I’m aware that, at the moment, Florida is deemed unsafe for people to travel to, but what is generally the worst state to live in? Factors such as education, religious extremism, crime, cost of food, healthcare, and access to other resources are relevant. Will “Deep South” states remain one of the worst places to live in due to traditionalism, or are more progressive states bound to grow worse?

  • @[email protected]
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    572 years ago

    Depends. I’m dead serious when I ask this, but are you black, Latino, a woman, queer, Jewish or Muslim, trans or non-binary, liberal or any flavor of politics to the left of Right wing authoritarian fascist, or any combination of those groups? If so, then stay the hell out of any state south of Virginia and east of Illinois. They aren’t just bad. They are potentially deadly, increasingly as a matter or literal public policy. If you aren’t one of those groups, than you aren’t in physical existential danger. You’ll just be stuck in a nightmare hellhole of poverty and ignorance. But you’ll be safe. Mostly.

    Honestly, I’ve been everywhere in the continental US. Been to every state, seen just about all there is to see driving over the road for fifteen years, and I can tell you that the southeast is damn near a third world country compared to everywhere else. The infrastructure is so bad it reminds me of when I stayed in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1993. And it’s only gotten worse. I have no desire to ever return now that I’m not required to for my job. Florida used to be the one shining exception, except now it’s embracing a return to 1930s Germany. Stay out of Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas in particular.

    • @[email protected]
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      32 years ago

      There’s more people of color living in all those states you hate then in any other part of the country, so your first point makes no sense

      • @[email protected]
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        102 years ago

        You can dislike a place and have nothing against people living it.

        Considering the mentioned locations are, boiled down, hell holes run mostly by angry white men, I’d risk the living conditions in those places is due to systemic racism and other outdated views on what a society should be.

        People living in those those areas are victims and most probably poverty blocked to even consider to leave, regardless of melanin skin levels, although in the US being a shade over milk white is a detriment for having peaceful life.

        Stating those places are a bad choice to live is not racism: is stating a fact.

          • @[email protected]
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            32 years ago

            Why can’t I state that some place is a hell hole where no one should be stuck but, nonetheless, state the people living there - or at least a good majority - are actually good people?

            Considering the stain politics is for the majority of places nowadays, with the growing effort for extremists/conservatives/right wingers/religious zealots trying to roll back civilizational conquests attained in least 50 to 80 years, it’s not hard to infer that a very small group can and will make life terrible for those unaligned with their views.

            So, where is the contradiction?

      • @[email protected]
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        22 years ago

        Why is that the metric you use, and not the policies they have? Just because plack people are too smart to live in the frigid north doesn’t mean the South is a great place to live

      • @[email protected]
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        22 years ago

        You assume that the majority of them live there by choice, and not because they lack the resources and opportunities to move. It’s kinda hard to pull up roots and move half way across the country when the economic and political realities of where you currently live force you to remain firmly entrenched in poverty with deliberately restricted access to any means to improve that situation.

        By your logic, black people must love prison, too, because they represent a disproportionate percentage of the prison population. I’m sure it has nothing at all to do with disproportionate enforcement against them, right?

  • shellsharks
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    1652 years ago

    Every time ive seen an article about worst state it’s always Mississippi :-/. But these days thanks to awful leadership Florida and Texas are making a case for the crown.

    • VanillaGorilla
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      2 years ago

      It’s a race to the bottom, and Florida isn’t here for the second place!

      (Or participation trophy? I can’t decide what fits better)

    • sharpiemarker
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      2 years ago

      You’re not wrong.

      Mississippi is typically ranked very low due to a history of poor public education standards as well as being a battleground for civil rights. Not much has changed.

      Fortunately for Mississippi, Florida man is working overtime towards the enshitifcation of their own education system.

      There’s absolutely a direct correlation between education, human rights, and a higher standard of living.

      • BurntPunk
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        502 years ago

        Growing up in Alabama we used to joke that the unofficial AL state motto is “Well, at least we ain’t Mississippi” and Mississippi’s motto is “Well, at least we ain’t Missis…AW DAMMIT”

            • Raging LibTarg
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              172 years ago

              According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program, the 5 most hazardous states in the U.S. in 2023 are:

              Louisiana: Overall Crime Rate of 537.5/100,000 people, making it the most dangerous.

              Mississippi: Overall Crime Rate of 413.2/100,000 people.

              Alaska: Despite a low population, a high Overall Crimes Rate of 386.2/100,000 people.

              Arkansas: Overall Crime Rate of 385.9/100,000 people.

              New Mexico: Overall Crime Rate of 369.5/100,000 people.(More info about this)

              You ain’t kiddin!

