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What is the dullest/least interesting state in the union?

Which is the dullest state in the US (vote for top three)

  • Washington

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Oregon

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Arkansas

    Votes: 1 2.3%

  • New Mexico

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Indiana

    Votes: 7 16.3%

  • Ohio

    Votes: 4 9.3%

  • Delaware

    Votes: 8 18.6%

  • Nebraska

    Votes: 6 14.0%

  • Idaho

    Votes: 1 2.3%

  • Kansas

    Votes: 9 20.9%

  • North Dakota

    Votes: 16 37.2%

  • Maryland

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Iowa

    Votes: 8 18.6%

  • Utah

    Votes: 1 2.3%

  • Nebraska

    Votes: 7 16.3%

  • Minnesota

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • South Dakota

    Votes: 2 4.7%

  • Nevada

    Votes: 2 4.7%

  • Illinois

    Votes: 1 2.3%

  • Other (and why do you despise America so very much)?

    Votes: 2 4.7%
  • Total voters
    43
  • Poll closed .
Maister

Maister

Chairman of the bored
Staff member
Moderator
Messages
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Points
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We need some nominations for what you think is the least interesting/dullest state. Your reasons are your own - maybe you think its the dullest place in which to live, has the least interesting or least varied natural environment, unremarkable history, never hear about in the news, overly homogenous culture....whatever criteria you choose. When we get 19 nominations on the floor (leaving an obligatory choice for hating America, of course) I'll post a poll and then we can debate about the choices.:D
 
Iowa, Ohio or Nebraska? I'm sure someone in here can defend the thrill of each of these states, but that's what I'm putting on the table.
 
This choice does not come easily but I'm going to say North Dakota. Beyond their economy, there's nothing remarkable about it.

Iowa and Nebraska were runners up. Nebraska has Omaha which has (depending on who you ask) the largest zoo in the US. Then Iowa's significance in politics is frankly bizarre.
 
Since the top four states I would have chosen have already been named I nominate Indiana
 
I'm nominating North Dakota. There's just no good reason for people to live there unless they're snowbirds from Saskatchewan.
 
Idaho is another interesting situation. There's nothing interesting or remarkable about it when you compare it to its neighbors.

Then there's Nevada which, outside of the Vegas and the Reno areas, is completely empty. US 50 there has the distinction of being the loneliest road in America.
 
Certain states have more or less automatic exemptions: California (c'mon does anyone have to explain why?), Texas, Florida, Hawaii, Alaska....probably just about any state in the old South (although one might make some compelling arguments for dullness where Maryland is concerned)
 
btrage said:
Delaware. Because nothing in that thread is the least bit interesting. :p
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That's because you haven't read my post yet. ;)

Blide said:
Idaho is another interesting situation. There's nothing interesting or remarkable about it when you compare it to its neighbors.
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My first instinct was Idaho. I've never been there, and I can't think of any reason why I would go. (Of course, Cardinal will probably chime in with some recollection of his adventures in Idaho :r:)
 
Kansas, hands down. Lived and worked there for a year. Flat, miserable, drab, ugly, and boring!!! If I'm ever up in that neck of the woods in my car it's just to cut through from Oklahoma to Missouri. The only scenic area was the Flint Hills in the northeast part of the state. Now if only I could say a few words about the engineering consulting firm who wasted my time.
 
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The least interesting that I've been to are Kansas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska. I dread driving through all of them. I imagine North Dakota would rank pretty high also on a least interesting list, as would Delaware. I don't know about Idaho. I've heard Boise is a pretty cool city and at least it has mountains.
 
There was an earlier thread where Cyburbians were asked about iconic natural features and manmande spectacles for each state.

Ohio stumped us for both.

Ohio isn't a boring place to live, but it's not really that interesting. Outside of election years, we really don't hear about it that often. In just about every quality of life statistic -- health, education, income, whatever -- it ranks 25th among all the states. Smack in the middle, completely average. Think of a statistic ... any statistic ...

Hurdy-gurdy players per capita? 25th.
Persian cat ownership among single mothers? 25th.
Percentage of the population fluent in Klingon? 25th

Ohio.

orVZr.jpg
 
See, OHIO seems exotic to me. Lots of trees, more than one big city, setting of lots of sitcoms, people of color.....all things in limited supply in my part of the world.
 
Dan said:
In just about every quality of life statistic -- health, education, income, whatever -- it ranks 25th among all the states. Think of a statistic ... any statistic ...

Hurdy-gurdy players per capita? 25th.
Persian cat ownership among single mothers? 25th.
Percentage of the population fluent in Klingon? 25th
Click to expand...

C’mon, there’s gotta be something where Ohio ranks near the top… number of cornhole boards per capita? Highest proportion of college football fans that root for a certain university but they didn’t attend that university?


Although I have seen a pretty sunrise there, my vote for most boring goes to Kansas.
 
ursus said:
See, OHIO seems exotic to me. Lots of trees, more than one big city, setting of lots of sitcoms, people of color.....all things in limited supply in my part of the world.
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Oh we are exotic.... we have corn, soybeans, and winter wheat!


Ohio is pretty middle of the road, now that I think about it... but at least we have attractions.


tumblr_mam5yqj6So1qfb2tw.jpg

(Yes, I am aware it burned down... I like this one so much better though)
 
Blide said:
Idaho is another interesting situation. There's nothing interesting or remarkable about it when you compare it to its neighbors.

