YouGov pitted the states (plus DC) against each other in head-to-head matchups and used the results to rank peoples’ favorite states. This inane poll is the perfect excuse for a thread of trashtalking and hot takes!
Some starting ponts:
Florids in a three way tie for fourth place. Well then.
Texas in the top 10 Babeee! Suck it Maine.
Along with Nevada. If Nevada is so great, why doesn’t anyone live there? Right, because it’s a desert.
How you can tell this poll is a waste of time.
I’d live in Nevada before Florida, and not even close.
I hate hot humid weather though. And I love mountains.
No doubt, all of the gulf states(including all of Florida) are probably at the bottom of my list. But, plenty of people actually do live in those places, so I understand that there is appeal even if it isn’t for me.
PA in the top 17!
We have some of the best festivals!
Though many of us are jealous of the Delaware Apple Scrapple festival.
I feel like the hate for D.C. should be directed toward Virginia instead since that’s where the bulk of the reason people hate D.C. actually reside.
Also, I realize this is a rather silly poll, but it’s hard for me to ride for an entire state. For example, New Orleans and New York are easily (EASILY) the two best cities in the country, but how much else do their respective states bring to the table? I liked living in Atlanta in pre-COVID times, but I’m certainly not suggesting Georgia as a top state (though Savannah is also nice). Then there’s the divide between best states to live in versus best states to visit. To circle back to Virginia, I could see it being the #3 best state to reside in full time, but it doesn’t offer much for a tourist that a dozen other states don’t do much better.
Honestly, California should be #1 and it shouldn’t be close. It’s got a bit of everything and does many things well at a very high level.
I wonder if the results could be improved by norming for home state population to tease out which states are preferred (or disliked) above the generic home state effect.
States are clearly too high of a level though. I have loved things about GA, PA, and LA but I can’t say I love (or would recommend) them in their entirety.
States that are really flat, humid and or missing any of the 4 seasons should be at the bottom of the list. imho. :)
This guy gets it.
Hah! Some parts maybe. But the whole state? It’s like bigger than Europe. Or something. :)
Nevada is one I really don’t get. I feel like about as many people hate Las Vegas as love it. There are certainly some pretty places, but not many famous ones. I guess the Hoover Dam is cool? What am I missing? I’ve now Googled around for the best things about Nevada and they are extremely unconvincing.
And I actually like hot weather. The hotter the better. But I dislike mountains. People fall off of them.
I would vote for my state pretty much every time, but I have an excuse: I live in Colorado. What is everyone else thinking??
I live in Oregon. We are like Colorado, but with oceans too.
Hah! You live in Colorado!
Hey, I love Oregon for it’s Colorado-ness too! And admittedly oceans are one of the things Colorado lacks. But Oregon… that is one cooold-ass ocean! Does it really count?
North Carolina shamefully high for such an absolute shit-hole. Ditto for Tennessee. Frankly, Louisiana also much too high. Kentucky feels about appropriate. The list is much too kind to the loathsome wasteland that is the American Southeast, in general, though.