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States Ranked... Your Top 10? (1 Viewer)

Jayrod said:
I've been all over Kansas and spent significant time in Wichita and the KC suburbs.  Outside of the latter, Kansas is whole lot of nothing.  Wichita is a crappy city, Topeka is a hole, Lawrence is just KU's campus, Hays is in BFE (don't get me started on the whole of western Kansas), Emporia and Pittsburg are small, old and uninteresting.  You don't have any mountains, few rivers, no caves, no forests, no lakes, etc.  Just a bunch of fields and nothingness.

Missouri is light years ahead of Kansas.  :pokey:
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This undersells Lawrence but is otherwise correct IMO. I grew up in Hays and there wasn't much to do other than drugs. Doesn't help that a lot of Kansas City's cool stuff (Royals, Chiefs, Worlds of Fun, etc.) is on the Missouri side of the border. 

 
These are the rankings that jumped out to me -- 

  • Colorado at #2 is pretty much correct, I love it there.
  • DC at 51 is hilarious. I know I hate it when a place has great restaurants and world-class museums.
  • Oregon should be top 10. Mountains, forests, beaches, legal weed and shrooms, can't ask for much more than that.
  • NJ is way too low. Yeah, it's not as sexy as New York, but it's absolutely not worse than Iowa.
 
Brunell4MVP said:
Love living in Northern Virginia.  Seasons, lots of stuff to do, many cultures, jobs, schools, parks, easy access to beaches and mountains.  DC is in the best condition it has ever been when you go downtown.  Traffic sucks but it always does where people actually want to live.  You want no traffic, sure, head to the middle of Kansas.   

The rest of Virginia is meh.  West of Richmond is nice but not a fan of anywhere else to live.

I think North Carolina is better though.  Raleigh Durham, Cary, Charlotte, etc.  It's like NOVA, but with far better weather.
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Richmond and Norfolk downtowns have improved like many other downtowns in the country.

On a smaller scale, Roanoke has also taken a step up.

VA has a ton of great small towns.

 
caustic said:
This undersells Lawrence but is otherwise correct IMO. I grew up in Hays and there wasn't much to do other than drugs. Doesn't help that a lot of Kansas City's cool stuff (Royals, Chiefs, Worlds of Fun, etc.) is on the Missouri side of the border. 
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It would be interesting to put a list of "cities which are MUCH better than the rest of the state". 

Manhattan and Lawrence would be right up there.

 
I haven't travelled to as many states as I would like, but will rank based off of where I've been

  1. California
  2. Hawaii
  3. Oregon
  4. Colorado
  5. New Mexico
  6. Washington
  7. Pennsylvania
  8. New York
  9. Illinois
  10. Utah
 
wikkidpissah said:
my wife was from Beloit and she and her people were all damn near translucent. first time i ran away from home (13-14yo?) i made it all the way from Salem MA to the Dells before i gave in. all i remember is blonde people helping me and non-blondes being jackholes. i stick by my fountain theory

i lived 20 yrs in NM and it's a singular place. not everyone gets it
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Can’t wait to try out NM!  High on my list!!

 
Nebraska #34 - Iowa #46.  We'll take it!   :pickle:

In all seriousness, not sure why we ranked higher than some of the bordering states (Kansas, Missouri, South Dakota, Iowa).

The only explanation I have is that I bet we rank fairly high in "Percentage of people willing to take online polls."

 
Brony said:
I've been to 46 states. Here's my top 10

California

Washington

Colorado

Michigan

Hawaii

Utah

Arizona

North Carolina

New York

Massachusetts

I prioritize outdoor landscapes, beer and good food. (haven't been to Oregon)
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Have you been to Vermont? Seems like it’d be up your alley

 
AAABatteries said:
Just curious why you think Georgia is too high - not saying I disagree but curious your perspective.

For me....

Pros: Weather is pretty solid (4 separate seasons unlike a lot of areas); COL is pretty good - not sure where it ranks but last I looked it wasn't bad;  Atlanta isn't a top-tier major city but I'd say it's in tier 2 and has all the things you would expect - sports teams, museums, restaurants/bars;  Atlanta suburbs are a great place for work and raising kids - lots of large companies in Atlanta across several industries;  Major airport/hub;  great location to get to all kinds of things - beach, mountains, lakes; Diversity - we have fairly large AA, Hispanic, LGBT and Indian populations - at least in metro area.

Cons:  Traffic - it can be brutal if you are stuck going in certain directions/locations;  Education - public schools are kind of crappy;  UGA;  Matt Ryan

Again, I can't objectively rank it but I see good arguments for it being in the 7-15 range somewhere.
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Pollen would be way up there for me 

 
California is ranked about right. Ton of positives but enough negatives to push us out of top 10. But I despise humidity. And won’t live in snow. Don’t like year round rain. So the field narrows substantially. 

