what is the most rubbish US state?

that's where you get a place called omaha right? which sounds a bit like you're trying to say omghahahaha but choked on your own laughter.

North Dakota is beautiful.

Arizona seems pretty rubbish, but I've never been there as well.

(Except for the fact that Arkansas isn't pronounced anything like Kansas.)

personally i love NJ though

of the ones that i have been to i think i would say delaware (though i have only been through), or NC or TN, both of which had things to recommend, but both of which also have a slightly stultifying feeling in comparison to others

Is Connecticut pointless unless you're rich?

I should go to more states.

This applies to the SW part of the state in my experience, much less so to everywhere else.

"Ohio's coal-fired power plants spew more of the pollution that causes respiratory illness and premature death than plants in any other state, according to a report by an environmental group that analyzed federal records."

Congrats sgs!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/JaredHarrisPhotoGallery/Movies/Happiness/happiness.jpg

Rhode Island, however... why?

Actually, come to think of it, that's a bloody good reason to destroy the place.

CT isnt bad either, nor NH. NJ has a southern part that saves it a little, but i dont think Delaware has ANY saving graces.

Ohio is better than delaware even.

"JERSEY'S WHERE AMERICA'S AT!"

haha no sales tax!! further reinforcing my theory that the state was named after only fools and horses. (after they got sold some hooky goods by del)

Oh, and Gary is a shithole, in a sad way.

xenakis taught there, which is pretty fucking cool.

rest of Indiana: birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan and Axyl Rose

Oklahoma and Nebraska tie for the most boring places I've been.

Pennsylvania is the most rubbish state in that much of the East Coast's garbage gets transported there and buried in landfills.

You are barking mad. It's astonishing.

As someone raised in Minnesota from the age of 1 I am unnaturally compelled to mention Iowa. Also, my only interaction with Louisiana is watching my olderst brother linger in a coma in Shreveport for a month before dying so I've got a very specific personal reason for disliking that state.

I do and I have.

Some other states that stink:

Indiana - Where imagination goes to die.

Florida - Totally fucked. All the worst american qualities on display. Flat, hot and humid. The beach is nice. The weirdness is a little fascinating.

Utah - An amazingly beautiful place overrun with a scourge of self-righteous boring-ass mormons.

Connecticut - Get an identity, show some self respect.

Mississippi - Swaaaaamp

Alabama - Swaaaaamp

South Carolina - Swaaaaamp

Texas - The BBQ is the best. Has some really lovely spots. But just think about how much better the world would be right now if it didn't exist.

sedona's nice

crosspost

Don't slag on Ohio -- it's the Heart of it All.

teh Grand Canyon
original Route 66 stretches
cacti
mountains and deserts
petrified forest
monument valley (partly)
ghost towns

dude, iowa has THE WORLD'S BIGGEST TRUCKSTOP!

mormons are so not boring! they have multiple wives!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! xxxxpost

Sarah brings up a good point — states that would be high on the list if not for one city. Nevada (except for Vegas) and Louisiana (except for N.O.) seem to have no redeeming features to me.

no, it isn't.

george w. bush isn't from texas, either.

Arkansas is not landlocked...the Old Man runs down its entire eastern border. "Old man RIVVVEERRRRRRRR!!!! He don't do NOTHINNNNN...."

I would go with Connecticut or Jersey - They both have their redeeming values, but there's a lot of really crappola parts.

This is generally the viewpoint of people who live in the city but go to Ikea in Elizabeth once in a while.

I'm from NJ. I've got much more Garden State pride now that I haven't lived there for awhile. OTOH, Connecticut (where my brother lives) seems to epitomize NJ's worst qualities without the bonus mystique. No one's doing a Sopranos-like series about the CT mob. There are no movies entitled "Nutmeg State."

defend the indefensible: new jersey

But I think New Jersey is actually at least in the top half, if not the top third of states.

1) Its population has one of the highest education levels of any state in the country (if not the highest).

2) It has a wide range of attractive natural features, even if some of them tend to be overcrowded (The Delaware Water Gap)

3) It has a number of charming towns, some very old, including Princeton, Red Bank, Flemington, and Montclair.

