Which is the worst state in the United States of America

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.

I've never heard anyone say "Jewed" for reals, I only know the usage exists from cautionary tales like that one!! I think the forbiddenness makes me think of it more often that I would otherwise.

54,400 google results for "oklahoma sucks," divided by oklahoma's population of 3,687,050 produces a per-capita suck index of 0.01475 for oklahoma, of which i challenge any other state to beat

Anyway, Tupelo: proven LAME.

oklahoma is one of the ugliest places I have seen w/ my own eyes

still, your suck index is flawed because it mostly contains the opinions of texas football fans - and if you're a texas football fan, your opinion on just about anything in the world is most likely wrong

Idaho is probably boring and has a reputation for crazies (deserved or not) but holy crap does it have some unbelievably beautiful stuff in it.

oklahoma is rough. nevada is possibly worse, depending on how much mileage you get out of vegas. i am not a fan of nebraska, either. grand island was the most depressing city i've ever been in.

"depending on how much mileage you get out of vegas"

Oh come on the state has to get points just for having legalized prostitution.

iatee you are very right, there needs to be a control for the NCAA bias, i'll get on that

Mississippi and Lousiana and even Florida may get by just on local color and charm. Idaho scares me, but it also has some amazingly beautiful landscape. My paternal grand-parents were from SW Oklahoma and it never sounded too interesting to me, though apparently there are spots near Arkansas which approach not suicide-worthy but I am going to vote Indiana just 'cause it did nothing for me when I drove through and has continued to do nothing for me since. At least Texas has a kind fo culture.

faux culture is right

Ha, joygoat, when I said Idaho was "boring" I meant geographically. At least SE Idaho, where I grew up, you could drive through miles & miles of sage & cheat grass (boring) and then something like this pops up:

http://www.visitusa.com/idaho/images/attractions/moonriftpic.jpg

Northern Idaho is frigging gorgeous.

^^ this

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.

― 69, Thursday, February 18, 2010 4:24 PM (20 minutes ago) Bookmark

You're opinion may be different if you had lived in rural Eastern NC from 1979 to 1999. Although there may be a few enclaves of niceness, pretty much anything east of Raleigh is a wasteland. Well, we had BBQ, but I mentioned it before.

what is there to love about New Mexico

― Wrinkles, I'll see you on the other side (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, February 18, 2010

The Gila Cliff Dwellings are really cool. Also, there are Aztec ruins in New Mexico.

Having BBQ automatically makes you better than any state that has no notable regional cuisine.

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.