If you ever wondered what city in the United States was the epitome of "normal America", the answer may be closer than you think.
Known for the Green, famous pizza and Yale University, a new report named New Haven the number one metropolitan area that looks most like the United States in 2016.
The study, put out by FiveThirtyEight, a data-focus blog, was based on age, edcuation, race and ethnicity.
The Hartford area is not too far behind at number three, while Tamp-St. Petersburg, Florida, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, are other places that ranked near the top.
“I think there are academics, I think there are working class people,” Caren Carpenter said, adding she likes New Haven’s diversity.
Carpenter belongs to the Trinity Episcopal Church on the Green.
“Our church represents that,” she said, “We have all types of people that come here.”
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The FiveThirtyEight story dispels the myth that most Americans still live in small towns in rural parts of the country.
“It hit the nail on the head,” said Jeffrey Debies-Carl, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of New Haven. “We have this idea that we are living in the 1950s era suburb predominantly white, predominantly middle class, and that’s not necessarily the case.”
Debies-Carl pointed out the last census in 2010 found 80 percent of America’s population resides in urban areas.
“This image we have of America may not actually be the America we live in,” he said.
The study found Connecticut to be the state that is fourth most like America today. Illinois ranked first, followed by New York and New Jersey.
