What's the best state in the US?

[Ryotknife]

...What kind of dumb question is that? Even people in the far-flung corner's of New York's planet know that New York is the best part of New York's nation.
The only question up for debate here is the best part of New York.
I'm going to say Western Brooklyn.

i live in NY state, and i would peg it as one of the worst states. Its only saving grace is the food (sans the atrocity known as new york style pizza) and internet.

...How dare you besmirch the only worthwhile pizza on New York's planet.

im guessing by virtue of it being the only pizza

but seriously, its greasy cardboard.

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

Vermont. Very educated, very healthy, you can carry a rifle on your back and a sidearm on your hip with no license, first state legislature to enact civil unions and first to enact gay marriage other than those required by state courts, easily accessible medical marijuana (my girlfriend has somewhat severe epilepsy, so this is an important issue to me), and it has a socialist US senator. That makes it the best in my book.

 

[Mr.Mattress]

Maryland. It's the richest state in the Union (has the highest median income rate, and the most Millionaires per capita, and one of the lowest poverty rates in the State), and besides the riots this year in Baltimore (and Baltimore in general), is pretty peaceful. It's also very beautiful to drive through.

 

[Dango]

I've never been to it, but Seattle seems like a pretty great state.

I would pick one of the southern states like the Carolinas or Georgia, because they're absolutely beautiful and have great cities, but they all have really high crime rates. I visited Savannah, Georgia a couple years ago. On par with some of the most beautiful cities in the world, but has a horrible crime rate.

 

[Euryalus]

Well it's not California that's for sure, the mixture of authoritarian laws and poor resource management combined with much of the culture makes the place both expensive to live in and horrible to exist in as well.

Personally, I'm not well acquainted with the USA's states but from what I know aside from Cali, I'd actually have to say that it would be one of the midwest states like Arizona where they somewhat strike a balance rather than tipping too far from one side or to the other.

One of the midwest states like Arizona? *spits drink everywhere*

What is this abomination of geography?

OT: Definitely Not California, New York, Michigan, or Texas.

Maybe Wisconsin, Ohio if you're willing to forgive the entire Cleveland Toledo strip, or Kentuckey. Kentuckey's beautiful. As is a lot of the south. Very friendly too, despite what the rest of the country likes to paint it as.

 

[Leg End]

Can I argue that California as a patch of land is the best in the union but the people and state government are probably the second worst in the country?

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

New Jersey wait hear me out it's actually not that bad if you stay out of south jersey, the pine barrens, and Elizabeth.

As someone who grew up in central Jersey, I will wholeheartedly disagree that there is anything worthwhile there, either.

I mean, come on. You know there's a reason all the tolls are on the roads leading OUT of the state, right?

 

[crimson5pheonix]

Just beware the roads because we seem to get the country's worst drivers, not necessarily from here, but they end up here... thats how it feels.

I think Texas has the worst drivers. Their aggressive and they drive big things, which is a bad combination, and they don't get much bad weather. When they DO get bad weather, from heavy ran to a light snow flurry, the highways turn into bumper car rallies, where every fifth vehicle is a truck of some kind, some of which may outweigh your car by several tons.

Luckily, no one in the US has anything on Korean drivers...

See, people from out of Texas don't understand that the speed limit signs are written 5 mph slower than the actual speed limit. Unless you're in the fast lane, then there is no speed limit. Of course you'd get blown off the road, the cops would blow you off the road for going so slow!

OT: There are several things I don't like about Texas. The climate is the first 10 spots on that list. But after that Texas is the best.

snip

*ahem* Oh right... Best US state... uh... THE MOON! /micdrop

Actual correct answer.

 

[RedRockRun]

My favorite planet's the Sun.

 

[lokun489]

Spoiler

Only downside is the people that live in the majority of the landmass of the state constantly whine about Seattle controlling the political process (when the state population is 2 million and 1.2 million of them live in the Seattle metro area, that area is going to run the show.)

Kind of a silly complaint, since that's the situation in a lot of states.

That's how principalities voted 2008. Wanna guess where Pittsburgh and Philadelphia are? And who won the state?