              Source

          • @[email protected]
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            82 years ago

            I’ve also heard “Thank God for Mississippi” as a slogan for any of the underperformer states

            • @[email protected]
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              22 years ago

              Typically what happens when you rank 51st in most quality of life stats (which usually include DC alongside all 50 states).

  • @[email protected]
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    2 years ago

    The news about Florida exaggerates life here. It’s not at all like you see in the headlines or whatever the “Floridaman” posts you always see. Life is fine. There’s good and bad. Painting it as some “DO NOT ENTER - UNSAFE TERRORIST ZONE” is utter bullshit.

    That being said, it would be great if New Yorkers and New Jerseyites fucked off back to their states and stopped buying all the properties here.

      • synae[he/him]
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        52 years ago

        Traditional floridaman posts as a result of the sunshine law were offbeat, wierd, and humorous.

        It’s the modern “Governor Floridaman” news that are truly worrying to the sane parts of the country, and that’s got nothing to do with the sunshine laws (except insofar as he is trying to circumvent and subvert them to consolidate his power further)

    • @[email protected]
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      432 years ago

      Tell that to anyone in the LGBTQ+. Or anyone seeking an abortion. Or any child wanting to learn about systemic racism. Or anyone openly admitting to being atheist in school. Or anyone refusing to recite the pledge of allegiance.

      The news about Florida is SPOT-FUCKING-ON, and is why we move from there six years ago to find a better life.

    • @[email protected]
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      172 years ago

      Yeah but when being trans may mewb tiyr kids will get taken from you its a do not enter state for you

    • prole
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      112 years ago

      Pretty privileged thing to say… Maybe when you and I are the ones they start creating laws against existing, then it’ll actually be bad?

    • @[email protected]
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      132 years ago

      Disagree. It’s not just the laws, but the public support that has me crazy here. My very Catholic coworker so fully supports the governor that when the Catholic Church came out against some of his stances, she said they were the ones in the wrong! Those stances being that it should not be illegal to give a ride to an immigrant as thats just being a good neighbor, and it’s silly to expand the death penalty. Her daughter works for Disney too. She doesn’t care. Guy could come in and take a shit on the floor and she would try to explain how that was the most moral thing he could do, and how refreshing it is to have a sensible governor.

      Her views are not abnormal here.

  • @[email protected]
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    642 years ago

    The southern states still are the worst and I assume will continue to be the worst due to conservatism

  • rebul
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    42 years ago

    Turns out, there are stupid questions after all.

  • @[email protected]
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    2 years ago

    What do you consider in determining the worst?

    As a Californian, I’d say California. Cost of living here is ridiculous, and pay isn’t keeping up. Gas at $6/gallon. Electricity bill skyrockets when using A/C, but with temperatures regularly surpassing 85F and being a desert state, we don’t have a choice. Water bill goes up every year because the water company raises rates after a drought to make up for lost profit and never lowers the price back down after. Fast food meals are now $15 a meal, and store-bought produce isn’t much cheaper. There are car thefts and police chases every single day, often multiple in a day. Despite firearm related laws, there are still armed criminals committing crimes. Our two biggest natural disasters are wildfires and earthquakes, though in recent years there have been a few waterspouts out on the ocean, don’t remember if they ever made landfall or not. Real estate pricing here is out of control. The people here don’t know how to drive, especially in the rain. People are rude and uncaring most of the time. The schools get paid a lot of money but they pay it all out to pensions of retired teachers rather than active working teachers, which means education suffers greatly.

    Sure, the weather here is usually nice, and there are a lot of entertainment centers (which are expensive by the way), but aside from that, California isn’t very nice to live in.

    The only reasons I still live here are because I am too poor to move away, and my family is still here.

    • 1ird
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      22 years ago

      Come to Missouri. It’s cheaper and we have legal weed. Plus, the more sane people the better.

    • @[email protected]
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      292 years ago

      I just drove from California to Yellowstone and back for vacation. The gas prices were pretty close throughout the drive. And fast food costs were the same everywhere.

      Also, teachers retirement is paid through Calsters in California. That’s an entirely separate fund in an entirely separate state agency than education. It’s a pension system where the teachers pay in and the state pays as well while they are working like any other private company’s pension system.

      • @[email protected]
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        22 years ago

        Oh, yeah I totally forgot about all the homeless. In LA its so bad their tents take up the whole sidewalk of entire blocks. Its sad, but youd think a state as rich as California would have solved it already.

    • andyburke
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      2 years ago

      How much do you think you’d need to get out? (Asking, in a kidding way, as a Californian who is tired of these memes about how it’s bad to live here when you’re just describing any major urban center in the world.)