 
AAABatteries said:
Just curious why you think Georgia is too high - not saying I disagree but curious your perspective.

For me....

Pros: Weather is pretty solid (4 separate seasons unlike a lot of areas); COL is pretty good - not sure where it ranks but last I looked it wasn't bad;  Atlanta isn't a top-tier major city but I'd say it's in tier 2 and has all the things you would expect - sports teams, museums, restaurants/bars;  Atlanta suburbs are a great place for work and raising kids - lots of large companies in Atlanta across several industries;  Major airport/hub;  great location to get to all kinds of things - beach, mountains, lakes; Diversity - we have fairly large AA, Hispanic, LGBT and Indian populations - at least in metro area.

Cons:  Traffic - it can be brutal if you are stuck going in certain directions/locations;  Education - public schools are kind of crappy;  UGA;  Matt Ryan

Again, I can't objectively rank it but I see good arguments for it being in the 7-15 range somewhere.
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GA mountains and oceanfront are both sub par.  One major city, but ATL isn't that great of a city.  Terrible traffic, and not just in Atlanta...i always seem to find traffic on I95 just north of the FL state line.  

GA is all right I guess, but not ***super elite upper tier***

 
moleculo said:
GA mountains and oceanfront are both sub par.  One major city, but ATL isn't that great of a city.  Terrible traffic, and not just in Atlanta...i always seem to find traffic on I95 just north of the FL state line.  

GA is all right I guess, but not ***super elite upper tier***
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Fair but even if it’s ocean front isn’t great it beats the ~30 states with no ocean front and ~20 states with no mountains (totally guessing at those numbers).  Point being - I think when rating the states I think a state with things for everyone gives it a boost.

Traffic is miserable though - although I rarely have to face it with WFH.

 
Judge Smails said:
California is ranked about right. Ton of positives but enough negatives to push us out of top 10. But I despise humidity. And won’t live in snow. Don’t like year round rain. So the field narrows substantially. 
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See my comment above about things for everybody - that is why I would probably have California in my top 3-5 (if not #1).  Pretty much can’t be beat in that regard.  

 
moleculo said:
GA mountains and oceanfront are both sub par.  One major city, but ATL isn't that great of a city.  Terrible traffic, and not just in Atlanta...i always seem to find traffic on I95 just north of the FL state line.  

GA is all right I guess, but not ***super elite upper tier***
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I-95 in GA >>>> I-95 in SC

 
Getzlaf15 said:
@jamny  Have you been?  We should check it out.
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Yeah, I talked about it with Joe in the BBQ restaurant thread. Cool place and they're opening a new venue right off Capitol on Idaho. 

Our new favorite is Twisted District on Chinden. Brats and Dogs and giant ### pretzels!

 
Kal El said:
I’m shocked Florida ranked so high, considering the amount of crap we seem to take from everybody else, whether it’s Florida Man or if a hurricane spins up. But I would rather live here anyway, because the weather we have in winter is so much better than everyone else’s.
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Humidity?

 
Criteria is so crucial. If talking natural beauty, Michigan needs to be near the top along with the states out west that are home to the best national parks in the country.

If we are including roads and how the governor managed Covid, then Michigan would be near the bottom. 

 
FBG26 said:
Glad to see so few mentions of MN. We're plenty fine keeping it all to ourselves.  
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used to get such a kick cuz, in the 80s/90s, every sportsbook in NV was dominated by Minnesotans cheering their teams. never seen so much civic pride.........as long as they were living anywhere else

 
caustic said:
These are the rankings that jumped out to me -- 

  • Colorado at #2 is pretty much correct, I love it there.
  • DC at 51 is hilarious. I know I hate it when a place has great restaurants and world-class museums.
  • Oregon should be top 10. Mountains, forests, beaches, legal weed and shrooms, can't ask for much more than that.
  • NJ is way too low. Yeah, it's not as sexy as New York, but it's absolutely not worse than Iowa.
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Yeah, that ranking is just people following the herd. It's always been cool to bag on Jersey, even (especially?) by Jerseyans. But without even getting into property values and cultural stuff...you've got a clearly-defined four seasons, a hundred miles of shoreline, mountains, diversity (which leads to amazing food), and in most spots in NJ, you're within an hour drive of NY or Philly (and a reasonable drive/train ride to Boston or DC). On top of that, you really can't beat the views. Question - would you rather be in Manhattan with a view of NJ, or in NJ with a view of the Manhattan skyline? Exactly

ETA: Yes I realize the irony of claiming as one of the benefits of NJ being the fact that it's so easy to get to cooler places :)

 
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Michael Brown said:
Yeah, that ranking is just people following the herd. It's always been cool to bag on Jersey, even (especially?) by Jerseyans. But without even getting into property values and cultural stuff...you've got a clearly-defined four seasons, a hundred miles of shoreline, mountains, diversity (which leads to amazing food), and in most spots in NJ, you're within an hour drive of NY or Philly (and a reasonably drive/train ride to Boston or DC). On top of that, you really can't beat the views. Question - would you rather be in Manhattan with a view of NJ, or in NJ with a view of the Manhattan skyline? Exactly
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Well that's an interesting take...I live in an outhouse, but my view of the mansion is spectacular.