4) It's rich with history, especially American Revolutionary history, being that it's one of the original 13 colonies.

5) The awful density and strip-mallness isn't as pervasive as you think -- go West and you'll find some nice rural counties.

6) Get an hour away from NYC and the NYC-directedness starts to thin out. Although

7) Let's face it, being close to NYC (or to Philly, on the other end) IS a big plus. When so many American states are suburbs of NOTHING, this seems like a silly thing to claim as a fault.

8) You could say this is good or bad, but New Jersey is kind of the Texas of the North, in that everyone acts like they have testicles the size of bowling balls.

As someone raised in Iowa since birth, I'd almost buy into this. Then I remember that Nebraska has only two cities and they're both on the eastern border of that state, followed by the world's most boring interstate stretch. And Mississippi, while it may have coastal shipping yards, is worst in education and swampy as hell.

I think we need to look at: boring landscape, lack of things to do (any state that gets zero touring music), and obnoxious or boring locals. It's a hard case because usually the states that are sparse in people and events have great mountains or the badlands or somesuch...

x-post, but Dan, Kansas City is technically two distinct cities! St. Louis counts as existing in two states by that judgement, because of EAST St. Louis.

For US states that actually suck, I have to refer you to the Dakotas. Take your pick. At least Oklahoma has the Flaming Lips to its credit.

and the COSMOS, THIS FREAKY PLACE WHERE YOU CAN STAND ON THE WALLS!!

I'll vouch for my home state sucking, though.

Runners up: Iowa and South Carolina.

South Carolina - YUK.

Personally, I can't stand either one of those states that has had a Governor Bush. However, at least they stand for something. In America, you're either part of what sucks about this country or you're part of what's great. Or, you're Indiana - which gets my vote in this thread.

Arkansas is not landlocked...the Old Man runs down its entire eastern border. "Old man RIVVVEERRRRRRRR!!!! He don't do NOTHINNNNN...."

BLMA is correct, though the Mississippi River doesn't run down the entire eastern border. The St. Francis River is the dividing line between Greene County and that cursed Missouri Bootheel.

"credit." even if you like them, you have to admit OK must be pretty fucked up to produce that. I mean never mind the Badlands, TR National Park, the Sioux, 3 democratic senators, about half of the US' collection of roadside weirdness, the Flaming Lips, ladies and gentleman! You might do better with Merle Haggard, Garth Brooks, some indians and Route 66.

NJ is a perfectly fine state, probably preferable to live in over most, but aside from a few minor attractions and the lovelier parts noted above, there just isn't much there.

Redeeming things about Indiana: Los Angeles

Aren't they from Akron? I was reading in the LRB about how they made the city so hip that Sounds once ran a competition where the prize was a trip there.

Ohio is definitely NOT the WORST state in the union. It's not the best, but it sure as hell isn't the worst.

Wait, hold on. I know. Florida. Duh. Should have occurred to me earlier (even if I do like Disneyworld, the Everglades, and Tampa).

Socially, not geographically. Iowans are pretty quirky and are our mongrels -- which makes me wonder which state has the American equivalent of Kiwi sheepfux0rs.

All three of these places have beautiful areas. "Rubbish" is a mixture of culture and beauty. Iowa and Oklahoma have neither.

oklahoma is OK.

On the other hand, it all sounds kind of fun to me in a weird way.

what the fuck does Delaware have besides no sales tax. bullshit. no excuse. delaware blows.

Iowa's hills are more famous than Oklahoma's, though OK does have some mountains.