      Edit: you’re not wrong about the challenges, it’s just that they’re not unique to California.

      • @[email protected]
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        32 years ago

        ARCO nearby is at $5.99/gal for Premium. Shell across the street is $5.79/gal Premium.

        Yesterday went to Carl’s Jr and ordered two Super Star w Cheese meals, no additional items and had to pay $32, so Id say pretty close to $15 per meal.

        Orange County, where these prices would be expected.

    • @[email protected]
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      392 years ago

      My wife is born and raised in Texas. She thinks churches on every corner is normal. Now she is a travelling surgical tech and falling in love with upstate NY. It’s not my beloved Pacific Northwest, but I will gladly move anywhere away from these loco church people.

      • @[email protected]
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        2 years ago

        For peace of mind just avoid Stefanik’s district, some people call it Cantucky for a reason. 🥲.

      • @[email protected]
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        52 years ago

        That’s a great anecdote, but your wife is in the minority. Statistically speaking, Texas enjoys high rates of inflows in terms of domestic migration while upstate NY suffers pretty big outflows.

  • SnausagesinaBlanket
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    692 years ago

    Texas is full of pissed of GOP’s that are all hot headed and strapped. The excessive heat isn’t helping much.

    • @[email protected]
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      212 years ago

      Have you ever visited Texas? Check out Austin and Dallas. Very different than what you’d expect based on the news.

      • @[email protected]
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        372 years ago

        I live in Austin, the good isn’t good enough for me to want to stay. As soon as my kids are done with high school, I’m looking for somewhere else to live.

      • @[email protected]
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        252 years ago

        Depends on the part of Dallas. Some of the suburbs are very conservative (Southlake is an awful place for example).

      • @[email protected]
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        82 years ago

        i just left austin because it’s becoming an increasingly facist shithole because anyone with above room temperature iq in austin knows that the state will continue to do everything in its power to reign in austin so they leave; like i did.

        the only gem in that place is houston and that is a much bigger target in the texas government’s eyes than austin ever was.

        there are holdouts and they will continue to hold out; ineffectually and pointlessly struggling for the rest of their lives.

      • @[email protected]
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        142 years ago

        I’m not from the US, but visited Dallas in 2009. I remember myself and a couple of friends from the area going into a Waffle House.

        First thing I saw was a sign on the door saying to leave your guns outside. When we walked in, there was a haggard old waitress with a smokers rasp going “what can I git ya?” and a mulleted stoner in the kitchen with a thousand yard stare. It was like I’d walked into the set of a movie and while we had breakfast my mates were quite amused at how… roadstop I kept saying it was.

        Kept waiting for a trucker named Bubba to walk in.

        Also in AR a waitress asked me if we had boats in our country, another swore up and down that she had seen me on some Australian renovation show on cable, and while watching TV an episode of Aussie Gold Hunters had subtitles for the Australians even though they were speaking clear as day English.

        The South is bizarre.

      • @[email protected]
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        52 years ago

        Depends on where you go in Dallas. With all the megachurches and conversion camp HQs around the metroplex, it’s also known as an evangelical Christian hotspot.

  • @[email protected]
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    42 years ago

    Might as well ask people what the best topping on pizza is, it’s entirely subjective

    Also the majority of black people live in the South, wonder why you all hate the South so much because to me that just screams of systemic racism

      • @[email protected]
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        12 years ago

        Oh wait… You’re courting the love of the /r/fatpeoplehate crowd… Pieces of shit definitely gravitate towards each other so it’s starting to make more sense

        • @[email protected]
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          32 years ago

          Sorry you live in the worst region in the country, oh and that it’s because of the people 🤷

          • @[email protected]
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            2 years ago

            I’m sorry that you’re a dumbass.

            It’s clearly outside your control (just like the location people were born is outside of theirs… Where I also don’t fucking live you presumptive judgemental goddamn asshole).

        • @[email protected]
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          82 years ago

          Incorrect use of the word literally and racist. I told you I’m just xenophobic (against southerners and the south.)

          • @[email protected]
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            2 years ago

            56% of black people in America are living in the South, so when you people constantly crap on the South I’m more than certain, almost POSITIVE you’re talking about black counties and towns, you’re just trying to be sneaky about not saying the quite part out loud and avoiding it at all costs.

            I’m also willing to bet you think places that are majority white are the best places to live too, as that’s usually the other part of the equation. I’ve been around long enough to know what white flight is

        • @[email protected]
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          42 years ago

          That person is mainly just a piece of shit… We have no evidence at this point really to determine whether or not they’re racist.