50 Americans say what is best and worst about their states

[Vegas Halo Fan]

Most of you will appreciate Florida.

 

1. Alabama

Best: We're not Mississippi
Worst: We're the second fattest, second least educated state in the country, and Birmingham is routinely in the top 10 for murders per capita by city.

 

2. Alaska

Best: Amazing wildlife, de-criminalized weed, and some of the best fishing in the world.
Worst: Cold, cold n wet, cold n dry.... Oh and the amazing wildlife wants to eat you.

 

3. Arizona

Best: Excellent Mexican food and craft beer, a lot of climate variety depending on where you live (mountains and snow up north, high desert in the south, central valley is low desert)
Worst: Poor public transportation system necessitates having a car, nobody knows how to drive when it rains

 

4. Arkansas

Best: There are a lot of state and national parks to enjoy all the nature. We also have the only (current) diamond mine in the US.
Worst: We are in the south so everybody assumes all the people here are uneducated, inbred, racist rednecks.

 

5. California

Best: Population is more fit than any other state I've been to besides Colorado, a lot of talented artists
Worst: Low air quality, Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected governor at one point

 

6. Colorado

Best: The Rocky Mountains. They are basically a giant playground. They have everything, great skiing, whitewater, hiking, camping, climbing. Etc, and they are gorgeous anytime of the year. It doesn't matter if you live on the front range, the western slope or down in the San Juans. The mountains are gorgeous.
Worst: There are a lot hippies and trustafarians on the front range.

 

7. Connecticut

Best: Small and cozy New England state
Worst: Stereotyped into being "rich white suburban"

 

8. Delaware

Best: Delaware actually has a pretty damn good collection of microbreweries, but dogfish head is the most recognizable.
Worst: There is nothing to do here. Delaware is a terrible place that stretches out in front of you in an endless expanse of strip malls.

 

9. Florida

Best: /r/FloridaMan
Worst: /r/FloridaMan

 

10. Georgia

Best: People genuinely care for each other, we have an interesting blend of old Southern food and charm and the influence of the huge immigrant population that comes into Atlanta.
Worst: We're all hopelessly devoted to some of the chokingest teams in professional sports. Oh God is it heartbreaking, to watch every team we have do amazing things and then just fall off a cliff pretty much every year.

 

11. Hawaii

Best: The weather is always great if you like it 82-ish
Worst: A lot of people would say cost of living or something along those lines but for me it's racism. I am a pretty humble guy and I mostly keep to myself but I'm kind of tired of being called Haole.

 

12. Idaho

Best: Quiet, overlooked state with TONS of outdoor activities, beautiful mountains and parks.
Worst: Not a lot of culture to call our own or local cuisine.

 

13. Illinois

Best: Chicago is the single best thing about the state. You can get any food you could imagine in Chicago.
Worst: Some parts of the city are warzones from gang violence. Corruption is worse than the media tells you.

 

14. Indiana

Best: It's quiet and inconspicuous, so if there was a full-scale land invasion in the U.S. we might be overlooked.
Worst: There's not a whole lot to do here.

 

15. Iowa

Best: Decent College sports. There aren't a lot of cities that are wretched hives of scum and villainy.
Worst: No professional sports. People assume that we're all farmers. All the meth you could ever dream of.

 

16. Kansas

Best: One of the marquee BBQ styles comes from here.
Worst: The crazies. I don't know what it is, but Kansas gets all kinds of crazies. Whether religious, political (on both sides of the spectrum), or just old fashioned 'kill dudes' crazy, Kansas gets 'em.

 

17. Kentucky

Best: The bourbon and meth are excellent.
Worst: Everyone thinks we're all toothless, meth head rednecks, who can't read.

 

18. Louisiana

Best: The state has a generally laid-back attitude, as evidenced by own unofficial motto Laissez les bons temps rouler or "Let the good times roll."
Worst: High crime rates and STD rates (Baton Rouge is #1 for HIV per capita in the US).

 

19. Maine

Best: Quiet low population and pretty most of year. Also decent skiing.
Worst: There's a vast distance between you and stores that can take credit a lot of the time.

 

20. Maryland

Best: We have a lot to do. I live near Annapolis, so you have the Chesapeake Bay and sailing, historic towns all over the place. There's nothing better than picking blue crabs on a fall afternoon.
Worst: DC traffic rivals LA for shittiness.

