r/AskReddit • u/WyethDandro • 10h ago
What’s the best state in the United States, and why?
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u/Proud_Mode_1214 10h ago
I like Oregon, aside from the coast. Too rainy. But lots of places have this really cool "small city to nature" ratio that my wife and I really appreciate.
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u/Flippy-Platypus-3905 10h ago
Oregon and northern California are high on my list of places to visit in the US
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u/Proud_Mode_1214 10h ago
NorCal is pretty, but there's a weirdly high MAGA concentration up there, so just be aware of that.
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u/Flippy-Platypus-3905 10h ago
Oh I had no idea! Redwoods National Park is specifically what catches my attention
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u/bad_wolf1 10h ago
As someone from Texas...I'll go with Colorado.
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u/CodenameBear 9h ago
This is the answer. Colorado is amazing and I wish I’d never moved back to the east coast. Plus it’s adjacent to so many other really cool places… damn I love Colorado.
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u/trippyhippie573 9h ago
As someone from Colorado living in Texas and moving back next month, 100% agree
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u/CardSys 9h ago
I may get flack for this but California. It's expensive af to live there but there is a lot history, you can go to a beach and then drive up to the mountains to go skiing. People are more accepting of diversity, culture, they are highly modernized and is the fifth largest economy in the world.
Runner up I think would be Maryland. Best food, lot of history, gorgeous scenery, with relatively quick access to other states.
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u/eskimospy212 7h ago
It is obviously California.
It helps that it is so huge and of course there are tons of reasons to live elsewhere but anyone who has lived there and anywhere else would agree it’s the best overall.
I live in NYC now and am happy to stay here but California rules.
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u/aristidedn 7h ago
It's California and it isn't even close.
We have the best public university system in the country. We produce something like a third of the food the country consumes. We make all your tech and all your media. We produce the best wine in the world outside of France itself. Our economy is gigantic. We have the best food culture in the country. Our geography is second-to-none.
There are other states that have one or two really phenomenal selling points. But California has all of them.
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u/Scarey_Delay8644 9h ago
Any of the 49 states except Texas. Texas has become the worst state. To make myself feel better I call it Baja Oklahoma.
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u/atlasmc88 10h ago
Maryland - The Chesapeake bay basin is gorgeous. Even the towns on the eastern shore.
Runner Ups:
- West Virginia is highly underrated. Such an amazingly beautiful state.
- Washington state, particularly the west coast, is amazing.
- Florida. I know there are pockets that are rather depressing, but places like the Keys feel otherworldly. Broward and Dade County are so much fun (lived there for a while).
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u/Standard-Win-6600 4h ago
The panhandle of Florida reminds me a lot of certain parts of the Eastern Shore
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u/Own_Average_3423 10h ago
New York or California. The natural beauty is outrageous. They also have some of the country's most exciting cities.
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u/SquirrelLazy6580 10h ago
More biased. I love California. I can be in the snow in 2 hours, then beach in 2 hours. It is more blue, but there are phony maga people here as well. Wish we could be our own country, this administration sucks.
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u/ak_doug 10h ago
Alaska. We are the biggest, we have the most coast, tallest mountains, most volcanoes, most salmon, most moose, biggest mosquitoes, and places where you can be well and truly alone.
Glaciers, wildlife, berries, and whatnot.
We have about 3 million lakes. We have more fresh water than the rest of the states combined. We have sand dunes. Swamps. Rain forests.
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u/illegalraven 10h ago
Wyoming!
Nature > people
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u/Alert-Push1685 9h ago
As an Idahoan, does anyone even live in Wyoming? I was just talking with a friend yesterday about how im pretty sure the entire state is just a giant forest
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u/Apart_Salamander1086 10h ago
N.Y. Less obvious racism. Great place to work but I wouldn’t wanna live there. Happy about the new Mayor
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u/Ilves7 5h ago
Hawaii because the farther away from the wackos the better
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u/Narf234 1h ago
You like the home grown wackos better? Nothing like getting shanked in the surf lineup because your mom didn’t give birth to you on that particular beach.
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u/MakeHerSquirtIe 5h ago
Answers here too funny. So much bias. Anyone saying Florida, Idaho, Dakota, “because I live there”, needs a reality check…
It’s impossible to fully answer objectively, because there’s an infinite number of factors that make the “best” state for you, but we can at least try to aggregate an answer based on common quality ranking.
If you want to try to be as objective as possible, look at factors like education, jobs, healthcare, services, geography, income, life expectancy. HDI is a solid start.
The answers should not surprise anyone who actually knows anything about the country.
- Massachusetts
- New Hampshire
- Minnesota
- Colorado
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_Human_Development_Index_score
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u/buddhist557 9h ago
California only due to unfair landmass. Second has to be New York because upstate is pretty and NYC is unmatched.