Springs/The Floridan Aquifer/underwater caves
Paynes Prairie (weird stretch of swamp that appears out of nowhere south of Gainesville)
White quartz sands on the Panhandle beaches (particularly in the less developed stretch of US Highway 98 between Tyndall Air Force Base and Carrabelle)
A crudely shaped state capitol building (yes, it's obscene and ugly but still funny)
The quirkier roadside attractions like Weeki Wachee
U.F.O. houses near Gulf Breeze
The trees make it pretty damn easy to find shade!
Plenty of seafood and citrus
Speaking of citrus, orange juice is cheaper here than most anywhere else
Torreya State Park (unique flora and fauna and there's actual bluffs over the Apalachicola River)
Tallahassee (I complain about it a lot but I'd rather be here than anywhere else in Florida. Few tourists come here -- although there's few attractions in consequence -- it's the least conservative part of the state not that it says much, there's some gorgeous canopy roads, it's at a convergence of deciduous, coniferous, and tropical plant life and built in a forest, torrential downpours are frequent, the coast is close by, there's an excellent park system -- recently rated the best in the nation, actually -- and a whole fuckload of walking/hiking/bike/horse trails leading around and in and out of the city, and it's not flat here at all!)
parts of Tampa are really nice from what I'm told (I've only been through the city once)

Basically -- things that won't keep you incessantly entertained, and not enough to keep Florida from being rubbish. This state would probably be a lot more defensible/enjoyable if it were more cultured, as most anyone could point out.

suburbs, beaches, history, Democrats, wealth. it's a little facile to pick on a tiny state.

I was born in Akron! That's where most of my OH family is.

He may not have been born in texas, but it has been integral to his rise to power. The whole Texas attitude pretty much sucks: football, god, bigness, etc. And yes, I do know it's not all like that. But, have you seen the thin blue line?

As stated before, texas bbq is one of the premiere cuisines on earth. It also has some really lovely, weird places. I'm just a little angry with texas right now.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Give me desert over a generic midwestern city any day, even if there's a couple decent bands that play once a month in said city. Besides, Oklahoma and Iowa do have very nice areas; they just may not necessarily be be along I-80.

OTM, for the most part. I know its probably not positive to talk about that sort of thing now, as we should be wrapped up in the tragedy, but to give Louisiana a pass now because of what's occurred, and not, say, Alabama or Mississippi (who had much of their touristy areas get wiped out, along with several hundred people), is kinda lame. I did have some good food at a french restaurant in St. Charles once, there were some fun casinos, et al, but overall, it was nowhere near my favorite place in the union. Definitely in the bottom five, without question.

The variety of Texas alone should keep it out of the cellar. Hell, that should propell it to at least the middle of the field.

Besides, what the hell is wrong with football?

and arkansas is classic for being my current home.

texas and florida share my vote for rubbish states.

Nope. My family moved to Minnesota when I was one. Two of my cousins do/did very well in women's high school basketball there, however (one of them is playing for Central Michigan now).

you're pretty much describing every part of america outside of major metropolitan areas in every state everywhere. this thread is silly.

I was gonna say!!!

Yeah. They invented "booty music", which everybody loathes.

As for the other 49 states, I've pretty much found something that made them each worthwhile. The votes for North Dakota, Nebraska, and the rest of the south are just knee-jerk votes, I've enjoyed traveling though them quite a bit and would go back.

Bah, Oklahoma is just bragging incorrectly about their second-hand blizzards from the Dakotas.

[img=Breathtaking Photograph of Degraded State's Scenery]
[insert ironic use of the word "Rubbish" here]

you're pretty much describing every part of america outside of major metropolitan areas in every state everywhere. this thread is silly.

guess you didn't learn about rural utopianism at your school.

learn? school? if you'll check upthread, i'm from mississippi! ha.

When a 13-year-old can point out the glaring flaws in your talking points, it is time to revamp.

Before we go blaming the Bush years on Texas...

Upon review of this list, Florida. It pretty much sucks. Except for the fact that you can see the sun rise and set over major bodies of water there. That's pretty cool.

plus we have a cheap 24-hour mexican restaurant on every corner!!

Arizona is gorgeous. Urban Arizona is fine. I'd rank it in my top 10. No state in the southwest is anywhere near the worst.

Also see Michigan.

Kansas sucks cause it's the last of the boring midwestern states as I pass through on the way west and it keeps going and going. Wouldn't be that bad if it the width and length were reversed.
The people in Nebraska--- in addition to making pit stops there and having a friendly chat with a State Trooper at 1AM, I worked for awhile at a places who's HQ was in Omaha, so all these Nebraskans would come to our office regularly--- are even more plain and more boring than the landscape.

florida can suck a bag of gator dick.

