I am going to be ranking the 50 States - Page 8

Plus both have bigfoot!

Not so much if you're Devin.

eh, I think producing the famous person, and being part of their rise to fame, is acceptable.

After all, how many movie stars are actually FROM California? You go where the industry is.

I just read this whole thread, so forgive me if my brain is malfunctioning, but how on Earth are you doing the math on the Bon Jovi thing? David Lee Roth yes, John Mellencamp yes, Axl Rose and Izzy, yes. Janet from Three's Company, yes.

Sydney Pollack, James Dean. Abraham Benrubi.

Socially and politically, I can't make a case for Indiana. It's a Republican stronghold if there ever was one. Some physical beauty, but mostly a flat wasteland.

We were the home of the Mike Tyson incarceration. Super.

I have been fortunate enough to not have to do more than drive through Indiana....the north is a vast wasteland. Northwest to Southeast is much the same, until it starts bleeding into the rolling hills of Kentucky waaaaaay down in the southeast corner, which was beautiful.

You have to go off the beaten path to find the real beauty in the middle of the state, it's all about rivers and lakes, and a few places of actual untouched green lands. But I suppose that's no different than any other state.

Stay the fuck away from Terre Haute. It's an armpit.

Bloomington, where I.U. is located, and the surrounding area is quite lovely.

Being from Jersey, there's a certain amount of pride I take in that fact. Although I can't really articulate why beyond my home town's (Jersey City) tough guy rep. The Pine Barrens might pick it up a bit, but I've never been there, sorry to say. Our beaches are also quite nice; you can see dolphins jump from your outdoor restaurant table in Cape May, for instance. Bottom half, for sure, but maybe in the high 30's.

Alaska should be in the top 10. Calving glaciers, bears, moose, orcas, and where else can you see rain forests and glaciers/tundra in the same state? Anchorage is also one of the coolest cities I've ever visited.

Arizona's got the Grand Canyon. Easily in the top 15. South Carolina, for all its faults, also has Charleston. Hot as balls in the summer, but a nice city to visit. Ignorant rednecks and a shitty economy do drag it down, though. Top half, maybe? I mean, it's GOTTA be better than West Virginia, North Carolina or Kentucky, or Iowa or some such dull midwestern red state.

And anyone who says Hawaii doesn't belong in the top 10 has probably never been there. I was on 3 islands (Oahu, but only for a day, maui and Kauai), and can't wait to see the rest. I hear tell you can hike thru an extinct lava tunnel at night to watch the erupting volcanos. As a hiking enthusiast, that's gotta be one of the most unique hiking experiences possible, and next time I'm there, I'm definitely doing that. That's GOTTA put it well into the top 10.

Sorry for the late response.


We're not talking about 50 years ago Devin. We're talking about today and the fact is that those groups, over time, assimilated into a white dominated society far easier than people of color (especially African Americans) have. The Italians replaced the Irish. Eastern Europeans and Jews replaced the Italians. The migration of blacks from the South post-World War I replaced them in the urban centers. Restrictive policies in lending, education, etc contributed to contain minorities and limit them from the suburban boom that sprang up post World War II.

Black owned small businesses in black communities still have fewer loans available to them than white counterparts. The census data of New York from 2000 shows that racial and economic segregation is alive and well. The residential options for even Middle Class African Americans have been shown to be limited in relation to their white counterparts.


Segregation was and is a factor in every major American city. Walter Thabit wrote a great book about the ghettofication, of East New York City and how working, middle class immigrants (Italians, Irish, etc) were rapidly replaced by African Americans from the South and Puerto Ricans/Hispanic immigrants and oppressed with racially biased policies used to "contain" minorities.

Yes, but once out state School Board tried to serve nutria in schools.

Think about that for a second. They wanted to serve our children giant swamp rat for lunch. We deserve to be in the lower 35 at least for that one.

Also, alligators are everywhere. And we killed Jim Croce. Although your mileage may very on that last one.

I nominate Pennsylvania (the Western side, not scrubby Philadelphia a.k.a West Jersey) and Almost Heaven... West Virginia.

Ohio needs to be in the bottom 50, but not in the bottom 25. I lived there for almost twelve years (combined) and it's a combination of suburban sprawl, "gated" communities that go on for miles and people the South kicked out. Cleveland, Canton, and Youngstown recently made the list of fastest declining cities. Cleveland in particular is a fun city to visit every so often -- especially if you incorporate Cedar Point* into that trip -- but the Great Lakes Science Center (which I don't even know if that's in operation anymore) and the Rock Hall are the kind of things you visit once. The arts district, with Playhouse Square and the Cleveland Symphony, is slightly better -- Cleveland has a rep of being the second-best place for theatre after New York -- but it's still crime ridden and corrupt.

