What is the most all-around depressing US state to live in?

I'm shocked no one says Massachusetts. I lived their 25 years ago. Provincial. Horrible Climate. NYC's little brother. The puritan ethic just pollutes the culture--Claiming to be progressive, but the home of some of the most virulent racists I've ever met-and I've also spent considerable time in Kentucky. The south Boston busing riots of the 1970s were as bad anything that went on in the south. At least in Mississippi, one expects it.

Oh, worst drivers and roads in north America. Traffic reports at 1:00 AM? An hour to get from Framingham to downtown--what is it--15 miles or so? And this was on a toll road.

Ma$sholes messed up a long time ago planning their city. Today it's rotten

I think South Connecticut kinda blows hard. Attitude of the people is the worst, and I'm not sure what it is exactly. Very Darwinian. NYC has that, but it also has a strong social side and rich culture as you go from neighborhood to neighborhood, nothing like that in CT. Tons of rich people who commute into the city and live in $3 mil houses... I guess the coastline is decent though. But there's like no soul to that area.

Wendell Gee wrote:

Agreed, Iowa is nowhere near as bad as some of the surrounding states. .

This is the nicest thing I've ever heard about Iowa

Sounds like that muck is feeling real nice...

Major Amen wrote:

Delaware. Every time I go through there I ask myself "Why the f+++ is this place even here?" Not much to see and not much to do. Owned by DuPont. The highway system is weird. Just dull. The kind of place you'd commit suicide in on a Saturday night just to have something to do.

White Clay, Middle Run, Lums Pond, Brandywine, Alapocas.

There are so many great places (large trail systems) to run in Delaware

Jimmy Buffet wrote:

feldman wrote:

I visited Mobile Alabama a few years back. After taking a trip to the mall to kill some time we got back to the hotel. The person at the front desk casually asked where we'd gone. We mentioned the mall we visited, her response was "that's surprising, that's the black mall", we were obviously white.

It would be pretty goddamn depressing living in a state that's still stuck in 1955.

It would be pretty depressing being a person with a superiority complex who visits one of the more interesting and historically significant cities in the South, only to go to a mall "to kill some time".

I think you missed the point of my post. I got all the history I needed by just visiting a mall.

But you're right! I really should have seen the historical locations of where the people fought valiantly to make sure all those people in the mall could still be property.

So tell you what, next time I visit your fine state let's meetup at one of your new internet cafes to discuss all the qualities of the fine state of Alabama.

Roll Tide.

Alabama is not the only place in the country with defacto segregated shopping malls. In fact, I'd say it's the norm, rather than the exception.Chicago, New York, Boston, Denver, LA, San Francisco, all have "black neighborhoods" and "white neigborhoods." In Denver, where I live, you won't see many black people in Cherry Creek or Park Meadows, but you will see many in the Aurora Mall. And this is a state and city with pretty good race relations, historically--though a relatively small black population.Some might say the in your face racism that is often spoken about in the south is preferable to the buttoned up racism that is everywhere else.

feldman wrote:

Jimmy Buffet wrote:

It would be pretty depressing being a person with a superiority complex who visits one of the more interesting and historically significant cities in the South, only to go to a mall "to kill some time".

I think you missed the point of my post. I got all the history I needed by just visiting a mall.

But you're right! I really should have seen the historical locations of where the people fought valiantly to make sure all those people in the mall could still be property.

So tell you what, next time I visit your fine state let's meetup at one of your new internet cafes to discuss all the qualities of the fine state of Alabama.

Roll Tide.

I'm trying to figure out the point of your argument. That Alabama should be lauded for its blatant racism?

Regardless, I'm bored with spending any more time thinking/writing about the place. I think I've made my point.

Anti-American Dream wrote:Sorry man, but for me personally, none of those things are inspiring. I suppose if I was born in, and had never left the state of Missouri I may be impressed by the Ozarks or St. Louis. I suppose you could certainly do worse than St. Louis, though.

So you find the Ozarks unimpressive, but the mountains in Montana and Wyoming move them up a notch? I-90 from Billings to Butte looked like the worst stretch of Interstate Highway I have driven. I-80 in southern Wyoming is a close second.

And you still haven't told us what the "redeeming qualities" of Indiana are.

Dial it up wrote:

If it weren't for oklahoma, Missouri would be in 50th place for me. I can barely stand driving through, and I certainly couldn't imagine spending a whole day or longer there. It looks awful, St. Louis is a dump, terrible weather, people are uneducated in general, plus much more but no need to pile on.

Since I am not as educated as you are, I cannot judge the whole state by just driving through. I have spent at least one night in every one of 50 states, and I enjoyed all of them. Every state that is trashed in this thread has at least some "redeeming quality" as the OP puts it. But maybe I have such a low standard because I am so ignorant. You, on the other hand, would find conversation with Wash U. faculty so boring because they don't measure up to your standard.

The most depressing state is Massachusetts outside of the 128 belt.

Yes, you've made your point - that you are so intellectually lazy that you have chosen to blame Southerners for what you perceive as social "ills" based on your own opinions and emotions.

That aside, you will NEVER eliminate racism. This is a liberal utopian dream. Human nature will always cause us to subconsciously trust those who are similar to us while avoiding those who are different. You may not like it, but its the truth. In other words, emotion will always trump logic - this is why Trump appeals to voters (pun intended).

BeantownBaby wrote:

The most depressing state is Massachusetts outside of the 128 belt.

128 inside the belt is pretty insufferable as well. One of the ugliest major cities other than the river. There are a lot of great things to do in Boston, but the city is ugly, dirty and run down.

Generally, yes that is correct. Obviously other than the wash u faculty part. However I would bet very few of them are from Missouri or exemplify the actual characteristics of Missouri in any way. Much in the same way as pistol waven new haven isn't the intellectual capital of the world just because Yale exists.

Nobody is saying Missouri lacks a single positive quality, but since we aren't going to list and analyze every single quality of every single state we are left with making generalizations based off of our experiences. My experience is that Missouri is one of the worst states in America.

I don't agree with Dial It Up on much, but MO would be in my bottom 10 for sure.

List of U.S. states by educational attainment

Missouri is 28th in HS graduates, 33rd in college graduates, and 24th in post grad. Hardly the most uneducated population in the country. But I guess "your experience" is more important than objective data.

Show Me state wrote:

Anti-American Dream wrote:Sorry man, but for me personally, none of those things are inspiring. I suppose if I was born in, and had never left the state of Missouri I may be impressed by the Ozarks or St. Louis. I suppose you could certainly do worse than St. Louis, though.

So you find the Ozarks unimpressive, but the mountains in Montana and Wyoming move them up a notch? I-90 from Billings to Butte looked like the worst stretch of Interstate Highway I have driven. I-80 in southern Wyoming is a close second.

And you still haven't told us what the "redeeming qualities" of Indiana are.

Lol man you're splitting hairs. Indiana f*cking sucks big time as well, it just has at least 1 or 2 interesting things (Colts football, Indy, 500 etc.) That's all it takes to be better than Missouri. As I've stated, the entire Midwest is awful.

And yes The Ozarks are unimpressive. Did you really expect me to say places like Glacier National Park and Grand Teton National Park are inferior to the Ozarks? Get real. Those places are absolutely spectacular and will be national treasures for centuries to come.

You are correct, though, in that the eastern 2/3 of both Wyoming and Montana are terrible wastelands. I have been through both several times and couldn't wait to get out of there.

Blue states