State March Madness Round 1 Part A

[Harris/Ernst 2020 0]

Please choose which state you like better. Whether it's because of politics, beauty, entertainment, technology, etc. Once again ignore the numbers and 8 states are left out of the first round.

[vcczar 0]

C'mon, Massachusetts is waaaaay better than Flordia both historically, culturally, intellectually, socially, etc, etc, etc. 

[jnewt 0]

24 minutes ago, vcczar said:

C'mon, Massachusetts is waaaaay better than Flordia both historically, culturally, intellectually, socially, etc, etc, etc. 

Certain people would never vote for it because of how blue it is

[Sunnymentoaddict 0]

30 minutes ago, vcczar said:

C'mon, Massachusetts is waaaaay better than Flordia both historically, culturally, intellectually, socially, etc, etc, etc. 

Yeah great points, but can you get cheap cuban sandwiches from any street corner? Or enjoy year round sunshine?

[SilentLiberty 0]

44 minutes ago, vcczar said:

C'mon, Massachusetts is waaaaay better than Flordia both historically, culturally, intellectually, socially, etc, etc, etc. 

I'd much rather vacation in Miami than anywhere in Massachusetts.

[Conservative Elector 2 0]

26 minutes ago, jnewt said:

Certain people would never vote for it because of how blue it is

I try to vote without thinking on politics. I usually like areas which are largely ignored by most people more than areas which are labelled as cool. I'd vote in a heartbeat for Kansas over California for example (okay bad example trying to show that I am not voting politically...). However, I'd also vote for New Hampshire over Florida or Texas. For me the US is more than just New York, Florida and California (which it is for most people not caring about the US), therefore I like reading about the south or the mid-west way more. My favourite states are Arkansas and South Dakota for example (actually more than that - perhaps I will do a ranking sometime). No one talks about these areas here.

The reason I prefer SD compared to ND is, I often read ND jokes, due it's cold climate and long border to Canada, while people tend to ignore SD completely. Mount Rushmore is there and that's it for Americans I guess. Europeans completely ignore the state, similar to Arkansas. 

What I like about New England is the rainy climate (Indian summer feeling) and the old British culture I associate with the area. John Adams and the Federalist Party live on in my mind, when I imagine New England  My favourite New England state is New Hampshire (I think people also ignore it more than other states in this region. CT and MA have Yale and Harvard, you hear often about RI's smallness and Maine's border location...)

[Patine 35]

20 minutes ago, SilentLiberty said:

I'd much rather vacation in Miami than anywhere in Massachusetts.

Tropical or sub-tropical climates aren't attractive vacation spots for me, in and of themselves. Beach culture and sea cruises just aren't my thing at all. Culture and history are much bigger draws. So, in that light, I'd have to STRONGLY disagree.

[SilentLiberty 0]

24 minutes ago, Patine said:

Tropical or sub-tropical climates aren't attractive vacation spots for me, in and of themselves. Beach culture and sea cruises just aren't my thing at all. Culture and history are much bigger draws. So, in that light, I'd have to STRONGLY disagree.

I love mountains and mountain region for the most part when it comes to vacations rather than beach culture, but I've actually been to Miami and loved it. Didn't even go to the beach while I was there but one time for all of five minutes. Culture and history have a draw too for sure. I'm voting on a various criteria though when it comes to state by state trying to take everything into account that's been mentioned, and having really enjoyed the time I spent in Miami and Florida was enough to give it the edge.

I don't think cruises are all they are cracked up to be either.

[Reagan04 0]

1 hour ago, Conservative Elector 2 said:

What I like about New England is the rainy climate (Indian summer feeling) and the old British culture I associate with the area. John Adams and the Federalist Party live on in my mind, when I imagine New England  My favourite New England state is New Hampshire (I think people also ignore it more than other states in this region. CT and MA have Yale and Harvard, you hear often about RI's smallness and Maine's border location...)

I disagree, it's ironic that you've actually forgotten a New England state in your analysis of which states get forgotten the most! 😛 That would of course be Vermont you left out. But there is a case to make that NH is the most talked about New England state given that it is by far the most politically relevant to national proceedings.