 

21. Massachusetts

Best: Great seafood, and a phenomenal amount of Colleges/Universities. First with universal healthcare and legalizing same-sex marriage.
Worst: Unless I want to live 25+ miles out of the city, I need 500K to buy a crappy 2br home on a city lot, in a "near" suburb. The roads are just illogical, and a lot need improvement badly.

 

22. Michigan

Best: Great sports teams. GO TIGERS!
Worst: Our biggest city is bankrupt.

 

23. Minnesota

Best: Music scene up here is pretty good. Tons of jobs specifically for engineers.
Worst: Colder that Jack Frost's Cock. Winters overstay their welcome sometimes.

 

24. Mississippi

Best: Food
Worst: Economically underdeveloped

 

25. Missouri

Best: Lax liquor laws, cheap cigarettes, low cost of living, low taxes.
Worst: Clueless politicians, extreme poverty in both very urban and very rural areas, highest bankruptcy rate in the nation.

 

26. Montana

Best: Summer is amazing, upper 80's, low 90's during the day, cool in the evenings.
Worst: In the Western part of the state, winters are long a dreary, not much sun. If you don't ski, or do some kind of winter recreation, you are going to have a bad time.

 

27. Nebraska

Best: Lincoln has great music and the Cornhuskers football team
Worst: The weather varies from one extreme to another

 

28. Nevada

Best: North part is beautiful, Tahoe, Skiing, truckee river, etc.
Worst: Rest of the state is a post-apocalyptic hellhole where no life can thrive.

 

29. New Hampshire

Best: Live free or die! No income tax or sales tax. One of the lowest crime rates in the nation, yet gun laws are pretty lax.
Worst: Smaller state so there isn't a whole variety of stuff to do. You may only have a couple of choices for a certain activity.

 

30. New Jersey

Best: Quality foods in terms of Taylor Ham, pizza, subs, bagels, etc.
Worst: How everyone outside of New Jersey views us.

 

 31. New Mexico

Best: A lot of art, Santa Fe is second in most art galleries in the country, following NYC.
Worst: "You're from New Mexico? But your English is so good."

 

32. New York

Best: Anytime you want something, you can go out and buy it. Things are done fast in almost every aspect.
Worst: You develop a growing hatred for the human race. When i meet someone new, I already hate them a tiny bit because they are another human being.

 

33. North Carolina

Best: The food is amazing and I would never leave a Glass of Cheerwine or a box of Bojangle's somewhat full.
Worst: The people are the best and worst at the same time.

 

34. North Dakota

Best: No one notices us
Worst: Weather. Just, ugh.

 

35. Ohio

Best: Ohio has a little bit of everything and everyone.
Worst: Ohio has a little bit of everything and everyone.

 

36. Oklahoma

Best: The people are incomparable. After our huge tornado, I can't tell you how many people selflessly went to help with no regards for themselves. Every day life is so much better because the people are just so ****ing nice.
Worst: Rednecks, not much to do in the way of entertainment, and ****ing SPIDERS.

 

37. Oregon

Best: Gorgeous coastline, mild summers and winters, no weird dialects.
Worst: We have a lot of hippies and greenies, but mostly just in the big cities.

 

38. Pennsylvania

Best: Big cities (Philly, Pittsburgh) with a lot of culture, interesting people, good food etc.
Worst: Small minded people, violent people, pollution.

 

39. Rhode Island

Best: Small cities and lovely rural and suburban areas.
Worst: Douchy college kids who think that because mommy and daddy pay for their education that they can get drunk and treat the world like their living room.

 

40. South Carolina

Best: Good ol' Southern cooking
Worst: Racists, horrible grammar

 

41. South Dakota

Best: Small town feel if you like that type of thing
Worst: Very harsh winters and crazy ass weather patterns

 

42. Tennessee

Best: There are a lot of really nice people here that would give you the shirt off their backs if you were in need. Even in the larger cities, life goes by at a slower pace.
Worst: The church plays a major role in politics. Poverty. The insect population in the summer is pretty awful.

 

43. Texas

Best: No income tax, lots of land which means nice wide streets and big houses
Worst: We only have two seasons with two week transition periods in between (summer, which is hot as hell, and winter)

 

44. Utah

Best: Tons of outside activities, national parks, hiking.
Worst: Hypocritical Mormons. Mormons who actually live by what they're taught are fine and not intrusive. Others try to shove it down your throat .

