say miles because Idk what traffic will be like or how fast they drive, both which can greatly affect the time. But with long distances, it's obvious that it's not exact.

 

[2binak]

1 - How far is the closest grocery store from your house? 5 mins
2 - What state do lyou live in (if you are not comfortable posting this information, you can just give the part of the county
you live in) New England
3 - What state or part of the country have you lived in for most of your life? New England

Carly, you are close. The theory is that people from the south respond in minutes, while northerners respond in miles. We really need more responses from Southerners! Also, I thought it was interesting one poster responded both ways. BTW, I am from the south and always refer to distances in terms of time even if I have to qualify it (ie - 30 minutes with no traffic 45 minutes during rush hour).

I've always known that I'm a Southern girl at heart

 

[marthachick]

1-About 5 miles
2-North Carolina
3-North Carolina

Now I'll go back & read other replies.

 

[Anne MN]

1 - How far is the closest grocery store from your house?- less than 5 miles
2 - What state do lyou live in (if you are not comfortable posting this information, you can just give the part of the county you live in)- Texas
3 - What state or part of the country have you lived in for most of your life? - Upper Midwest

Thanks![/QUOTE]

 

[JennyDarling]

If I'm giving someone directions I'll sometimes use time as opposed to distance but since this is a survey it is important to give accurate information. Since the time to go somewhere is variable (time of day, weather conditions, ect) and distance is fixed I think giving distance is a more accurate metric.

I love the bolded part! I felt the same way and actually considered mapquesting it before I responded to make sure I was as accurate as possible

God, I'm a nerd.

 

[grafxgirl]

1 - How far is the closest grocery store from your house?
2 - What state do lyou live in (if you are not comfortable posting this information, you can just give the part of the county you live in)
3 - What state or part of the country have you lived in for most of your life?

1. The nearest grocery store is 2 miles from our house. It's a little grocery store that's been here for many years. However, the nearest chain store would be Martins at 8 miles away.
2. Eastern Panhandle, WV
3. Eastern Panhandle, WV

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

1. 8.9 miles, I google mapped it. LOL
2. Connecticut
3. Connecticut


ETA: see I would have put time but there are to many variables. There are actually 2 stores almost equidistant in either direction which both on a good day are 15 minutes away. However in one direction it depends on when the train is coming. They sit on the tracks for about 15-20 minutes to unload so if you don't time it right you are toast or have to back track across town to the other road that crosses the river.

The one I shop at is near the high school, so if you are there at lunch time or about 15 minutes before school gets out or about 15 minutes after you are stuck in gridlock traffic until the 80+ buses move and the road are reopened (they are closed for bus parking).

 

[Wishing on a star]

Well, no offense... But really... Who would know and have memorized off the top of their head the exact mileages to every little given store/intersection/destination.

If there are people who DO actually know and use these exact mileages all the time 'northern' wouldn't be the word I would use to describe them...

 

[Piglets Mommy]

The closest grocery store to my house is a 5 minute drive away.
I live in Pennsylvania.
I have lived in the northeast US all my life.