America State/City Impression thread

[Korian]

Feel free to post thoughts on places you have been or travled to.

I'll start

Iowa - a bit dull, but it's worth the drive to VGD, been there once like MN but not as excting.

Wisconsin - Great cheese, beautiful scenery, love Wisconsin Dells stayed in a resort there years ago.

Arizona - Love that place, would consider moving there someday.

Hawaii - Was one of the best times I've ever had on a trip, swimming in the ocean everyday, climbing on the rock, paying 2 times higher on the price of Chicken Mcnugget meal.

Ohio was cool, pretty downs there I have 2 Cousins that live down there so I got to spend a bit of time there.

I'll start with those, I still need to make to some big places, like New York, California.

[Diff-chan]

Wow a good topic from Korian for once:

New Jersey - sucks. I've lived there for a long time and it sucks. I told my dad I was thinking about staying in California after college and my dad said "I dont blame you".

New York - I like New York. It's a cool place. Upstate New York is beautiful and there's plenty there. I havent spent a good amount of time there, last time was when I went to Cooperstown when I was a kid, but still... NY is cool.

Unlike Illinois or Nevada, there is actually something to it outside of its biggest city. I love New York City, not as much as I once did (b/c LA has grown on me), but its an amazing place that I would hope to live in one day.

Pennsylvania - like someone said, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia with Alabama in between. The middle is beautiful but total hicksville.

Ohio - It's alright. I like Cleveland, actually, the downtown area is very nice.

Indiana - Not much going on here.

Illinois - Chicago and everything else.

Iowa - I like Iowa. It's calm and relaxing.

South Dakota - There really is not much to this state, and the weather is brutal. Lots of really cool areas that would be great for dirtbiking, actually - I think large parts of it look like the courses in Motocross Madness 2. And... Mount Rushmore is AWESOME! Everybody should see it at least once in their life. Seriously.

Wyoming - Very beautiful, "big sky country" all the way. And you see the Rockies far off in the distance. It's a small state though, population wise (500K people).

Colorado - Colorado is a very cool place. Driving through the Rockies is one of the most awesome things you can see in this country. The views are amazing and its great. The signs in the beginning and end of the state say "Welcome to/Leaving Colorful Colorado". Couldnt put it better.

Utah - The rock formations are awesome, and I imagine its awesome for biking, but not much is going on here. The city I went to, Cedar City, was pretty and small.

Nevada - A big desert and Las Vegas. Seriously, this place has less than Illinois. There is NOTHING to Nevada, I think, except long-gone deposits of silver and Las Vegas.

California - Great place, it really is, once you get used to it. And, people, if your entire experience with Los Angeles is E3 you cannot judge it. Everybody knows you cannot judge LA by its downtown. It's like judging New York City based on Staten Island.

Los Angeles is actually a pretty cool place. Lots of stuff to do, great beaches, good nightlife, its close to everything you could want to do, etc. It's vain and superficial, but what can you except from a place so close to Hollywood? Plus you get to see random celebrities, like I saw the midget from Seinfeld (Kramer's friend) when I was at a Hooters once.

[Mzo]

I haven't been around too much... let's see:

Minnesota - gorgeous place, incredibly friendly people, too fucking cold.

Illinois - Chicago is cool as hell.

Florida - I like Miami, but the rest is shit. Especially Orlando, barring theme parks. Home of the worst music in the world.

Oh, and that's it.

[bbobb]

This is pretty interesting... lets see:
Iowa - Well it's a bit dull... but there's things to do, especially in the two major College towns: Iowa City and Ames... and it's definitely better then Nebraska

Nebraska - Most boring state in the US.

Illinois - Chicago is a great town that I've always enjoyed visiting.

Missouri - It's fun to go sight seeing in St. Louis, but I don't think it's somewhere I'd visit often.

Tennessee - Memphis is one hell of a fun town. Beale street is damned near heaven.

Minnesota - I love the Twin City area. There's lots to do up there and I visit it at least 3-4 times a year.

Wisconsin - The lake area is beautiful and I do enjoy the Dells.