It's because there's only one city large enough to really be called a city in this state: Seattle metro stretches from the state capitol almost all the way to Canada. Meanwhile the other two "major" cities in the state are either part of another states largest cities metro area (Vancouver is usually referred to as North Portland) or is the only city to be had between Seattle and Minnesota (Spokane.) But honestly, voter participation is usually extremely democrat in more densely populated areas (probably because you actually SEE the problems that are being talked about) and extremely republican in rural areas.

True.

Alaska, because it has the least number of Americans.

Nope that's Wyoming.

Jesus, 584,000 people? How are they still a state? Shouldn't we role them up into one of their neighbors for simpler book keeping or something?

Hey I'm from Wyoming and we exist mainly as a toxic waste storage dump, head of rodeos with large amounts of European tourism and a booming coal industry.

 

[ecoho]

Nope that's Wyoming.

Jesus, 584,000 people? How are they still a state? Shouldn't we role them up into one of their neighbors for simpler book keeping or something?

Well speaking as one of there neighbors I'm fearful of living in the same state as Dick Cheney.

....which one?

are you a Coloradoan whos just upset we don't have to deal with your bolder issues?

a Nebraskan who should be tired of looking at all the corn?

a Montanan who deals with way too many movie stars?

a Dakotan whos tired of freezing?

a Ute who has too many wives/ is one of said too many wives?

or a Idahoan who, actually got nothing against those guys pretty nice folks.

also good to note he only shoots lawyers

OT: Wyoming is the best state because of two reasons;

1. taxes- we have no state income taxes and a standard 4% sales tax which may or may not be voted up by the citizens in a city.

2. crime- no real violent crime to speak of, even though were better armed then most countries.

weather may be a downside for some but I like the cold

 

[Sleepy Sol]

Mississippi. Clearly.

Much as everyone hears many horror stories about it, living there isn't SO bad. Provided you stay vaguely "Christian" to some of the more prudish and religious folk around you. Younger generations are getting better by quite a bit, I'd say. But I'd of course not consider it the best state.

I can't really say what I could consider the best since of my knowledge of all of them is limited and I can only mostly go by personal experiences, either from traveling through them or living in them for a while. So if I had to go for states I've actually spent a greater amount of time in, my personal inclinations go:

1. Washington
2. Texas
3. Mississippi

Dunno what to say about others. Except for driving through a lot of Colorado and Wyoming and being baffled at their stateliness. But that's probably just not being used to that part of the country. Just felt weird for some states driving across the country up to the heavily populated Pacific Northwest from the heavily populated Southeast and seeing all that...relative nothing in between.

 

[Gottesstrafe]

Oahu has the best public transportation system in the US.

We have no rail, the buses are frequently late, and morning/evening traffic to/from West Oahu is absolutely atrocious. Not to mention that whenever it rains you can pretty much add 1-2 hours to your commute because apparently half the population is afraid of falling water despite the fact that it rains constantly here. Don't get me wrong, we've got nothing on the I-405, but we're certainly not the best. Maybe once the monorail FINALLY finishes being built or if they revive the Superferry, but we'll have to wait and see. (Alright, I'm starting to just complain about traffic in general)

Yeah, we've got a huge asian population so there's a lot of asian food and import items if you're into that. And there's plenty of scenic beaches to visit (just don't stand over any blowholes), exotic sea and wildlife, and water sports.

Cons:
Expensive as fuck. Everything has to be shipped.
Isolated from everywhere else by ocean. You need a plane to get anywhere.
Some xenophobia by the monarchists/sovereignty elements.

We also don't have much as far as nightlife is concerned. And asian investors are pretty much buying up beach front properties (at least Honolulu side) to build luxury condos that they'll visit maybe a few weeks out of the year. Also land and housing is really expensive out here, in addition to everything else. And there's an almost culturally-enforced stereotype against the Portuguese. And vog, for those of you with allergies.

Their beaches are sweet, no doubt about it. They were also the first we ever went to that didn't have any threatening sharks or jellyfish. The colour palette on display during sunsets is something to behold.

Oh, we got sharks and jellyfish. Try swimming out at night or after a full moon next time you're out here.

 

[Kyrian007]

Well, as far as I can tell from my view from across the Pacifc, the US states along the coasts, especially towards the north, are where all the cool American stuff like the internet and apple pie come from. While the south end mostly produces all the racism and slavery and televangelists.