Akron, if you've never been there, it doesn't entirely suck but it's depressing. The best I can say for it is that the public transportation system's all right and the library's sweet.

But it's at the point -- and I subscribe most of this to nostalgia -- where I can't entirely hate it, because there are some good things about it, particularly its colleges (Oberlin, Denison, Ohio State, even smaller ones like BGSU and Dayton), and even though it's hot as fuck during the summer and cold as balls during the winter (yay lake effect snow), it can be really beautiful.

But, on the other hand, it has to be the only state in the union where a major river caught on fire. Also, the Browns and the 2004 election.

*America's roller coast!

I would argue that based on the multiple cases of massive historical importance on a number of levels and continuing cultural relevance, Massachusetts is a top 5 state.

I live in downtown Cleveland and it's not so bad. Certainly better than when I lived in DC. As far as I've seen, the crime happens in the East Side suburbs of Cleveland, but not actually in the city. There's less to do in Cleveland than DC, but the people here are infinitely nicer and the culture of a small town applies here.

I couldn't stand the no nonsense hyper speed self righteous bullshit of DC and living in Cleveland has been a great remedy for forgetting that shit.

Unless I missed something, EVERY state makes the bottom 50.

North Carolina is alright. I'd put it in the top 30 somewhere. There's some decent tourist attractions (Biltmore Estate, Grandfather Mountain), decent weather save for hurricane season, and decent people (save for the fucktards on Fort Bragg). Overall, I could be living in a worse place, but nothing about NC screams "spectacular" to me in any way. We're just...here.

But that grand stretch a few months back when Barack, Hillary, Chelsea, and Bill all rolled through here was pretty fucking awesome.

Eight pages?

Or the top 50. It's all in the marketing.

I'm more of a pessimist.

I know, eight pages and still no one's stepped up to stump for Wyoming.

Well, it looked stunning in Brokeback Mountain but I wouldn't want to be gay there.

Calgary and environs thanks you very much!

I have to agree with Jakespeare a few pages back about North Dakota. It belongs in the 35-40 range. I spent most of my first 25 years in North Dakota and it's a hole with very little to redeem it. But it's a hole in kind of a loser way.

There's an old joke.

Person 1: "If there were a contest for the biggest schmuck in the universe, you'd win second place."
Person 2: "Why second place?"
Person 1: "Because you're a schmuck."

That's how I feel about North Dakota.

Dude, Indiana has a State Ditch. How fucked up is that? With a highway sign noting that you are coming up on the Indiana State Ditch.

I'd like to nominate Missouri for anything in the 36-39 range. We got the Ozarks. We got KC and St Louis. I figure that puts us up out of the bottom ten or so.

I need me some of that Wisconsin frozen custard.

Missouri stacks the deck by dumping the worst parts of St. Louis and Kansas City in Illinois and Kansas, respectively.

Isn't Wyoming Italian for 'no state here'?

The highest point in Rhode Island is on a landfill.

We gots skills.

Hey, I'm not going to mark a state down for being smart.

I AM willing to mark a state down for being "Missouri" however.

I love Pittsburgh, the rest of Pennsylvania can fuck off. Am I doing this right?

I flew over Missouri once, and looked down for a couple of minutes. That's as close as I ever want to get to it. Holy shit, I've never seen a landscape that ugly in my life. It's Marlon Brando's taint over there.

Because, outside of Jackson, Wyoming fucking sucks. It exists only to tack on six seemingly-endless hours to my drive to Colorado.

Survivalists need somewhere to call home, too.

But there's nothing there to survive on in Wyoming! Survivalists can use Utah or Michigan or something instead.

Coyotes.

Also, who doesn't love the nightlife of downtown Casper?

That's it, asshole. Just for that crack, we're gonna sell Budweiser back to the damn Germans.

And we may send the Blues your way, too.

What makes you think the Germans want it back? No culture with taste buds wants Budweiser.

touche

eta: I believe a German corporation is the one that actually bought it recently. It was a big fat hairy deal in St Louis back when I was up there for a convention in August.

InBev is not German....Dutch, I think. Maybe Danish, somewhere in the Low Countries.

Budweiser doesn't come from Germany it comes from Bohemia which years ago was part of the Austrian Empire but now sits in the Czech Republic. Real Budweiser can be found in America under the name Czechvar.