 

45. Vermont

Best: The firearm culture here is for the most part mature and responsible
Worst: The job market, it sucks beyond belief and because of that people will take the money they can get.

 

46. Virginia

Best: It's a historically rich state with most of the foundations of our nation within an hour or two from each other, specifically Fredericksburg, Williamsburg, Jamestown, Richmond, etc.
Worst: Traffic on the previously mentioned 95 is absurd and makes traveling a shitstorm.

 

47. Washington

Best: We are some of the book-readingest, non-churched, child-free, coledge edumacated folks around. Our population is some of the healthiest of the U.S.
Worst: Eastern Washington. Except for the small fact that their farmers feed us.

 

48. West Virginia

Best: People are kind, always wave and hold doors
Worst: Coal developers want to tear down mountains and forests. Many of those people defend them and are extremely conservative.

 

49. Wisconsin

Best: Awesome beer and dairy products
Worst: Summer heat index of 110 and winter wind chills of -50

 

50. Wyoming

Best: Gorgeous state with very few people. Basically paradise.
Worst: Wyoming's tiny population is indicative of the fact that no one wants to live there. Too close to getting killed by Yellowstone.

 

Edited February 28, 2016 by Vegas Halo Fan

[Vernster52]

Agree 100% with Hawai'i. The most racist group of people I've ever met, and I lived in the south.

[nate]

49. Wisconsin

Best: Awesome beer and dairy products
Worst: Summer heat index of 110 and winter wind chills of -50

 

Not if you live near the lake!

[ten ocho recon scout]

"The bourbon and meth are excellent"

[Vegas Halo Fan]

Washington: We're pretentious liberals who are superior to you in every way. The only negative are those gross farmers out east.

What they failed to mention is that the people of western Washinton constitute the most physically unattractive white people I've ever seen grouped in one place. It's not even close.

 

My eldest stepdaughter lives in Spokane, and she isn't ugly.

 

Having been to Spokane, though, you're not far off.

Edited February 28, 2016 by Vegas Halo Fan

[tdawg87]

Michigan has great sports teams?

[Vegas Halo Fan]

Michigan has great sports teams?

The Lions, the Pistons, the...oh, never mind.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

If I had to answer for Nevada, I would say:

Good: Low taxes, lots of entertainment, lots of great scenery and wide open spaces.

Bad: Too many people believe that the Strip is all that there is to Las Vegas, and take the slogan "Whatever happens in Vegas..." a little too literally. Tourists do ignorant things here that they would never do at home.

[Mark68]

Seems to me like Kentucky's "best" is what leads to their "worst".

 

17. Kentucky

Best: The bourbon and meth are excellent.
Worst: Everyone thinks we're all toothless, meth head rednecks, who can't read.

[Mark68]

Not sure when this survey took place, but I can imagine that Colorado's new best would be weed.

[deepdrive]

Seems to me like Kentucky's "best" is what leads to their "worst".

 

17. Kentucky

Best: The bourbon and meth are excellent.

Worst: Everyone thinks we're all toothless, meth head rednecks, who can't read.

 

Change to: Worst: Everyone thinks all of Kentucky is like Eastern Kentucky.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

Only place I have ever been in Kentucky is Lexington. We were treated well by the Kentucky fans.

[ten ocho recon scout]

I was at fort knox for a bit...im sure there are nice things around (some of the civilians were super nice). Besides that, it lived up to every stereotype california has of the south (so be fair, they can say the same).

Fort campbell and polk help knox out a bit though...

[Tank]

Spent a week singing throughout Kentucky a few years ago. Really enjoyed the people and their friendliness.

[Wallerrrr]

lol @ Alabama

[red321]

I would have to say Alabama is the strangest place I've ever been...I friggen swear at one point when I drove through an intersection that led to the outskirts of Huntsville everything turned black and white

[Sully151]

I would have to say Alabama is the strangest place I've ever been...I friggen swear at one point when I drove through an intersection that led to the outskirts of Huntsville everything turned black and white

Like a 50's television show, or a 50's segregation issue?

[red321]

Like a 50's television show, or a 50's segregation issue?

 

a bit of both actually, I definitely had crossed over in to Mayberry, all that was missing was the whistling.