Joshua Rosenau spends his days defending the teaching of evolution at 
Via the Columbia Stats blog, we learn that there is a strong negative relationship between the number of Starbucks per capita and the number of Walmarts per capita. This isn't surprising, but it is informative. It also means that people who don't like expensive coffee or cheap Chinese crap should all move to Vermont.
Failing that, New Jersey or Rhode Island look to be islands of sanity. It is worth noting that Rhode Island is also one of the few states in which NCSE has not tracked any creationist activity over the last few years, suggesting that it has a very strong claim to sanity.
I invite speculation about possible causes for this remarkable relationship. My suggestion, in the title, is that Walmarts somehow poison the ground, preventing successful Starbucks colonization. Or vice versa.
Comments
Starbuck's originated in Seattle.
So did the Disco Institute.
Coincidence? I think not!
Posted by: T. Bruce McNeely | March 3, 2008 6:26 PM
Hmm...in the last couple years we have seen a four-fold increase in Starbucks density. Does that mean that we will get rid of some of our Walmarts?
Posted by: IanR | March 3, 2008 7:16 PM
As a Starbucks fan and Walmart foe, who just took a job in NY: I'm very happy! but apparently Seattle would be better. Hmm.
Maybe caffeine sensitizes the skin to toxic waste in Chinese-made crap? :)
Posted by: Ewan | March 3, 2008 9:02 PM
Darn, I just moved out of Rhode Island too. I guess I missed my opportunity to put a blip on the NCSE screen for Creationist activity. Maybe I should have started a club or something. Eh, too late now.
z.
Posted by: scott zeilenga | March 3, 2008 10:32 PM
You all are joking, right? Look at which states are where. Wal-mart originated in the South. Starbucks originated on the West Coast. Both have a larger number of stores closest to their point of origin and fewer as you get farther away. This is a great example of how an apparent statistical relationship can be understood in a whole new light when more factors are considered.
Posted by: Size | March 6, 2008 6:58 PM