Best/Worst US

From the USA Today:
"Which U.S. states have the most pride?"

People who live in Montana and Alaska have the most state pride, according to a poll by Gallup.

In these two states, 77% of residents said their state was the best or one of the best possible states to live in. Among the worst places to live in are Illinois, Rhode Island and Mississippi according to residents. Residents who have a lot of state pride also "generally boast a greater standard of living, higher trust in state government, and less resentment toward the amount they pay in state taxes," according to Gallup. The poll shows a correlation between positive attitudes and the state's location in a mountainous region with cold weather. The bottom 10 states show a correlation between negative attitudes and state's location east of the Mississippi River or bordering it. Most survey respondents did not say their state was the single best place to live, preferring instead to say it was "one of the best." Texans were most likely to say their state was the very best place to live. Gallup conducted the poll from June to December 2013 and interviewed at least 600 residents in each state.

Top 10 places to live:
1. Montana
2. Alaska
3. Utah
4. Wyoming
5. Texas
6. Hawaii
7. New Hampshire
8. North Dakota
9. Colorado
10: Vermont

Worst 10 places to live:
1. Rhode Island
2. Illinois
3. Mississippi
4. Louisiana
5. Michigan
6. New Mexico
7. New Jersey
8. Maryland
9. Missouri
10. Connecticut

^ This made me laugh. I think Alaska would be nice to live in, but is very expensive overall. Hawaii is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. I have family in New Hampshire and the natives there are not the typical New Englanders (where they don't trust outsiders until they get to know you.) They tend to be very arrogant and not overly intelligent. They also don't use any spices in their food (salt or pepper) and so everything's bland and nothing but hospitals and gas stations are open 24 hours.  I have family in and from Texas and no matter what every Texan loves their state. I don't get it. I almost moved to Vermont and was lucky the deal went through because there are more cows than people and it is too socialist for me. I have family in Colorado and have been there a lot and couldn't live there because of the high altitude. As for worst places to live. I agree that New Jersey should be on the list. It is the "Garden State" yet it has mostly weeds. Even the State Government  thinks its residents are dumb since they don't allow anyone to pump their own gas. I was surprised to see Rhode Island and Connecticut on this worst list. Lots of New York's rich live in Connecticut and work in the city. Mississippi doesn't shock me since they constantly win all the bad titles like the fattest state, etc. While this list doesn't change my view of these states it was a nice little read. ^

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/04/25/state-pride-gallup-montana-alaska/8140879/