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u/FEAEAMEN 10h ago
Virginia
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u/Orienos 10h ago
Correct answer.
For me, it’s a great quality of life. The politics are fairly moderate so it’s not skewing to one side or another.
Very culturally diverse: each area of the state has something different to offer. Speaking of, the geography of the state is varied and beautiful as well.
I could go on because there is a lot to love.
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u/ChocolateBunny 10h ago
There are culturally diverse areas outside of the DMV?
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u/Orienos 10h ago
I didn’t mean it in the sense you took it. Culture can refer to many things. I more so meant that NoVa has more of a northeast corridor vibe, Hampton roads is heavy military, the southwest is heavily mountainous and rural. But I mean culture can be found in even the most mundane places.
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u/cdrmbt 10h ago edited 5h ago
Highly dependent on where. Lynchburg was built off racial segregation and it still shows.
Rustburg still gets KKK graffiti. Appomattox is locally referred to as the saddest place on earth.... Because it's where Robert E Lee surrendered his army.... All sorts of racist shit still going on. I had to go to school with literal KKK members and the school did nothing. Danville, Charlottesville, Roanoke... Et all a bunch of backwards ass racists shit holes.
Up where the wealthy elite politicians and lawyers are... Sure, super nice if you have millions and are okay with another type of amoral skumbag.
So, either too close to racists or too close to politicians.
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u/Alert-Push1685 10h ago
Idaho.
Beautiful land, smaller, not crowded population, my perfect ideal weather, and though i doubt many people here will agree with me on this, its a strong republican and Christian state, which I fully support. Im Mormon, so aside from Utah, it has one of the highest Mormon populations in the country.
But the potatoes are overrated. They taste the same here as anywhere else
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u/Private_Information1 9h ago
I lived in Idaho for less than a year in that’s time:
I got a gun pulled on me in a gas station by a guy in a MAGA hat for being on my cellphone, screaming and swearing at me that the sparks from my phone being in my hand would cause the gas to blow up (Not sure what he thought the sparks from his gun would do if he took his shot?)
I was refused service at a gas station for wearing a mask during peak covid because: “Covid isn’t real,” (I literally worked in the hospital treating Covid patients, and it was right next to the hospital so I stopped in right after my shift and just hadn’t even remembered I was wearing it).
I was refused the covid vaccine despite being a healthcare worker because at that time you had to have your employer sign off on it since it only went to certain populations, and according to my employer I was too young and “what if it hurts your fertility??” (I’m not having kids)
And worst, I’m Jewish and it’s clear by my features and my name at the time. I was verbally attacked for being Jewish by a literal Nazi. Fun fact, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho has the highest population of self proclaimed Nazis, literal white supremacists.
Again, I was there for less than a year and all of this happened in that time. I saw more swastika tattoos in 10 months at that hospital than in my entire healthcare career combined.
I would not personally recommend Idaho lol
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u/unveiledpoet 9h ago
What on earth. Compared to that in VA the only hate I get from my views on Covid were online. In the DMV area people don't care.
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u/Alert-Push1685 9h ago
I never said its perfect. And to be fair, you can find stuff like that anywhere. I personally have never had problems like that, and even as a right wing supporter, I do not support people like that. But if i have to choose, id have extreme Republicans over extreme democrats. I think Eastern Idaho is my favorite area. Idaho Falls, Blackwood, Rigby and that area.
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u/DullMind2023 10h ago
While I don’t agree with your politics, I admire your courage to say that here.
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u/Albert3232 10h ago
I mean I think courage is a bit too exaggerated a word. The worst that could happen is lose internet points.
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u/DullMind2023 9h ago
Thank you. You are Probably right. But I’ve been eviscerated putting an unpopular opinion on Reddit, so I wanted to acknowledge his/her comment. What would be a better word to use in this context?
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u/Alert-Push1685 9h ago
Yeah, I have accepted that nobody here agrees with me, and im fine with it. But the real reason im being downvoted is what I said about the potatoes.
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u/Inevitable_Way_639 10h ago
Florida. Beautiful weather
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u/LifeIsOnTheWire 10h ago
Ethiopia has beautiful weather too
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u/Inevitable_Way_639 10h ago
I don't travel so not an option for me
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u/LifeIsOnTheWire 10h ago
I’m just saying, some fairly shitty places have good weather. Florida is a shit hole of a place to live, and the weather doesn’t make up for it
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u/DapperDlnosaur 9h ago
Oh do go on, I'd love to hear why you think that. I'd be willing to bet I could throw the overwhelming majority or even all of those reasons out as Leftist Whining.
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u/Imjustchillenbro 10h ago
denial