# What does your state not excel at ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 20, 2014, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-state-not-excel-at/707749 "2014-12-20T16:34:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2014, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-state-not-excel-at/707749/21 "2014-12-20T23:52:54Z")
**Michigan** -nice weather. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-state-not-excel-at/707749/22 "2014-12-21T00:46:56Z")
Arkansas the lowest number of advanced degrees. They may be right for Masters and PHD’s. We have a lot of state and private colleges. Most people enter the work force after getting their undergrad degree. ---
**Author:** ![slowlearner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@slowlearner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slowlearner)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-state-not-excel-at/707749/23 "2014-12-21T00:59:21Z")
Texas worst at public education is right, Texas public schools have turrible graduation rates, but I pay schools taxes to a town of 4000 souls that has recently finished a new football stadium that seats 10,000 and has a 3 story press box and sits like a bright jewel among the lower middle class tract homes and crumbling frame houses of immigrant neighborhoods and we’re all sure this is the best place in the world… ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-state-not-excel-at/707749/24 "2014-12-21T01:03:31Z")
Bad education, regressive taxes, poor labor relations, corruption. But HEY! Good barbecue!:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-state-not-excel-at/707749/25 "2014-12-21T01:54:38Z")
Well, for a state with a whole hell of a lot of coastline and a few big lakes we aren’t too good at driving boats. Or maybe it just seems that way because there are so many people with boats. > [@](#): > > Florida: Most recreational boat accidents > Florida has the highest number of boat accidents and fatalities. Yet studies consistently show that Floridians operate boats at least as well as highly caffeinated orangutans. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-state-not-excel-at/707749/26 "2014-12-21T02:14:26Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > Well, for a state with a whole hell of a lot of coastline and a few big lakes we aren’t too good at driving boats. Or maybe it just seems that way because there are so many people with boats. I think a different units of measure would yield a different result. Florida probably has the most boating hours than any other state. It would make sense that Florida would have the most accidents over a state like Kansas. if it were accidents per operation hour, I suspect that Florida would not top the rankings. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-state-not-excel-at/707749/27 "2014-12-21T02:31:41Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > And people in Washington apparently love Justin Bieber more than any other state. Nebraska needs to save a space for Washington. > [@racer72](#): > > Actually, we hate Bieber. He has the fewest fans from per capita than any other state. Grunge started here for a reason. [From here](http://blog.estately.com/2014/04/the-geography-of-justin-bieber-fever/)" > [@](#): > > Washington state is by far the safest place to wait out the Bieber epidemic. Not only does the Evergreen State have the lowest percentage of Bieber fans (6.82%), but it’s also home to Tenino High School, which once blasted Justin Bieber over the loud speakers between classes until students raised $500 for orphans in Ghana. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-state-not-excel-at/707749/28 "2014-12-21T02:58:53Z")
Pennsylvania got worst bridges, which I have no trouble believing. There’s nothing like getting stuck in traffic on a bridge, feeling every vibration and trying not to think about the Susquehanna River flowing beneath me. In all fairness, we have a lot of waterways, which means we have a lot of bridges, and most of them are fairly old. The state also tends to defer maintenance during leaner times; a relatively trivial issue that can be easily fixed becomes a serious problem because it’s ignored until it’s too late. The other thing that we suck at is honest government, but a lot of states can claim that crown. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-state-not-excel-at/707749/29 "2014-12-21T03:19:29Z")
If “loving Justin Bieber” is the biggest thing that Washington is worse at than any other state, then I’d call that a ringing endorsement. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2014, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-state-not-excel-at/707749/30 "2014-12-21T06:30:50Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#): > > The other thing that we suck at is honest government, but a lot of states can claim that crown. Apparently, Georgia has you beat on that measure: \*\*Georgia - Least Integrity \*\*Politicians in Georgia are the least ethical in the country, with an estimated 658 state workers having accepted gratuities during a two-year period. State legislators were not available for comment without an offer of basketball tickets or honey baked hams. (I actually have a hard time believing that Georgia is worse than Louisiana. Maybe more of our ethically-challenged state employees get caught?) But the chief probate court clerk in Savannah just got fired and sued - apparently, she misappropriated money held in trust by the court that was intended for five children orphaned when the Imperial Sugar refinery went kablooey a few years ago. And an investigation into the finances of a little town just northwest of here has now been turned over from the state bureau of investigation to the FBI - I have a suspicion that at least three police agencies, maybe four, are fixing to be bereft of leadership in the very near future. (In that county, three of the sheriff’s brothers are chiefs of police in three very small towns, including the one under investigation. There’s very bad juju there - things like city police cars being titled to the sheriff personally, and no one knows where those cars are, and at least one was purchased with federal grant money.) I keep joking with my husband that we need to buy a little bit of land across the river, so he can position himself to run for sheriff… which is funny, because Tony is the worst politician ever. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-state-not-excel-at/707749.md?page=1)