Posted on 11/23/2001 5:25:09 AM PST by LarryLied
Despite the "friendly" Sunbelt's purported ease and opportunity, the "unfriendly" North continues by far to have the best quality of life.The United Way now reports that Minnesota (of which I am genetically half a native, which may undermine the good data here) is the best state, in economic well-being, education, health, civic engagement, safety and the environment. Having visited this Midwest Finland, I am not surprised. And I find New Hampshire's Number 2 rating apt, too, having inhabited that rocky realm of rectitude, responsibility and (usually) reasonableness for four years.
Ditto the others in the top 10: Connecticut (even with Hartford!); Massachusetts; Vermont; Maine; Wisconsin; Iowa; New Jersey, and, yes, even Rhode Island, hardly a state at all!
Meanwhile, the bottom 10 are all in the Sunbelt, the worst New Mexico, and then Louisiana.
Maybe it's mostly the weather. The North's bracing and wildly variable climate energizes people and encourages planning and careful citizenship. And it's probably better for you, because cold is bad for bugs. Even the post-war wave of air-conditioning hasn't let previously soporific Southern schools, offices and factories overcome the North's paradoxical climatic advantage.
And Northerners tend to be less mobile, and so less likely to slide into that appalling anomie in which the American Dream is pursued by folks wandering the roads in search of pots of gold that turn out to be tin, and leaving no forwarding address. But then, it is easier to wander about where the weather is warm. Thus the pervasive trailer parks in the Sunbelt, and enough social problems to make you ask if the Sunbelt's growing national power is a good thing. (Don't show this to my Tennessee relatives.)
And if I want to make fun of NC for having more operational outhouses than any other state I will do so. If i want to make fun of the guy who rents a single wide trailor for his home and spends $45,000 on a pick up truck I will do so. And I know a guy that does just that! If I want to make fun of those that fit the "Cletus the Slack Jawed Yokel" stereotype I will. And trust me, there are almost as many back in NY that fit that stereotype. And if I want to make fun of the guy with a couch, recliners, a refrigirator and a washer/dryer on his front porch, 3 cars on blocks, an engine block hanging from a tree, and 3 dogs living under his porch I WILL!
Not to mention duck farms. If memory serves me right, Long Island NY is still the largest producers of duck in the country.
There is some truth that slavery was partly responsible for the wealth of the South. It is also true that horrible working conditions in the North contributed to much wealth but by a much smaller group.
Gosh, what swell folks. Why don't you send them a check? ;-)
(I had a great Thanksgiving, and hope you did too.)
Yep....once a yankee, always a yankee.
Funny, if the North is such a utopia why are I-95, I-75, I-55 and I-35 clogged with southbound U-Hauls?
Bigoted against Northerners. How many times to you see Freepers post posts on how terrible modern Southerners are? Not very often. You so called "Southern Hospitalitists" are constantly whining about Northerners with your bigoted comments. I've traveled a lot in the last ten years and can tell you there's not much difference in the quality of people in the North versus the South. The only thing that makes the North more liberal is that our cities are larger. Rural Northerners have about the same philosophy as rural Southerners, only we're not bigoted against Southerners like you are against Northerners. It'e all a bunch of self-righteous whining you guys are doing.
Oh, please. Read this thread again. These "Southern hospitalitist" know that Northerners will be reading this thread and they've been as rude as they can be. Self-righteous hypocrisy.
You post one snide comment about the South after another then have the gall to protest about Southerners not being nice to you.
I traveled to CT and RI last spring and was surprised to see how much of the countryside is still countryside and small towns. That is not the perception one would get unless they had been there....so why do you expect people in NC to know?
Worst cases of this mentality I've seen were in Carmel Valley, California (Leon Panetta's home). The horsey crowd would not even have a home but sleep in the truck they used to tow their horse trailer to dressage events. We used to charge these homeless people big bucks to spray paint their trailer to match their truck.
It's probably really southerners writing these rankings just to keep the northerners where they are. Who wants all those big cities?
Ewww. Illegal aliens? At least up here everyone is AMERICAN!
My wife and I ran into a similar problem when we were travelling out west back in the eighties. We were greeted by blank stares when we told people that we were "from Maine". Only when we mentioned that Maine was " up by Boston" did they smile and nod in recognition.
I guess then it is fair to say Once a redneck hick, always a redneck hick.
Right, so that is why you bring up slavery in every conversation, like we all personally owned slaves?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.