I'm not sure what's in the middle. Probably farms and stuff.

Eh, fuck it, I'm just going to go with Hawaii. Hawaii seems pretty cool.

Their beaches are sweet, no doubt about it. They were also the first we ever went to that didn't have any threatening sharks or jellyfish. The colour palette on display during sunsets is something to behold.

Minnesota for the win!

We're not stupid hot in the summer like half the states in the union. We get to experience all the seasons (hockey FTW!) and because we deal with all the seasons, our city doesn't just shut down like Atlanta did last year when half an inch of snow fell on it. I can handle major heat AND major cold because we get both. You know what they say, when the Earth has frozen over, Minnesotans will be outside grilling.

Except for a few places that can experience flooding, we have no major natural disaster issues like constant tornados, earthquakes, and hurricanes.

If I ever want to ditch the US, our buddies Canada is a max six hour drive if you're at the very south of the state.

Our biggest weakness has always been sports (we have them but we've always been terrible) but even that is on the up and up with all of our teams looking pretty good with young talent coming in.

From my perspective on the other side of the Atlantic, a US state is usually better the less you hear about it. I can't remember the last time Minnesota came up here in the news, so points to you! It also says right here in my Wikipedia travel guide that you have a high rate of civil participation and voter turnout. Being able to vacation in Canada must be freaking sweet.

Not hearing much about a state can be good and bad. I'm a Kansan (Zhukov, Kansas is the one right in the dead center) and we don't make news (national or international) very often, but when we do it usually makes us look pretty bad. Generally for a hate-cult of morons who live near our capital city, sometimes for our regressive failed tax plan bankrupting our state and its schools, sometimes it's because the anti-abortion lobby has merged with the gun lobby and actually murdered a living-adult human being here.

And while I'm obviously not claiming Kansas is the best, I like it here. I live in it's most populous city, and there's no commute here that takes more than 20 minutes, even in the heaviest of traffic conditions. We have no highest level professional sports teams, but our collegiate sports teams are top notch. It's boring and flat (and yes Zhukov, lots of farms) but that's because the land is SO good for farms. Almost anything can grow somewhere in Kansas. Wheat and corn yes, but also rice, cotton, grapes, soybeans... you name it.

And as for weather. Well tippy2k2, Kansas has all the seasons and are prepared for inches of ice and feet of snow... but it only rarely gets that bad here. Not even yearly. Of course to balance that... dangerous straight line high-winds, and tornadoes. So, the cities won't shut down for snow, but occasionally your house may: suffer thousands to tens of thousands of dollars of cosmetic damage (EF1 and EF2,) more significant structural damage (EF3) and/or be completely destroyed (EF4 or EF5.) I really couldn't tell you if 4 or 5 is worse. A friend lost his house to an EF4, and it looked like the entire thing had been put in a blender and ground until every piece was fist sized or smaller and then strewn across what was left of his lawn. Another friend lost her business to an EF5, and she showed up to assess the damage and found the only evidence that her salon ever even existed was a clean foundation with some plumbing sticking out.

So, like it is in most places, here in the center of the U.S. you take the bad with the good.

 

[asinann]

It's because there's only one city large enough to really be called a city in this state: Seattle metro stretches from the state capitol almost all the way to Canada. Meanwhile the other two "major" cities in the state are either part of another states largest cities metro area (Vancouver is usually referred to as North Portland) or is the only city to be had between Seattle and Minnesota (Spokane.) But honestly, voter participation is usually extremely democrat in more densely populated areas (probably because you actually SEE the problems that are being talked about) and extremely republican in rural areas.

Living in Coeur d'Alene I can say Spokane is big enough for me. I hate going there. I just have my friend Amanda drive me around if I need to. Anyway I live in north Idaho and we may as well be part of Washington. Hell we share the same time zone with them and not the rest of our state.

Which would make sense since it used to BE part of Washington.

 

[Barbas]

I don't think you appreciate how far I am away from a place that would bother serving crumpets, or any British food Americans didn't claim as their own a couple hundred years ago.

Another con of Pennsylvania: Big state. Bigger woods. I'm at least 45 minutes away from any sort of bakery that doesn't pretty much specialize in nothing but cakes and donuts. I'm 45 minutes away from a population big enough to justify such a magnificent place as a crumpet factory.