 
Virginia, Washington, North Carolina, California, DC, Colorado, New Hampshire.  After that it gets hard, but probably Hawaii, Oregon.

 
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As I get older I much prefer cooler weather, mountains and less people.

1.  Montana 

2.  Utah

3.  Oregon

4.  Washington

5.  Idaho

6.  Colorado

7.  California

8.  New Mexico

9.  Wyoming

10.  Alaska

My list in my 20s/30s would have included the states with big cities.

 
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Apple Jack said:
The only thing more ridiculous than DC last is Hawaii first. Who are these people?
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I live in HI. It’s definitely top 3: Best weather, natural beauty, good food (great of you love seafood) and wonderful people. The only downsides are cost of living and isolation, but everyone wants to visit, so the latter isn’t too bad.

Others in my top 10:

1. Utah - Best snow, national parks. Low cost of living.

2. Colorado - UT is better but still great outdoor recreation. Too many people and too much pot.

3. Wyoming - Almost as good as top 2, plus less people. But winters are probably too long.

4. Montana - Similar to WY, but better skiing in WY

5. California - Crowded and expensive for a reason.

6. Oregon - Beautiful but rains a bit too much.

7. Washington - Ditto

8. North Carolina - As good as it gets on East coast

9. Idaho - Haven’t spent much time there, but seems nice

10. Alaska - Maybe better to visit than live there, but much of the rest of the country isn’t even worth visiting. Oops. That’s 11.

To be fair, I haven’t been to the extreme NE - Maine, VT, NH, but I doubt the mountains and climate compare well with the Rockies.

 
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Terminalxylem said:
I live in HI. It’s definitely top 3: Best weather, natural beauty, good food (great of you love seafood) and wonderful people. The only downsides are cost of living and isolation, but everyone wants to visit, so the latter isn’t too bad.
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Don't get me wrong, I love Hawaii, but the cost of living and remoteness would get to me in a hurry.

 
Apple Jack said:
Don't get me wrong, I love Hawaii, but the cost of living and remoteness would get to me in a hurry.
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Once you have a place to live, the cost isn't terrible - you drive less and there is a lot of good, cheap food. Depending on your occupation, you may spend less on clothing as well, since pretty much everything is island casual.

While long flights aren’t my favorite, they’re not much worse than long car rides IMO. But maybe I’ve adapted. Either way, people want to visit.

 
Payne said:
Criteria is so crucial. If talking natural beauty, Michigan needs to be near the top along with the states out west that are home to the best national parks in the country.

If we are including roads and how the governor managed Covid, then Michigan would be near the bottom. 
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Michigan isn’t ugly, but it’s nowhere near the most beautiful state. Maybe top 25?

 
GroveDiesel said:
I feel like Virginia is either super densely populated really expensive areas mostly in the north, or more rural very “southern” living in the south of Virginia. Personally, I’m not sure either appeals to me a lot.

But that could largely be colored by:

a) my general distaste of the greater DC area and

b) my irritation at the traffic on the 95 corridor between Baltimore and Richmond every time I drive down to my family’s beach house in NC.
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You should just stay in NC. 

 
moleculo said:
My top 10, in no particular order:

  • Wyoming 
  • Alaska  
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • California 
  • Colorado 
  • New Hampshire/Vermont - same state, as far as I'm concerned.
  • Florida
  • Hawaii 
  • Washington/Oregon - same state, as far as I'm concerned. 
I like mountains, ocean access, or both.
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States with both mountains and oceans (or the Gulf) should all be high on the list, IMO. 

 
jb1020 said:
No doubt.  I don't know of a better beach value around.  We go 2-3 times a year. 
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Probaby been there at least 15 times.    A guy I work with has a place in Orange Beach and Gulf Shores. One in Orange Beach you can walk to the Flora-Bama.  Last two times there been staying down at the other end past the pier and Hangout.

 
-OZ- said:
It would be interesting to put a list of "cities which are MUCH better than the rest of the state". 

Manhattan and Lawrence would be right up there.
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They should change the name of PA to "Cities are MUCH Better Than the Rest of the State".

 
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