Which state in America is the most overrated/underrated?

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WhoBeDaPlaya

Diamond Member
Sep 15, 2000
7,413
401
126
You take that back! Once you get into MN, it's so much nicer then IA.
+1 Spent close to a decade in Ames, not going back anytime soon ;)
MN would have been my first choice, but semicon jobs were slim pickings at the time, hence the move down south.
 

Excelsior

Lifer
May 30, 2002
19,047
18
81
I can't believe I'm the only NC fan.

The Outerbanks area is probably the best vacation spot in the US. Plus there is Kitty Hawk and Roanoke for us history nerds.

You aren't, but I'm incredibly biased (from NC). I will say this, thousands of people agree with you and move to my home state every year. Both the RDU and CLT areas and in the top 10 fastest growing MSAs in the USA. That's saying something. Great weather, mountains to the west, nice beaches to the east, low taxes, burgeoning brewery and food scene. It's a nice place to live.
 

Excelsior

Lifer
May 30, 2002
19,047
18
81
The UP is great, the rest of MI is meh.

NC has the Outer Banks and the Blue Ridge/Smoky Mtns. If there was ever a need for plate tectonics it is to subduct the 300 miles of rednecks and trailer trash separating these two beauty spots.

Uh, the mountains are where many of the meth labs in the hollers reside. Also you'd be getting rid of the two most liberal areas of the state (minus Asheville, which is a tiny SF in the mountains).
 

sportage

Lifer
Feb 1, 2008
11,492
3,161
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iOwa is WAY WAY over rated in politics.
Its a damn outrage iOwa is first in line for the primaries.
Huckabee? Santorum? Really? The #1 choice for president? Really iOwa?

That is what you get when you allow a bunch of morons pick the winner in a primary.
Hell. This is a farming state and most farmers shovel shit all day long.
They are so isolated from the rest of the world, its a wonder that have running water and electricity, let alone have a clue when it comes to politics.
Most farmers are still pissed we bailed on Vietnam.

As for California, your opinion depends on what you've heard vs actually living there.
If you tried living in CA and found your self working 3+ jobs just to break even, and later moved away due to the stress, then naturally overrated.
But if you were lucky to live in, oh say San Diego, with one well paying job, then you had the time to enjoy San Diego. And you probably still are.

Nothing like laying on the beach in December soaking the sun while the Midwestern shovels the car out of a ten foot snowbank.
And Minneapolis could be ok if it didn't get so damn cold all Winter long.
Not just cold, but damn cold!
So cold, 5 degree high is a warm spell.
So cold, the dog can't stay outside more than 5 minutes without freezing its little paws off.
Now I know why Minnesotans love their bars and love their booze.
That's all there is, all Winter long. And Winter is damn long indeed.
 

Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,316
10,814
136
too small, it's more like a county


Live free or die. :thumbsup:

Without question Ne Hampshire has the right idea.



Edit: And IMO Connecticut is extremely over-rated and really I've never heard much in the way of positive about it!
 
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dank69

Lifer
Oct 6, 2009
36,092
30,444
136
Live free or die. :thumbsup:

Without question Ne Hampshire has the right idea.



Edit: And IMO Connecticut is extremely over-rated and really I've never heard much in the way of positive about it!

CT is the best state
The south is the worst state
 

PricklyPete

Lifer
Sep 17, 2002
14,582
162
106
I can't believe I'm the only NC fan.

The Outerbanks area is probably the best vacation spot in the US. Plus there is Kitty Hawk and Roanoke for us history nerds.


You are not. Love Asheville and the western side of the state. Outerbanks is one of my favorite beach areas in the U.S. Weather is a bit too humid for me, but that is my only complaint.

Colorado is WAY overrated...please don't move here.
 

rudeguy

Lifer
Dec 27, 2001
47,351
14
61
You are not. Love Asheville and the western side of the state. Outerbanks is one of my favorite beach areas in the U.S. Weather is a bit too humid for me, but that is my only complaint.

Colorado is WAY overrated...please don't move here.

Every person I know who has been to Asheville fell in love. Its hard to describe but you could honestly hear love in their voices when they described it.