Spoiler

So what you're saying is, there's a gap in the local market. You could be the most popular baker in Pennsylvania.

My favorite planet's the Sun.

...Which means that your favourite state must be either Hawaii or Nevada!

One of the midwest states like Arizona? *spits drink everywhere*

What is this abomination of geography?

OT: Definitely Not California, New York, Michigan, or Texas.

Maybe Wisconsin, Ohio if you're willing to forgive the entire Cleveland Toledo strip, or Kentuckey. Kentuckey's beautiful. As is a lot of the south. Very friendly too, despite what the rest of the country likes to paint it as.

T0ad, I am disappoint. Why do you not represent home country of Michigan?

You know what I love about all the Texas hate? 99% of the people I've met who say "eeewwwww, Texas!" then admit they've never actually been to Texas.

So right now I vote Colorado. Weather is fairly moderate year round, skiing/snowboarding in the winter, awesome hiking/mountain biking in the summer. Weed is legal, largely libertarian politics, taxes aren't too high, population is super into fitness and it's one of the least obese states, and even the major cities haven't gotten too crowded yet.

Second place, TEXAS! Seriously, Texas is larger than Britain and France combined, so if you look at the state as a whole, you can find just about anything you want there. Like music and liberal politics? Austin. Like cowboy culture? Ft. Worth. Are you frat/sorority type? Dallas. Like hispanic culture? El Paso or San Antonio. Like the desert? Head west. Like rolling hills and forests? Head east. Beaches? Go Southeast to the Gulf of Mexico. Want cold weather? Go north. Wanna start a business? Low taxes and regulations. Just wanna work there? NO STATE TAXES! Also the food is bad-ass. I had a ton of fun when I lived in Texas.

After speaking to others who have lived in Texas, I'm sorry but I don't believe you. Except maybe about the food, because everything is bigger in Texas.

 

[Kolby Jack]

Having never lived there, I'd say probably one of the northern central states. Probably not the one with Chicago, cuz of all the murdering, but one of the others. No earthquakes, no hurricanes, just lots and lots of snow and fields and overly polite people. Having lived on the east coast, the west coast, Hawaii, AND the South, I often dream of living up north. It must be nice.

EDIT: The state I've lived in most is Texas. It's nice enough to look at, and the people put on a veneer of friendliness, but it's ugly on the inside. Half of my entire family tree lives there. The board of education is just... THE worst. Most of cities seem to suffer a lot of internal problems, though I'm aware that's true of pretty much any city in America. A lot of the white people are racist, yet take EXTREME offense if you try to point that out. Everybody owns a truck, even if they have nothing to haul. Everyone owns a gun, even if they have nothing to shoot. Everybody listens to country music. It's hot. The gulf of mexico is kind of a shitty part of the ocean. It's awful.

I mean, hey, if you're white and love country music, guns, trucks, and secretly hate brown people, you'll love Texas. Everybody else... not so much.

 

[breadsammich]

I'm Texan, so of course I'm going to vote Texas (Only ever lived here except for going to college in Illinois.) A lot of people are turned off by that whole Texas bravado thing, but you have to understand that very few Texans REALLY take that seriously, even if they play into it. Yes we're proud of our state. I think everyone should have pride in their state...

And as Ihateregistering1 said, there's something for everyone here. Austin is a completely different world from San Antonio, which is completely different than Houston. And, if you've never been to the Texas Hill Country, you're missing out. It's gorgeous. Plus, we have amazing Tex Mex, Whataburger, etc. All I can say is don't buy the trash talk about Texans. You can make negative claims against any state and they'll be accurate for some of the population.

 

[Victim of Progress]

As someone who has no clue about the US. I'm going to say Arkansas. Just because it sounds the coolest(Arkh-Kansas)
...wait, that's not the way it's pronounced? Screw that; in which case it's Pennsylvania.

 

[breadsammich]

As someone who has no clue about the US. I'm going to say Arkansas. Just because it sounds the coolest(Arkh-Kansas)
...wait, that's not the way it's pronounced? Screw that, in which it's Pennsylvania.

Oh man, I've been through Arkansas twice, just passing through...it's gorgeous but both times I felt a little unnerved. Couldn't put my finger on what it was. It felt very...different.