Reputations of States - Some fun maps
 

As a market researcher, I'll preface this by saying that it's a panel from one of the worst businesses in our industry and so it's not really generalizable, but nonetheless it's kind of fun.

I suspect that there's a bit of a problem in that people may vote for their own states, which probably should be taken out of the data. As such, I figure that bigger states are amplified. I suspect that it wouldn't change the conclusions, though.

http://www.businessinsider.com/poll-...-states-2013-8

Shocker, New York, California, Texas, Florida are in every conversation. I did find it humorous that Texas was the state that most people wanted to kick out of America.

People think alaska has the worst food? Pretty stupid.

kansas worst scenery?

Except that nobody would like what a "Texas-less" union would feel like financially. Right now, revenues from Texas make up for a lot of slacker states. But I'm cool with not paying other states bills...so go ahead and kick us out. We keep our State Guard fighter jets...just to make sure you don't try to force us back in. :evil:

Good salmon, but I've heard that fresh fruits and veggies are a problem.

I could go for some fresh salmon. That's the ****in truth.


Also these polls prove once again how completely irrelevant Oklahoma is regarding EVERYTHING.

does kansas seriously have the worst scenery?

South Dakota was white in every single one, except for underrated where it was the lightest color possible.

http://static6.businessinsider.com/i...stion%2020.png

I wouldn't argue against that notion.

It depends on what you like. Most people equate good scenery with having coasts or mountains, and Kansas doesn't fare well in those two categories.

I've never been to North Dakota, but I wonder how it compares to Kansas. I kind of imagine them being identical. Kansas may have more sunflowers and anti-abortion billboards.

You think Kansas has good scenery? Having to drive through it to get to Colorado is worse than syphillis.

Montana and Alaska aren't in the upper category for scenery?


:facepalm:

As much as I hate Oklahoma, it does have some pretty good scenery in some areas. I went out to Pawhuska, a Native American town about an hour NW of Tulsa over labor day weekend. Nice little hidden lake out there that's really hard to get to. But it was gorgeous out there. Green, rolling hills.

Looked like Montana got a little love for the scenery portion.

I rather like the Flint hills of Kansas...probably the best scenery on the drive between DFW and KC

I suspect that a lot of states suffer because people haven't been there to see them. Montana's not a huge tourist draw. I wonder what percent of Americans have ever set foot in the state.

That's probably the way to improve this panel (aside from doing it as a real survey). You should ask people what states they've been to, and adjust the figures to account for visitation.

I bet 75 percent of Americans have been to California, and I bet 1 percent have been to North Dakota.

Any poll that has people voting that NY has hotter residents than Texas is immediately invalidated. NYers are troglodytes in comparison. NYers are freaking troglodytes compared to MISSOURI for ****s sake.

I mean western ks is horrible. But once you get to about Hays it gets better, if you get off i70. I grew up going to a family farm north of Russell and it was tons of woodlands, creeks, hills, and wildlife. I find that scenery much nicer than open dry desert of the southwest but thats personal opinion I guess. I love going back there every chance I get. I'll be there nov 9th to fold some pheasants. cant wait.

That's the thing with states. Two people can go to different parts of the same state and have fundamentally different impressions. Eastern Montana and Western Montana, for example, or Laguna Beach versus Bakersfield.

Heck, Colorado has plains in half the state that are far less visually interesting than Kansas, but then most people aren't visiting that part of the state.

If you go for that Italian look, NY has some hotties. It's not a place for blonde-watching, though.

You are right.

While providing pilot service and charters I have seen every state except Maine, Alaska, and Hawaii.

My favorites for views are in the Northwest. Unbelievably beautiful.

Arizona and Utah are pretty awesome from the air, too. East of the Rockies things are pretty meh in comparison. Nothing but the same trees, hills, and water.

Yeah, and with most of us here on CP who live in KS and MO, who have driven to the Rockies, we've all suffered that drive through the plain part of CO. I remember when we drove to Estes Park when I was a kid. We crossed into Colorado and for a long time I was saying to my mom "WHERE THE EFF ARE ALL THE MOUNTAINS?!"

The Front Range area is horrible. Just draw a line from it down to Roswell, NM and El Paso, Tx.

Nothing. If you are a prepper it would be perfect.

It's also a great place for chicks with lots of facial hair.

I have driven across Kansas and Nebraska many times and I can say this with confidence. Nebraska is the only state that I have driven across that looked better at night than it did in the daylight.

You're missing out. The view here from the sky is impressive, not so much up north but southeast is.
Plenty of openings for pilots up here, we lose a few each year. :-(

Yes, I need to fly up there some day.

If we kicked Texas out, border patrol would get far more difficult.

I-70 from KC to Colorado definitely isn't too exciting. Unless you like long, flat stretches of nothing.

As someone who has made that drive no fewer than 30 times in the past decade (and will be doing so this weekend), I can confirm that that drive is absolutely soul devouring.

Colorado is pretty much nothing as well...until you hit the Rockies (W of Denver).

That drive is just bleak. Utah, with a couple of exceptional areas in the mountains, is just as bad.