South Dakota - Large parts of the country side are pretty dull... but as has been mentioned Mount Rushmore and the surrounding area are well worth the trip.

Washington DC - The Smithsonian and Government buildings make it a great trip to take, but nowhere I would ever want to live.

[Jimmy Carter]

Okay, here goes:


Iowa - Supercool scenery west of Des Moines on I-80. The people are a little strange, though. Every place we stopped on our trip, you got the whole "You ain't from 'round here" look.

Nebraska - Nothingsville. Nothing to see. Omaha is, in my opinion, The Great Iowan Experiment: they loaded a ton of people up, said "populate that great region!", and as soon as they crossed the border, they said "My God, there is nothing here. We're not moving." So they stopped right at the border. However, the people are great. If you need to find the epitome of Midwestern, go to Nebraska. The people are friendly. Lincoln doesn't really exist.

Wyoming - Decent scenery (as mentioned, you can see the Rockies in the distance). People are a tad strange; again, the whole "outsiders" thing.

Utah/Nevada - Nice, a bit desolate, though.

California - Scenery is nice, intensely varied (we came in through the mountains and it was snowing, and in LA it was 70-80). People, who I met, were by and large not-friendly. I don't mean they were out-and-out unfriendly, but they just weren't what I was used to. LA is cool; downtown rocks.

Tennessee - Just as bad as people make it out to be, and worse. Nice views, though.

South Dakota - Empty. Nice people.

I've been to a lot of states other than these, but these are about all I can really judge.

[Diff-chan]

Jimmy Carter: downtown sucks, man. You gotta go to some other places to get the LA experience. And the people here are nice, just not Midwest nice. Not Minnesota nice, I guess.

In terms of niceness, you have Midwest >>>>>>> South >>> West >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> > East

[Masaka]

Illinois: Chicago is a great city, and that's coming from someone who's not a city type of guy. Lived there a couple of times in the past, and I'd consider moving back there. Easy to get around, lot of culture (not as much as NY, but still), tons to do, and a great place for music. I spent some time in Champaigne when my mom was getting her Ph.D there, but that was pretty much a pit. It was cool when I was 6 though.

Virginia: My home for the past 10 years. Beautiful area, especially once you start moving south, with the Cascades, the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the New River Valley. All the talk about the rolling hills of VA is legit, it's gorgeous down here. Not so much up north, once you start getting near DC, and you get to areas that are actually, like, populated. I grew up in the islands, so I've got a thing for lush greenery (the non-smokeable kind anyway)

California: I've tossed around moving out to the San Diego area numerous times, but I haven't actually gone and done it yet. I was out there last year (again) before the super bowl, and got to drive from LA to SD down this coastal highway. The climate and scenery were big big attractions for me. It was about 75 and breezy, with an awesome view of the water. Mountains to the east, water to the west, I could really see myself out there someday, fires and earthquakes notwithstanding.

New York: I'm with diffx here, although I'm not quite as big a fan of NYC just because of my general distate for cities in general, not for anything specific to it. Most of my mom's family is scattered in NY between upstate Pomona, Long Island and Brooklyn, so I've spent a lot of time in various parts of the state. Long Island's got the smaller town feel that I dig, but with close access to the big city when you're in the mood for that. It's a hell of a busy city though, which I think is one of the things I prefer about Chicago. It's a step slower out there. I've also spent more time actually living in Chicago though, so my vision is slightly colored by that.

New Jersey: F New Jersey. I hate the turnpike, hate the streets, hate the turns, hate the gas pumping. The only thing that keeps me going back there is ECC in May.

No love for the territories? I lived in the US Virgin Islands until I came to college; my folks are still there in fact. It was a hell of a place to grow up, but it's gone downhill somewhat since I left. I don't think I could live back there again (it's just too small, and pretty isolated) but it's a great place to visit. Especially when you can stay for free.

[Jimmy Carter]

Jimmy Carter: downtown sucks, man.

Depends on the area of downtown, I guess. The area that the convention center/Staples center are at are cool. I just like the feeling. In my short spurts of time.