I had a wonderful cup of coffee and a slice of apple pie at an anarchist bookstore in Omaha. Years ago, I spent a week digging up fossils out near Crawford. Cool town and cool people. Nebraska-haters can drop dead.

Indiana - Where imagination goes to die.

Florida - Totally fucked. All the worst american qualities on display. Flat, hot and humid. The beach is nice. The weirdness is a little fascinating.

Utah - An amazingly beautiful place overrun with a scourge of self-righteous boring-ass mormons.

Connecticut - Get an identity, show some self respect.

Mississippi - Swaaaaamp

Alabama - Swaaaaamp

South Carolina - Swaaaaamp

Texas - The BBQ is the best. Has some really lovely spots. But just think about how much better the world would be right now if it didn't exist.

-- jhoshea (jo...), September 19th, 2005.

dude, i live in South Carolina, there's way more to it than swamp: there's mountains, forests, beaches, Baptists, Wal-Marts, and Hooters.

If we could wall off anyone who votes for Tom De Lay and Dick Armey into this hypothetical area, I'd be all for glassing the fucker.

Oh man, the red clay. Near where I grew up, the railroad was cut through a red clay hill near the road instead of building over the hill. There were 60-foot sheer red clay cliffs. We'd go down to the tracks and pull up spikes to use as digging tools, and dig footholds and little perches in the cliffside. We ruined so many clothes...

The "states that offend our sensibilities" (such as Texas or Florida, in different ways) can't be the most rubbish, either. At least they make an imprint on your consciousness, obnoxious though it be.

No, for me what's rubbish is states that lack any kind of atmosphere, mystique, or otherwise distinctive identity - positive or negative. Places about which nothing in particular, or nothing much, can be said (this will only work up to a certain point, since even the consensus front-runners will have articulate defenders). Anyhow, for me the number one in this sense HAS to be Delaware. Yes, one can list certain noteworthy attributes, but altogether it adds up to: eh.

You could say the same about driving through the urban areas of just about any major metropolitan area in the United States. Or any suburb.

http://www.ecoland.ro/Webshots/Peisaje/Autumn%20Colors,%20White%20Mountains,%20New%20Hampshire.html

Physically, its a beautiful state, especially in autumn. Its relaxing and quiet, which I much prefer to loud and busy. Its also clean as hell and there's great local agricultural products there. Plus, cigarettes are cheap.

Think of it this way: I can easily picture a film director saying to his producer: "I need to shoot this in Nebraska or some place like that" [or substitute Kansas, Oklahoma, etc]. "That's the atmosphere I'm looking for."

But can you see a director saying, "I need to shoot this in Delaware or some place like that....that's the atmosphere I'm looking for"? What would he even mean by that?

nondescript, barren, exurban...

Exactly. Just think about how most movies located in a particular New England town can be shot (or are shot) in virtually any other town in the 6 states that make up the region. The midwest is no different.

(and there's plenty to do in the midwest for fun. you just can't expect that fun to come from foriegn films, raw food bars, or dive rock clubs with bands that want to badly be Bardo Pond sometimes.)

So why does Rhode Island need to exist? There's already Cape Cod and Connecticut. Or how about Vermont when there's New Hampshire? Oregon when there's Washington and Northern California? West Virginia when there's Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Ohio?

Oh yeah.

B-b-b-but Texas is God's Great Paradise! ;)

Anything you want, you've got it in Texas. You want to fulfill your little childhood fantasies of being a cowpoke? Git along, city slicker, because we've still got wide-open spaces. You want to shop shop shop to your heart's content at very chichi boutiques? In every one of our cities there's at least one exclusive shopping center. You want beaches? Welcome to the Gulf of Mexico. You want desert? Drive on out toward West Texas. You want lush, rolling hills and seas of green? Hello, Hill Country calling! You want a guaranteed snow-filled winter wonderland? Come on down and meet the Panhandle!

