What regions of the US would you say are the best? The worst?
It depends on how you define best/worst but anything intornado alley has my vote for a place I don’t want to live. There is no draw for me in South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, or Oklahoma. After that I guess I’d go with the ten poorest states aside from Idaho since its so pretty there. Mississippi, West Virginia, South Carolina, Arkansas, Maine, New Mexico, Kentucky, Florida, Alabama, Arizona. So that would be my worst 14.
My best of list would start with California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and Washington as my top 5.
You have to establish some criteria - people are never going to agree on a universal definition of best and worst.
I guess my “best” would include: low crime rate, not prone to natural disasters, great food, good climate (which for me means "not too cold, and definitely no ice or snow to deal with), reasonable traffic, good outdoor activities, natural beauty, a local government that has its priorities straight, and like-minded people to be friends with. However, except for possibly disaster-proneness and climate, those characteristics could vary wildly even within one geographic region of the US.
Hawaii, specifically Hawaii Island (aka “the Big Island”), meets most of my criteria. Given our recent episodes of volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and hurricanes, plus our vulnerability to tsunamis, it doesn’t do great on the natural disaster front. Other factors outweigh that, though.
There are going to be a lot of different answers depending on your specific criteria.
Personally I like living in the rural South because I like:
- Forests and hills and fields around me
- Low traffic
- Low cost of living
- Relatively mild winters but still 4 distinct seasons
Some of the downsides of this, depending on your viewpoints, are less activities, reliance on personal automobiles, and a slant towards conservative ideology.
I’d say the crescent described by central South Carolina through Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi and then expanding to the entire states of Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, and Kansas. They all have in common almost nothing to see there culturally or naturally and far too hot in the summer.
I hate heat plus humidity, and have begun to find bigoted ignorance unendurable. Those two factors eliminate more than half of the US right there. I find the desert nice to visit but prefer grass. Also, I cannot live near cities and anywhere crowded at all. So, I am pretty much limited to the Pacific Northwest, New England, and maybe the upper Midwest. When we relocated from CA we were choosing between western Oregon, western Massachusetts/southern Vermont, and Wisconsin (where my roots are, such as they be).
I do find the upper Great Plains quite congenial. But my family disagreed.
We ended up in western MA.
I disagree about the natural beauty, they all have it if you get away from what humans have done. It may not be as dramatic as the Rockies but anywhere the humans have left alone for awhile is beautiful.
Best: Easy. New England.
I’ve only ever been to Houston, Texas, so my answer would be “anything but Houston”.
However, based on reading and chatting to people, I think the bits I’d like to visit include rural and coastal New England, the SW desert, the Rockies, Alaska and the more natural parts of the West Coast (Redwoods, Big Sur, Death Valley, Cascades etc)
None of its great to be honest, but states that went for Trump are the worst of the worst.
along the southern border from CA to harligen tx up to a certain point its just desert but theres a lot of 3rd world skid row looking “towns” …
when we went through del rio tx we were supposed to stop for food since we were on a greyhound bus ……the majority of the bus preferred to move along to more pleasant surroundings ….
Hmm, the anywhere between Charleston and Jessup along the east coast would probably be ok. The middle of the country, being defined as Nebraska to Texas and Denver to Kansas City including New Mexico and large chunks of Arizona, no thanks, on this side of the Rockies, the high desert basin is neat to visit and explore but I wouldn’t want to live there. Montana, maybe NorCal (been a while since my last visit there) might ne ok also. For some reason Oregon and Washington hold zero appeal for me. I’ve never been to New England but from what I’ve been told, it would be a nice place to visit but I wouldn’t like living there.
[Moderating]
Not sure how this was in Cafe Society. Moving to IMHO.
But Michigan is amongst the best, if not the best, despite having tilted for Trump this time. Don’t forget, nearly every state is winner-takes-all. Just because Gary didn’t take Michigan doesn’t mean that none of us voted for him.
We’ve got four distinct seasons and plenty of outdoor activities for each of them. Varied terrain that suits everyone, if you’re willing to go to it. Water sports. Skiing. Water skiing. Most of the Great Lakes and excellent beaches. Some of the best beer in the world. Low cost of living. Art and culture in places like Detroit, Ann Arbor, and Grand Rapids.
Politically, we’re a home-rule state, so you can choose to live in whatever little enclave suits you. We flip-flop on electoral college delegates and governors, keeping things pretty balanced without more than average partisanship. Recreational marijuana. No death penalty. Lots of high technology (automation, automobiles, battery technology, healthcare technology). World class universities.
I haven’t picked a worst state yet, as I’ve not been to all of them. As a Michigander, I’m tempted to have to say that Ohio, of course, is the worst state. Actually, for practical purposes, it kind of is. It’s always in the way when I want to drive somewhere else, and the only destination I ever have in Ohio is work related.
For me, “worst” would be the really hot and humid places. That would mean any of the gulf states, which are also subject to increasingly violent hurricanes, followed by the other south eastern states.
What’s important to me are:
climate
politically blue although purple is acceptable
big city amenities within an easy drive.
Based on that, I like the Great Lakes region followed by the Pacific Northwest. I dislike warm muggy weather, states run by hayseeds, rednecks, and hillbillies, and cultural wastelands.
1st place: MI (of course)
Acceptable: IL, WI, MN, WA, OR
Worst states: any from the old Confederacy
A vote for Gary was a vote for Trump and Trump’s America is pretty horrible. We’re fat and ignorant.
I prefer any state that touches the Pacific Ocean, and any state that touches a state that touches the Pacific Ocean. The scenic wide-open spaces, the variety of outdoor activities available, the climate, cities from crazy large to small cities and small towns, as well as variety of opinions and cultural options, educated people - all appeal to me. After that, I am intrigued by Rocky Mountain states, and states that touch Lake Superior. I have been to Georgia and while I like parts of it, but the muggy summer climate is a deal-breaker for me. Not much appeal for the NE due to the number of people and the climate, altho I don’t mind visiting. No appeal for the mid-west or south (no offense to people who live there - it’s just not my cup of tea), mainly due to the climate and lack of variety and topography.
It is true that Houston is the worst part of America. There’s still plenty of it that isn’t much better though.