Best States/Worst States

ladristo

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a 20 year PEW study concluded that the BEST states for realizing the American dream to live in were:

New York
Maryland
New Jersey

The worst states to live in were:

Oklahoma
Louisianna
South Carolina

I would say that NY, Maryland, and NJ are all somewhat densely populated...meaning in my eyes that a small idea/business can turn into a huge "fad" that results in a large financial gain allowing most the option for the American Dream.

And is this Louisianna the 51st state (just messin with ya HH)
 

LambHair McNeil

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So, the state that contains Wall Street (NY), the state closest to Wall Street that is not named NY (New Jersey), and the state surrounding the District of Columbia, with all of its government jobs, think tanks, etc., outranked all other 47 states in some poll about "making it".

Put me down as shocked.

 

FuzzyKen

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I don't think that there is any place that really qualifies as "good" at this point in time. The real measure or quantitative judgement would be "less bad".

I was born and grew up in California. At one time it is true that California was one of the best places to live in this country. That is no longer the case. The American Dream really began to go down hill in California under former Governor Pete Wilson.

What killed California was not Democrats OR Republicans, it was Democrats AND Republicans. The cost of owning and operating an automobile in California has reached a level best described as "outrageous" where license fees and bi-anual smog inspections rip a bleeding hole in your wallet. California is the only State that charges taxation on taxation and that is on motor fuels. California takes the cost of the fuel adds in the federal taxation and then computes State taxation based on the total of the Fuel and Federal Taxation amounts. California talks "green" and yet it is to the best of my knowledge the only State that has placed so much red tape on going "green" that they make it impossible to actually do it. California considers Vegetable Oil "Hazardous Waste" which was done by big oil to prevent people from making bio-diesel. California charges Sales Tax on everything. California under proposition 13 screams bloody murder on not having enough money yet the actual number of homes remaining at their valuations as of the Proposition 13 dates amounts to only a minute percentage. This means that with homes re-assessed on resale the property tax bills in that state have you paying a fortune for a 750 square foot 2 bedroom WWII tract home. California has Freeway additions built by taxpayer dollars and then the citizens of California are now forced to pay tolls to use those freeways and a portion of the money collected for projects built by taxpayer dollars are paid to private corporations operating the toll systems. California has become expert at extracting money from it's citizens. I can go on and on regarding the problems faced by the State of California and most importantly the people who right now are fighting for their lives to put food on the table while calling that State home. It is a tragic representation of what was once a great place.

California particularly Southern California and Los Angeles in particular has the worst public transportation in the nation where people are forced to choke on clogged freeways in their cars at rush hour. This is the same City that tore out the old Red Car system and the electric street cars and buses in downtown Los Angeles. Now they are replacing what they tore out at incredible costs to California citizens.

I will always have a great deal of love for California, but, at nearly age 60 I had to face the reality and admit that home or not I could no longer afford to live there.

Here are some numbers to think about when it comes to Texas. In Las Cruces, New Mexico in Dona Ana County yearly property taxes on one property listed currently in the MLS at over 1.2 million dollars is $3,400 per year. Thirty miles south of that location in Canutillo which is a suburb of El Paso, TX taxes on a smaller home listed in the MLS at $439,000 with many nice features are $11,450 per year. The excuse is that Texas has no State Income Tax. Texas hits you very hard everywhere else so in fact some tax rates are actually far higher. State pride is characteristic of all Texans right up to the point of denial of anything resembling reality.

- - - -

The question is where are good economies? Look for areas with sacred cow military bases first off. The military incomes are steady and the military men are both good tenants and good home buyers. Look for areas with a great deal of strong agri-business that are crops or products not able to be imported. These areas are doing well and while not rapidly growing they are not losing ground at a great rate either.

- - - -

These days the idea is to simply look over an area and find where people have jobs going vacant that they cannot fill. It is rough out there everywhere, but there are some good places and there are even some good areas within bad ones.
 