Every one of our cities has its own unique flavor. Dallas is the home of old money and genteel Southern manners. Houston is a megametropolis, the fourth most populous city in the U.S.. El Paso is an oasis in the desert. Austin is hip and happening and full of youthful energy. San Antonio is my home and I can't express to you how much it means to me. Laredo is a little slice of Mexico right here in TX. Neither one of our cities is like the other -- I found the Dallas atmosphere completely different from S.A.'s, for example. Yet, we are all Texan to the core.

I love Texas. Texas courses through my veins as surely as its air fills up my lungs. Even if I were to move away, I would always keep a bit of Texas inside of me. As the rather tired but true saying goes, you can take the Texan out of Texas but you can't take the Texas out of the Texan. We are all raised under that big Texas sky and as a result have big hearts, think big, have big personalities, and live big.

Happy Texas Independence Day.

-- Many Coloured Halo (deethe_downspamdown_lurke...) (webmail), March 2nd, 2004 5:48 PM.

Ind. School Converted to Swingers Club
Sep 19 5:17 PM US/Eastern

MUNCIE, Ind.

Residents of a southwest Muncie neighborhood thought the 110-year-old former school with purple doors had been vacant these past 14 months. So neighbors were surprised to find out the building _ which was last used as a bingo hall _ is home to one of Indiana's seven swingers clubs.

"I thought it was empty, to tell you the truth," Mary Neal, who rents a house across from the club, told The Star Press. "That shocks me. I'm just floored. There are a lot of kids that walk around here."

Swinging involves having social and sexual intercourse with someone other than a spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend. It primarily involves couples.

Local religious leaders are vowing to shut down the 7,3000-square-foot Klub Layden, saying it could bring crime into the community. And neighbors and city officials are debating whether the residential area is the proper location for a private club.

Marta Moody, director of the city-county plan commission, said Klub Layden could violate zoning rules for adult entertainment, but officials aren't sure whether the facility is operating as an adult business or a private club.

City laws require adult businesses to be at least 500 feet from residential areas.

A woman who identified herself as a manager, but refused to give her name, told The Associated Press that the club and its members were discreet and had received no complaints from neighbors.

The club is open two days a week and has pool tables, a dance floor, a six-person hot tub, a multiple-person shower and "sensually designed theme rooms," according to its Web site.

Klub Layden is open Friday and Saturday nights, and advises its members to bring their own alcohol and contraception. The club provides sheets, bathrobes and locker rooms.

An annual membership costs $25 for couples and single men and $20 for single women.

Members must agree to not identify others or their experiences at the club, without permissio

Missouri isn't so bad; Kansas City has some cool areas, and the main college town (Columbia) can be fun in a college-town way. The Ozarks have lots of caves that are lit up with kitschy multicolored lights. St. Louis is a bit too soccer mom. Branson is wretched, but at least it's got Yakov Smirnoff: http://www.yakov.com/

There's a certain North Carolina accent - I want to say maybe it's Western but not the most hick version of Western - kind of like a slightly trashier Virgina accent, that I find to be one of the most attractive things ever in a woman. I think I would pay a woman with such an accent just to speak to me, maybe read to me or something, for an hour every day. Actually I'm specifically thinking of this writer who I think was named Lee Smith who I heard on NPR, so maybe I should just make her an offer.

http://www.leesmith.com/images/earlee.jpg

illinois
wisconsin
michigan
california
tennessee
kentucky
virginia
colorado
washington
massachusettes
new york
hawaii
montana
idaho
new mexico
minnesota
georgia
north carolina
maine
D.C.

if you accept somehow that boise is pronounced like "boys" then you'd get

BOYS, I DA HO!!!! yo!

indeed.

NJ defended.

-- Jeff-PTTL (poopoopo...), September 20th, 2005.

The Eastern NC accent is the one that sounds a little Gump-ish, no?

Oh, and there's red clay soil in Alabama and north Florida, too! Mars with kudzu's a pretty damn accurate description.

the one dud thing about NJ: NJ employers thinking that they can get away w/ paying less than employers in either NYC or philadelphia. which is why there are so many NJers working in both cities if they can do so.