I haven't spent much time in the Salt Lake area, but southern Utah is spectacular. I think Utah is one of the most scenic states in the U.S. It's not green, so some people may not like it, but I think it's fantastic.

Heh, I remember crossing the Great Salt Flats one time when I was a kid. It was pretty cool to see when you first got there, but within 30 minutes you wanted to put a bullet into your brain. There isn't even a bend in the highway for at least 100 miles. Oh, and the speed limit was 55 back then so it took for ****ing ever to cross it.

If we kicked Texas out, Texas would just take Oklahoma and New Mexico as a buffer zone...and we'd let them.

I can't comment on Texas, but from the four(small number I know) times I have been to Missouri they don't come close to NYers. Although part of my mental image is including the entire tri-state area I guess. I was not impressed at all in the times I have been to KC. Not much of a sample size I guess.

I have heard lots of people go out of their way to complain about driving through Kansas. Reputation for desolation and tumble weed.

Exactly. And there's your problem. The majority of people are going to base their experience on highway scenery. It's hard to compete with other states where you can drive through mountains, interesting rock formations and forests, diverse farmscapes, etc....

The first half of colorado to the front range is a whole lot more barren.

Yeah, the women down here (Texas) are smoking. Especially up in Austin and Dallas.

Ever driven through Kansas on I-70 to Colorado? Flat, flat, flat. Nothing to look at once you get out of the eastern part of the state.

You've never been to NYC.

I once read a novel WHILE driving that.

Maybe it was Texas people voting they wanted to be kicked out of America. Texas is one of the best states in the entire USA.

I get your point, but I doubt 75 percent of Americans have been to California. Your average American is an untraveled person who doesn't know anything beyond their own backyard.

Texas would be great if it wasn't for Texans ;)

troglodytes ROFL

People from other states say they hate Texas but most of the people I know here came here from other places.

I lived in eastern Colorado for two years (Joes). It's nothing to see...at least in that area.

I love how Arkansas seemed to get votes for worst scenery. LMAO

Good, stay away.

http://static2.businessinsider.com/i...stion%2013.png


The people voting for Idaho in this thing either haven't been there or think it's all like the SE corner. Pretty much everything north of Boise is pretty nice. The drive from Boise to Lewiston along the Salmon River is cool.

http://cdn2.content.compendiumblog.c...n_salmon_7.jpg

You also have Hell's Canyon along the Snake River

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...lls_canyon.jpg

In the north panhandle, you also have places like Pend Oreille Lake and the Selkirk Mountains.

http://www.sangres.com/dimages/idaho...Selkirks01.gif

Also, they haven't heard of Sun Valley?

http://www.markgibsonphoto.com/images/N435W05W.JPG


Also, Nevada is pretty dark in the "Worst Scenery" poll. last April, we drove straight north from Las Vegas to Twin Falls, ID and I was very surprised at the scenery. I was expecting flat desert and it wasn't like that at all (only around Vegas). The northeast is pretty mountainous.

http://www.unce.unr.edu/counties/elk...illeCanyon.jpg

There is some truth to that. I've lived around the country (Missouri, California, Virginia, Hawaii) and I find that people have a lot of misconceptions about places they haven't been. California seems to be the most misunderstood.

I hear a lot of people - and see people here - running down California all the time, and you can tell they have never even been there. Part of it is political. There is a belief, pushed by radio and TV pundits, that it is all liberal hippies, weirdos, socialists and gays. Of course that is far from the truth. The liberals are mostly in the big cities, with 90% of the state being red as can be. It is actually a very nice place, with beautiful mountains, beaches, deserts, etc. I lived there for 6 years and loved it.

It is all about perceptions, not reality.

You lived in Joes? It must have devastated the local economy when you moved, given that you were a significant portion of the total population.

I could live on alaskan king crab. actually, I lived in alaska for a year and the food was not great. Hawaii has the best food imo.

Washington isn't shaded real dark in the "Best Food" but it's shaded darker than it should, imo. Salmon, apples and cherries are good but that's about all there is. It's tough to get decent produce here, especially on the east side.

*coughs*

* Looks stonily, clears throat, changes subject *

Thanks. I didn't notice that.

Going to the game?

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.

Probably. We used to travel cross country over summer vacation when I was a kid. Kansas is definitely one of the worst. Even the deserts of Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico are way more intriguing and have much better scenery then Kansas. Flat, no mountains, no nothing Kansas was always one of the worst drives on those trips. Wed take different routes every year but every 3rd year or so you were repeating a previous route and the drive across Kansas always sucked.

Yeah, all those people in Silicon Valley are dumb.

New York state in general or Manhattan?

If you think Manhattan women are ugly, you're doing it wrong.

:D

Come down and pick me up , I'll bring the ammo and weapons and we'll go kill some stuff.

Yeah, it sucks pretty hard. There are a handful of nice areas (particularly the area around Galena in the northwestern part of the state) but they are few and far between. Around here, the Fox River valley is about as good as it gets. Some people get off on Lake Michigan, but I don't really give a crap. I guess seeing it out the window at work for 20 years will do that for you.

I've made that ****ing drive down I-55 between Chicago and St. Louis a thousand times. It sucks, sucks, sucks.