It was kind of buried in there. There are plenty of selection biases inherent in a study like this though. Fun to look at but you're correct, probably not much use scientifically.

Anyone who has driven the interstates in Iowa would think that its all farms and has absolutely no people in it. I-80 passes through the edge of Davenport and Iowa City while only going through Des Moines. Its no wonder its up there for worst scenery.

Iowa has some of the best beef and pork in the country and it is among the worst for food? Never been to the Amana Colonies obviously.

I'm surprised with the Black Hills, Crazy Horse and Rushmore that more didn't site SD as a good vacation spot. Maybe they heard about the Corn Palace.

Amazing how none of the smartest states are actually listed except Massachusetts and Connecticut. Colorado and Texas are in the middle while California is towards the bottom. Texas is listed among the smartest and dumbest.

Speaking of states not living up to what you expect, I was very surprised when we went through New Jersey a few years ago. I guess there is actually a reason it's called the Garden State.

The reputations (often based in some truth) of a State's largest cities (or lack of large cities) is often the culprit of the misconceptions and biases.

I wish, but no. Just meeting some friends in the thriving metropolis that is Hays, KS for a quick weekend catch-up trip.

I've only been there once, but it was indeed nice. I was envisioning driving past a bunch of belching smokestacks and massive piles of used syringes, but it seemed quite pleasant.

LMAO Illinois is so ****ing bland it barely registers on any of those.

Gotta look hard for scenery, very socially conservative outside Chicago-land... BORE.RING.

I was a total idiot for not staying in Tennessee.

The methodology is unbelievably flawed. A tourist who only visits the boonies of New York is going to view New York much more unfavorably than someone who visited Des Moines Iowa. And I have no idea how they chose their sample. Is it representative of the population of the US? I'm guessing that a huge chunk of participants live in a large Metro or NY, CA, or Texas.

You do have Taco Time so that's a huge up.

Oh there's no doubt that it's flawed. That was part of the humor of it all. But still fun to see people's biases come out, regardless of the poor sampling, questions, etc.

The challenge is that states are big and diverse, so any characterization of any state is going to reflect a narrow view. I think there's some value in this type of thing because it represents the brand image of the state as a whole.

This and all of this. Idaho is gorgeous with some of the most amazing rivers in the United States. I've rafted stretches of the Snake River. That river is simply amazing. Not to mention that big ass lake...lake Coeur d'alene. Simply stunning country. Although Western Montana does beat it out. :D

I'd definitely live in cour d'alene.

I like the area around CDA but the city itself kind of sucks. It's situated kind of in a hole and the city has outgrown its roads. It's one massive gridlock.

Beautiful area though.

Costa Vida and Thai Bamboo are the only things that makes eating in Spokane bearable.