I have more than a couple friends in CO, couple that moved here from there. From what I hear its a real shit hole and no one should ever go there. Ever. ;)
 

ViviTheMage

Lifer
Dec 12, 2002
36,189
87
91
madgenius.com
iOwa is WAY WAY over rated in politics.
Its a damn outrage iOwa is first in line for the primaries.
Huckabee? Santorum? Really? The #1 choice for president? Really iOwa?

That is what you get when you allow a bunch of morons pick the winner in a primary.
Hell. This is a farming state and most farmers shovel shit all day long.
They are so isolated from the rest of the world, its a wonder that have running water and electricity, let alone have a clue when it comes to politics.
Most farmers are still pissed we bailed on Vietnam.

As for California, your opinion depends on what you've heard vs actually living there.
If you tried living in CA and found your self working 3+ jobs just to break even, and later moved away due to the stress, then naturally overrated.
But if you were lucky to live in, oh say San Diego, with one well paying job, then you had the time to enjoy San Diego. And you probably still are.

Nothing like laying on the beach in December soaking the sun while the Midwestern shovels the car out of a ten foot snowbank.
And Minneapolis could be ok if it didn't get so damn cold all Winter long.
Not just cold, but damn cold!
So cold, 5 degree high is a warm spell.
So cold, the dog can't stay outside more than 5 minutes without freezing its little paws off.
Now I know why Minnesotans love their bars and love their booze.
That's all there is, all Winter long. And Winter is damn long indeed.

Maybe it's the Minnesotan in me, but I LOVE when it snows. Time to go snowmobiling, snowboarding, tubing, etc. Snow is awesome! Most Minnesotans have snowthrowers, 4wheelers witch blades, or a tractor to push their snow. I have a neighbor who plows my driveway for free with his lawn mower/snowthrower attachment! I in turn mow is lawn when he's gone on vacation, neighbors are nice and useful up here :biggrin:.
 

WhoBeDaPlaya

Diamond Member
Sep 15, 2000
7,413
401
126
Maybe it's the Minnesotan in me, but I LOVE when it snows. Time to go snowmobiling, snowboarding, tubing, etc. Snow is awesome! Most Minnesotans have snowthrowers, 4wheelers witch blades, or a tractor to push their snow. I have a neighbor who plows my driveway for free with his lawn mower/snowthrower attachment! I in turn mow is lawn when he's gone on vacation, neighbors are nice and useful up here :biggrin:.
F*ck the sunshine and summer. Give me witch's tit weather everyday!
 

BurnItDwn

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
26,164
1,637
126
Count me in on the Love for NC. The scenery is absolutely breathtaking, rivers, mountains, forests, natural beauty on a grand scale. Asheville is a nice city, reminds me a bit of like a Grand Rapids but with more nice shit and less ghetto areas set in the mountians.

That said, I think Michigan is underrated as well. everybody always thinks about Detroit, a burnt out husk of what once was. The entire Lake Michigan coast of Michigan is like a giant playground, beaches, dunes, lakes, forests, every kind of activity you can imagine, and, as well as being a short drive to Chicago, its a decently short boat ride to Milwaukee or Manitowoc, Wi.


As far as most overrated, I would say Texas or California, but I have never been to them, so I cant be honest and say that.

I actually liked staying in the Lexington area of Kentucky, and Loiusville doesnt seem bad either.

I dont generally think that highly of Indiana, even though Indianapolis isnt too bad of a city, and they have some decent universities and nice university towns. No, I will go ahead and say that any state that regularly sees high temperatures above 90 deg f as being overrated, since to me, those places are unfit for year round human habituation.
 

z1ggy

Lifer
May 17, 2008
10,004
63
91
This topic is 100% subjective. What I think makes California, or anywhere for that matter an overrated place to live and be, could be the exact same thing that another person thinks it's underrated for.

Plus, unless a person has traveled to mostly every state, or at least every area of the country, it's pretty hard to evaluate this.
 