You gotta go to some other places to get the LA experience. And the people here are nice, just not Midwest nice. Not Minnesota nice, I guess.

I was afraid of this. I didn't explain well enough. I'm not saying that people aren't nice, or unfriendly. I guess it's like you say, they weren't "Minnesota nice" (or, Midwest nice). The people here can be smothering.

In terms of niceness, you have Midwest >>>>>>> South >>> West >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> > East

I think the only reason we appear to be nice is because we don't see people for half of the year.

[Gohron]

Lets see...

Ohio: Went there once for drag-racing, didn't get to see much other then the drag-strip though

Maryland: Go down here for an occasional baseball game in Baltimore. Baltimore is a pretty cool city I think.

Washington D.C: Went once when I was pretty little, the government area of the city is pretty cool to look at.

Philadelphia: Well I pretty much live here, not much to this city though.

Virginia: Right around Roanoke area, I think it's pretty cool down there, it's definately a different pace then up in Philly.

Deleware: Friends live here, not much to see...same with New Jersey

Kentucky: I was in the poorest county in the country I think...Harem or something along those lines. It was run-down but some real nice people.

Miami: Stopped here a few times for airplane transportation, guess it looked ok from the sky:P

New York City: A fun place to visit but entirely too crowded and filled with just about every bit of popular culture in existance in my opinion.

Think that's about it.

[Tracer]

Cool!

Maryland: Awesome place. I enjoyed every moment in Anapolis but that was because It was so diffrent from places I was used to. The Eastern USA is in general removed from my day to day experience. The city reminded me most of a not ruined or shitty Galveston with a Naval Base. I stayed in Waldorf with my sister. DC is a tiny tiny place, but neat to see.

Virginia: I'm no fan. It reminded me alot of Georgia but I somehow liked the place less. Nothing really stood out and Richmond, VA seemed like a bigger Shreveport, LA which stands as the most depressing place on Earth. Well, at least Shreveport has casinos.

Georgia: Atlanta and the land surrounding it north and south is very very pretty. Yeah, yeah the red clay is noticeable but the kudzu... that's one thing I really remember all the time from the place. Lots of kudzu (it's a vine like weed that grows in the south. Its native to SE Asia and has taken over here - it covers all other vegitation untill it smothers it) there though and it's kinda pretty despite knowing it's more of a plauge than anything. One more thing. I've never seen more airplanes in the sky at once than just south of Atlanta. The saying is true. If you're flying anywhere in the world you'll end up in Atlanta sometime.

Lousiana/Missisppi - These two warrant being lumped in together. If you've seen one you've seen both as well as a fair amount of E. Texas. New Orleans is a cool place though which is LAs edge over MS in my book.

Texas - It's home. I hate some of it and I love some of it. The costal plains for instance. I would petition to rename them to Gorgoroth and E. Texas to Dagorlad (LOTR refrence for those who don't catch it.. places in or right outside Mordor. Dagorlad is the Dead Marshes). LeSalle's comment on the coastline that would be known as the Texas coast described it as the most vast and featureless coast there ever has been. It shows. Take a look at one part of it and you've just seen it all. Houston sits between these two places. a Mix of light swamp and and featureless terrain. Throw in some fairly rotten air and you've got it. The places saving grace is the archetecture in the city proper. To further the Mordor refrence, there's evem a Barad Dur called the Williams (Transco) Tower, complete with beakon (since flaming eyes are not quite pratctical). It stands outside downtown in another area largely full of buildings that are not short by any means. It towers over all things there though.

http://www.photohome.com/pictures/te...o-tower-2a.jpg
http://www.pritzkerprize.com/johnson/Hist042.jpg

Dallas is alot like that except the air is dryer and the place smaller.

San Antonio is beautifull though, especially in the unpopulated areas outside it. Austin is also alot like that.

West Texas is the "big" land which is alot like Montana or Wyoming. I've never been in the Panhandle before but I'd wager it's alot like Oklahoma which is nothing at all spectaclar.