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798686

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i know the American dream is alive and well in California. i am living it. my childhood was spent with both parents suffering from mental illness, which eventually , and prematurely took both their lives. i was an unpopular, gay , skinny, Latino kid with acne scars and awful self esteem. i worked my way through the state college system, getting a BA , an MA and 4 teaching credentials. i am now a local member of elective office. i am on first tem basis with state elected and appointed officials. i am respected by neighbors and community members, in addition to my principal, coworkers, my students and their parents.
no, i am not wealthy. i make less than $100k a year. but my wealth is not measured in money. it is measured by how far i have traveled from near suicide, twice , as a teenager.
YES, THE AMERCIAN DREAM IS ALIVE AND WELL. AND I THANK GOD FOR IT. GOD BLESS AMERICA AND GOD BLESS CALIFORNIA, THE STATE THAT HELPED MAKE IT HAPPEN.
Sounds pretty wealthy to me!

And well done, for your hard work and resilience! Sounds like you've earned it. :smile:
 

houtx48

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Except too many in Texas actually believe it. I was traleving on business to Dallas and I went to eat dinner in a bar. Talked to a cute girl and after a while we talked about where we were from and she started bashing NYC, I was in a good mood so I went long with it. Then I turned the tables and talked about the bad things about Texas. Her response was classic. You can insult where you are from, but don't ever insult Texas..The funny thing was she was a transplant from Nebraska
you are talking about Dallas.................
 
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I have lived or traveled through most of the continental US and Hawaii (have not had the opportunity to visit Alaska yet). They all have something to offer.

There are great and horrible things about each of them; but at the end of the day I would rather live or grow up in any one of them as opposed to many other places through out the world that are not as privileged.

The US is just a really great and diverse place, warts and all. No matter how bad it seems; there are always worse places and we have had a tendency to bounce back and recover.

For my European friends please don't judge the book by its cover, we are not really as bad we seem sometimes.
 

RussianSexDoll

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I had to live in Texas for about 10 months a couple of years ago. WORST experience or my life!!!! Texas is filled with conservative, arrogant A-holes that don't have a clue about what the rest of the country, let alone what the rest of the world is like. And we won't even talk about all the disgustingly fat people that live in and around Houston. Pollution, humidity, terrible traffic, rude people and ignorant guys riding around in jacked up trucks that look completely ridiculous and are a major safety hazard. I now understand why Texas is called the asshole of the USA.
 

redneckgymrat

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I had to live in Texas for about 10 months a couple of years ago. WORST experience or my life!!!! Texas is filled with conservative, arrogant A-holes that don't have a clue about what the rest of the country, let alone what the rest of the world is like. And we won't even talk about all the disgustingly fat people that live in and around Houston. Pollution, humidity, terrible traffic, rude people and ignorant guys riding around in jacked up trucks that look completely ridiculous and are a major safety hazard. I now understand why Texas is called the asshole of the USA.

Gee, with that attitude I can't *imagine* why you weren't made to feel more welcome!

I can find, at least, an equal number of stories from people who think that Texas is the most wonderful place in the world, and the Texans who live here, some of the best people anywhere.

It's actually interesting that you're in Florida, because a lot of my relatives live on that glorified sand bar. Whenever I visit them, I have feelings about Florida and Floridians that rival your feelings about Texas. Small minded, bigoted, and basically a-holes to borrow your term.

As with so many things, it's all an issue of personal preference.
 

kayman

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Ugh, there are very few states that I would call the best. Honestly, I would only recommend those that has shown the propensity to be socially progressive. Those states tend to be around the knowledge centers with very diverse populations and transportation system beyond from the private automobile, and that is as objective as one can be.

Sorry, but as a black bisexual male, I honestly can't see myself living in any US metropolitan area with less than 10% black population of the region. I enjoy my diversity, secular black American cultural outlets, various modes of mobility, and having direct access to worldly individuals.