PricklyPete

Lifer
Sep 17, 2002
14,582
162
106
Every person I know who has been to Asheville fell in love. Its hard to describe but you could honestly hear love in their voices when they described it.



I have more than a couple friends in CO, couple that moved here from there. From what I hear its a real shit hole and no one should ever go there. Ever. ;)


Yeah, Asheville is great. The big problem is a complete lack of jobs. I really can't see me ever leaving CO, but if my wife talks me into going back east, it would definitely be in that area.
 

gorcorps

aka Brandon
Jul 18, 2004
30,739
452
126
Colorado is just ridiculously overrated. So stop coming here. Go away. LEAVE!

I did, and frankly I don't really miss it. I miss the national parks, but I don't miss the crowds, the poor infrastructure that hasn't kept up with the population explosion, or the politics there anymore. It's crazy expensive to live there, and with the legalization of marijuana they've attracted a group of people what used to be isolated to Boulder... now they're fucking everywhere.

I'm lucky I got to live and grow up during the time when it was beautiful and not yet overcrowded, but now I'm happy to be away from what it's turned into.

Great place to visit, but I don't want to live there again
 

rudeguy

Lifer
Dec 27, 2001
47,351
14
61
I did, and frankly I don't really miss it. I miss the national parks, but I don't miss the crowds, the poor infrastructure that hasn't kept up with the population explosion, or the politics there anymore. It's crazy expensive to live there, and with the legalization of marijuana they've attracted a group of people what used to be isolated to Boulder... now they're fucking everywhere.

I'm lucky I got to live and grow up during the time when it was beautiful and not yet overcrowded, but now I'm happy to be away from what it's turned into.

Great place to visit, but I don't want to live there again

Wasn't Mork and Mindy set in Boulder?


/random memory
 

CoPhotoGuy

Senior member
Nov 16, 2014
452
0
0
I did, and frankly I don't really miss it. I miss the national parks, but I don't miss the crowds, the poor infrastructure that hasn't kept up with the population explosion, or the politics there anymore. It's crazy expensive to live there, and with the legalization of marijuana they've attracted a group of people what used to be isolated to Boulder... now they're fucking everywhere.

I'm lucky I got to live and grow up during the time when it was beautiful and not yet overcrowded, but now I'm happy to be away from what it's turned into.

Great place to visit, but I don't want to live there again

Uhhh...crowds? It's not crowded unless you're in Denver. Expensive??? Hardly think so, but coming from CA I guess maybe I'm skewed.

The marijuana thing is a bunch of BS.

But I get up in the mountains a lot where there are no people.
 

pauldun170

Diamond Member
Sep 26, 2011
9,141
5,085
136
NYC is definitely overrated. Upstate is underrated.

Upstate (7+ million) vs NYC (8+ Million) vs rest of Long Island (Nassau and Suffolk county (3 Million).

Might as well be 3 different countries.

Overrated = Any state that has water issues
Under rated = Any state where I don't need to worry about owning a gun or being tazed for not kissing a Police officers ass.
 
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SP33Demon

Lifer
Jun 22, 2001
27,928
142
106
Upstate (7+ million) vs NYC (8+ Million) vs rest of Long Island (Nassau and Suffolk county (3 Million).

Might as well be 3 different countries.

Overrated = Any state that has water issues
Under rated = Any state where I don't need to worry about owning a gun or being tazed for not kissing a Police officers ass.

Except the taxes affect all 3 areas. Fuck NY and NJ. Biggest tax shitholes in this country. But if you don't mind taxes, then have fun there. DE, some parts of VA/MD, and NC are much much much nicer.
 

Gooberlx2

Lifer
May 4, 2001
15,381
6
91
But I get up in the mountains a lot where there are no people.

Except for the drive on I-70.

He's right though that infrastructure, try as they might to expand it, is not keeping up with the population. It is getting more crowded, more expensive, and traffic (which was always bad) is getting worse. Wages for existing employed haven't been keeping up with the cost increases either. But it is mainly just the front range being affected. People aren't exactly moving to Gunnison, for example.

As for politics though, it might be a good thing. Certain financial questions, like education, have been stagnant for ages because of tabor.
 
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