Which is the worst state in the United States of America

haha my trip to Tallahassee must have been way worse than I remembered

also I am totally fine with this thread being a total US State lovefest regardless of the title/poll results

This is why you can't vote TX, despite all of the despicable things about it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cnx3fWJHkUo

Shakey Mo, do you dislike NM, and if so, why?

Was that jokez, Laurel??!

Probably 60% joeks.

Delaware isn't a state, it's the Grand Duchy of Citibank.

Rather than blame a place for a natural disaster that it didn't deserve, and after which it got totally screwed by the supposed "support systems" it was counting on, I'm blaming LA for hosting a giant drunk-fest and encouraging tourists to behave like animals regularly. Also I dislike crowds and loud noises. And fun.

noodling and whatever traces remain of woody guthrie's "spirit" are not enough to save you from my vote in this poll, oklahoma

hmm, connecticut maybe

Shakey Mo, do you dislike NM, and if so, why?

nah I just don't know much about it apart from a trip to Santa Fe as a child

New Mexico – is that the one with all the sand?

gut feeling is florida

i kinda impulsively voted for RI even though i can find plenty of nice things to say about providence at the least

delaware's probably worse tiny-state-wise but i haven't spent any time there, only driven though it.

im feelin south carolina as worst right now

Charleston is fantastic – some of the best restaurants and best-looking people in the country. I dunno about the rest of the state.

My first instinct is to say my home state of NC. However, my view of it is skewed from having lived there for so long and under such dire circumstances. And they have good BBQ, so that's a plus.

Delaware has tax free shopping and nice beaches.

I would have to go with Oklahoma.

Wow, kind of funny that the deadly combination of a big yearly celebration of life and one street's worth of girls-gone-wild-frat-fest located in a neighborhood with one of the richest musical traditions in world history is the worst thing that America has to offer.

makes you think

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWmVTbWHgFc

I might have to pick Wisconsin/Iowa because of lol state rivalries

Don't worry, I'm blaming LA for other things, too. Like okra.

I might have to pick Wisconsin/Iowa because of lol state rivalries

it's why I voted for both Minnesota & Missouri lol

I'm blaming LA for other things, too. Like okra.

Okra is from Africa, I thought.

Much like everything else that people like about Louisiana!

Okay, jazz. I don't know about anything else really. Voodoo?

Indiana really doesn't have much going for it (sorry people from Indiana.)

Also thinking that Idaho is pretty bare, but I could be convinced otherwise I guess.

Really the I states in general (outside of Illinous) are no great shakes.

idaho does not have one single mellencamp, only a handful of cougars and a decent selection of johns

Indiana really doesn't have much going for it (sorry people from Indiana.)

OTM - that's why this sorry person from Indiana voted for it.
(nb - I don't live there now and visit as infrequently as possible.)

yeah, it's not like Ledbelly, gumbo, ca$h money, boudin, Britney Spears, Tabasco, Lil' Wayne, the Meters, or boiled crawfish are really anything worth mentioning, since giving the world jazz isn't enough to redeem anything.

My knee-jerk reaction to this is usually Florida; my family's from Orlando and growing up it just seemed like the worst place, terrible weather, nasty bugs, strip malls, no culture. But embarrassingly reading "The Orchid Thief" helped me appreciate Florida's unique aspects a lot more, and last time I was in Orlando it didn't seem as bad I remembered. So yeah, probably like Indiana I guess.

Voted Oklahoma.

(PS, I'm not ever going to spend a lot of energy defending Mississippi, but people who slam it based on stereotypes and not on personal experience are the worst kind of disgusting savages imho.) (PPS, Fetchboy I don't mean you.)

hosting a giant drunk-fest and encouraging tourists to behave like animals regularly. Also I dislike crowds and loud noises. And fun.

― Let's see how tough Aquaman is once we get him in the water. (Laurel), Thursday, February 18, 2010 3:52 PM (30 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Good thing you live in NYC, an area devoid of drunken parades/celebrations, tourists, crowds and loud noises.

My first instinct is to say my home state of NC. However, my view of it is skewed from having lived there for so long and under such dire circumstances. And they have good BBQ, so that's a plus.

Delaware has tax free shopping and nice beaches.

I would have to go with Oklahoma.

― Jeff, Thursday, February 18, 2010 10:00 PM (20 minutes ago) Bookmark

NC would be a seriously ridiculous answer. beautiful mountains, BBQ, credit unions, indie rock, and like way more progressivism than the rest of the former CSA.