[Patine 35]

Just now, Reagan04 said:

I disagree, it's ironic that you've actually forgotten a New England state in your analysis of which states get forgotten the most! 😛 That would of course be Vermont you left out. But there is a case to make that NH is the most talked about New England state given that it is by far the most politically relevant to national proceedings.

Although, to be pedantic, there is a stickler's argument for not including Vermont as a New England state - in that the other five were English/British colonial creations before the Revolutionary War, while Vermont created itself in disputed land by disgruntled landholders whose ownership was conflicted between New York and New Hampshire and created the first de facto sovereign republic in the Western Hemisphere - a whole decade before the Philadelphia Convention, or even six years before the Treaty of Paris and Articles of Confederation. If one wanted to be pedantic on historical origin labels.

[Reagan04 0]

3 minutes ago, Patine said:

Although, to be pedantic, there is a stickler's argument for not including Vermont as a New England state - in that the other five were English/British colonial creations before the Revolutionary War, while Vermont created itself in disputed land by disgruntled landholders whose ownership was conflicted between New York and New Hampshire and created the first de facto sovereign republic in the Western Hemisphere - a whole decade before the Philadelphia Convention, or even six years before the Treaty of Paris and Articles of Confederation. If one wanted to be pedantic on historical origin labels.

Not so fast! Are we then to discount Maine from the bunch as it was created by parceling off land from Massachusetts in the Compromise of 1820?

[Patine 35]

Just now, Reagan04 said:

Not so fast! Are we then to discount Maine from the bunch as it was created by parceling off land from Massachusetts in the Compromise of 1820?

Actually, Maine existed as a separate colony for three separate instances during the English/British colonial period. It was eventually given to Massachusetts in the early 1700's because of difficulty by the Crown funding it as a separate colony. Creating a separate State of Maine in 1820 was not a new idea - it was an old idea revisited in a new guise for a new reason, politically and historically. Vermont had no such precedent.

[Actinguy 2]

2 hours ago, vcczar said:

C'mon, Massachusetts is waaaaay better than Flordia both historically, culturally, intellectually, socially, etc, etc, etc. 

I used to live in Orlando and I absolutely loved it.  Everything was perfect.

Of course, I was 20 years old and single.  Now I'm 35 with a wife and a daughter and I'm relieved to have a big house with a fenced-in yard in a great Ohio suburb school district rather than the Orlando condo that I shared with seven other dudes just to pay rent so we could go crazy with the nightlife.  ;c)

 

[Reagan04 0]

1 minute ago, Patine said:

Actually, Maine existed as a separate colony for three separate instances during the English/British colonial period. It was eventually given to Massachusetts in the early 1700's because of difficulty by the Crown funding it as a separate colony. Creating a separate State of Maine in 1820 was not a new idea - it was an old idea revisited in a new guise for a new reason, politically and historically. Vermont had no such precedent.

Either way, I think we can all agree that culturally, politically, socially, economically, and environmentally, Vermont is a New England state.

[Patine 35]

Just now, Reagan04 said:

Either way, I think we can all agree that culturally, politically, socially, economically, and environmentally, Vermont is a New England state.

Oh, I agree. I was just playfully playing the Devil (in the details)'s advocate, as I sometimes do.

[Harris/Ernst 2020 0]

These are some tight votes. 

[vcczar 0]

Massachusetts is my favorite state. I go back to it at every opportunity, regardless of the temperature. 

[Conservative Elector 2 0]

13 hours ago, Reagan04 said:

I disagree, it's ironic that you've actually forgotten a New England state in your analysis of which states get forgotten the most! 😛 That would of course be Vermont you left out. But there is a case to make that NH is the most talked about New England state given that it is by far the most politically relevant to national proceedings.

Actually I left Vermont out on purpose. Since Bernie Sanders came into the spotlight of many, you hear way more about it even in Europe. That's at least my impression.

Interesting that people talk most about NH. It seems to be different here.