Exactly!

does your family still live in Orlando, n/a?

florida and texas have some good stuff going for them, yeah, but they have SO MUCH bad stuff going for them. indiana-type places have no good stuff going for them but significantly less bad stuff too. it's like...serial-killer who's also a fantastic novelist vs. petty crook w/ pretty much nothing going for him.

Tupelo, MS is the only place I've been where someone has explicitly told me that I was not the right kind of person to move into the ritzy neighborhood. I was partially offended and partially like "wtf, this is Tupelo"

A lot of my extended family does.

South Florida seems a lot more fun, don't know why I've never made it down there.

xp to myself: your "ritzy neighborhood" is basically just like Burnsville, stfu

Isn't that DFW essay about watching 9/11 on TV set in Indiana? It's the only sympathetic portrayal of IN that comes to mind, and I think I'm more sympathetic to DFW and his viewpoint in all of that than the locale itself.

I can't believe they wouldn't let you move there just cause you went to college :( xp

I'll tell you what sucks about Miami: remove South Beach and you've got Anytown, USA. Miles and miles of suburban dreariness. It's amazing that a city this big boasts only a couple of independent bookstores and record shops.

That does not surprise me in the least about Tupelo, Dan. Horrible place, nearly indefensible.

Isn't that DFW essay about watching 9/11 on TV set in Indiana?

Illinois

i think mississippi sounds ok

I was born in Columbus, MS.

Also thinking that Idaho is pretty bare, but I could be convinced otherwise I guess.

Idaho, even when it's boring, is at least strange.

I can't believe they wouldn't let you move there just cause you went to college :( xp

Ha, the "best" part is that the dude who said this to me was an alum hosting some of us as a stop on a choir trip

This was the same stop where the mother of our host told us a delightful story of how her daughter had moved to Boston and "jewed" her landlord down on the rent; the two Jews I was rooming with were not particularly appreciative.

(It is best to only capitalize "Black", not "white"; or to capitalize both? Genuine style question, no troll.)

I'm curious what the thinking is on this as well. lowercase white vs uppercase Black might on some level support the implication that whiteness is "default"

unsurprisingly it seems like a no win situation the more you think about it

Here you go:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/05/insider/capitalized-black.html

I noticed just the other day that the New Yorker capitalizes "Black," which maybe they've done for years? No idea what they do with "white."

about what I figured. not really a satisfying answer but that's the nature of style (and change in progress). xp

the New Yorker capitalizes "Black," which maybe they've done for years?

I believe "everyone" (meaning "the media") started capitalizing Black more or less in the last 12 months. I know that's when I started doing it in my own writing, for Stereogum (and in my upcoming book).

I miss Atlanta so much :(

xpost

Here's the revised AP style guide on "Black" etc (it's dated from July 2020 but I saw a Guardian article from June, referencing the AP decision to capitalize Black):

https://apnews.com/article/9105661462

Atl is a legit great city. And if you don’t have to be in the car much its ranking goes way up imo. The urban canopy really is remarkable.

For sure, the predominant car culture is main issue there. But within the city limits at least it looks like they're doing their best to move away from that.

(I was without a car for a few days there taking care of some business, and I have to say it's quite cool how there are little public shuttle buses that go all over the place and which seem to have sliding scale payment. Of course MUNI in SF is also sliding scale if you know how to avoid the driver's eyes as you slip in the back door. I would never!)

*main issue I have

*the

Gonna go against the grain here and say I found Atlanta to be pretty depressing and grey

Apparently it's Alabama, but even that is better than DC:

https://today.yougov.com/topics/travel/articles-reports/2021/04/13/us-states-ranked-best-worst-according-americans

if you look at the Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker, Alabama is the only state with a mega light-green shade.

why am i not shocked.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0331/3061/products/Mutual-Feelings_60x36_Flag_Photo_1200x1200.jpg

Jersey tied with Iowa and Arkansas.

Been trying to think up what trouble those three states could get into together, with no luck.

I reckon TX has this now

otm

Certainly top contender for worst state that has the most awesome things in it ruined by the shittiness.

Nov, 2022 is when we're hopefully going to get rid of Abbott. If Texas doesn't do something about the bastard I'm going to have to move. Fuck this shit.

If you lose Abbott, you're only going to get somebody worse because he was primaried.