Then there's Nevada which, outside of the Vegas and the Reno areas, is completely empty. US 50 there has the distinction of being the loneliest road in America.
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Idaho is a cool state! Lots of cool mountains, lakes, rivers and little communities.

My vote goes for Kansas. What is the matters with Kansas anyways?
 
I've been in 47, and found something interesting in every one. Otherwise, you aren't paying attention to the state you are in. Some reasons are obscure, remnants of childhood, whatever. All I remember about Michigan is touring the Kelloggs factory in Battle Creek 46 years ago, and staying at a lodge somewhere in the state in the woods. Iowa, stayed in a historic inner-city hotel, same trip, it was fascinating. Some other states, not so much. But I can't say a bad thing about any one I've been in.
 
Maine-trees, moose and wannabe Canucks. Yes, I have been there
Ohio-the joke in college was that you want to cross Ohio at night because there was nothing to see anyway.
Indiana-conservatives and the upper 2/3rd is tabletop flat
 
Whose Yur Planner said:
Maine-trees, moose and wannabe Canucks. Yes, I have been there
Ohio-the joke in college was that you want to cross Ohio at night because there was nothing to see anyway.
Indiana-conservatives and the upper 2/3rd is tabletop flat
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The top of Indiana does have the dunes though. It also has Gary...
 
I am not resident of Indiana therefore I can't speak very confidently about it but as I have heard that Indiana is worst toxic polluted sate in the union, my vote goes to Indiana.
 
RogerMiller said:
I am not resident of Indiana therefore I can't speak very confidently about it but as I have heard that Indiana is worst toxic polluted sate in the union, my vote goes to Indiana.
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Ah but highly toxic and polluted sounds interesting, albeit in a bad way. Kinda like how Jersey is filled with nothing but chemical plants, casinos, and corruption;) (and speaking as one who has been to Indiana many many times there is little visible evidence of toxic environments to be seen - unless you count Gary)
 
mike gurnee said:
I don't think any state is dull. Many states however have regions that are dull.
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In defense of

Indiana - side by side is Gary & the Indiana Dunes. Has Brown County State Park.

New Jersey - peoples image is only formed by what they had seen from the Turnpike or worse the TV show Jersey Shore vs where I grew up.
Has any one other then Gedunker, Tide and me have been in the Pine Barrens.

JNA said:
In defense of

Indiana - side by side is Gary & the Indiana Dunes. Has Brown County State Park.

New Jersey - peoples image is only formed by what they had seen from the Turnpike or worse the TV show Jersey Shore vs where I grew up.
Has any one other then Gedunker, Tide and me have been in the Pine Barrens.
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I agree with Bubba about "that school"
 
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I voted North Dakota. It is the least visited state in the union for a reason.

Even the Simpsons visited Delaware. Bart was excited about visiting a screen door factory!
 
I voted for Kansas because I couldn't think of a single thing that I would want to do there.

I'm kind of shocked about some of the choices on the list.
The PacNW is plenty entertaining!
And as many have demonstrated, people from Ohio are really good at spelling words with their arms, which makes the state exceptionally interesting.
 
Fat Cat

I would have to nominate Iowa.:r: After working there, I couldnt wait for my contract to end to get out of there. Even being out of work, I had a recruiter call me recently and wanted my resume for a City there and I told him I wasnt interested.:) Mrs Katt told me that if I ever got a job there again. I could go by myself and that is very strong language for her.:-c:D
 
TerraSapient said:
And as many have demonstrated, people from Ohio are really good at spelling words with their arms, which makes the state exceptionally interesting.
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Ohio is ranked 25th in the country for spelling words with their arms, according to the National Word Spelling With Arms Association. Mississippi and West Virginia are usually tied for last place.
 
Dan said:
Ohio is ranked 25th in the country for spelling words with their arms, according to the National Word Spelling With Arms Association. Mississippi and West Virginia are usually tied for last place.
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Where does Ohio rank in terms of most consistently achieving averageness?
 
I've been to 44 states thanks to a heck of a lot of driving. Most of the country east of the Mississippi is just empty and doesn't make for an entertaining drive.
 
JNA said:
Has any one other then Gedunker, Tide and me have been in the Pine Barrens.
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*raises hand* Me! I actually drove to the Pine Barrens -- on my way home from Cape May -- on purpose. I wanted to see what was there.

Unfortunately, the visitor center ? I stopped at was closed for the season, so all I did was walk around the property for awhile before getting back into my car and going home.

I did not encounter any New Jersey devils. ;)
 
JNA said:
Has any one other then Gedunker, Tide and me have been in the Pine Barrens.
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I have been as well. A few times. Even got lost there, but saw no Jersey Devil. Good thing they have all those fire towers or we may never have gotten out of there! I thought about listing New Jersey, but growing up a mere 20 miles from the border in PA I know more than many, probably, about the place. I wouldn't want to live there personally, but not because its boring.

My barometer for boringness is whether I could live in a place because, really, every state has SOMETHING interesting about it. I have yet to travel anywhere that doesn't have some kernel of interest. At least to a traveler (I've been to 47 of them).

I'm fine with people thinking my state (New Mexico) is boring. Its not, but the more people that stay away, the better. IMHO...
 
jsk1983 said:
North Dakota. Even South Dakota at least has Mount Rushmore.
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WSU MUP Student said:
I voted North Dakota. It is the least visited state in the union for a reason.

Even the Simpsons visited Delaware. Bart was excited about visiting a screen door factory!
Click to expand...

I have to vote North Dakota as well. There is a sliver of the state, right next to Montana (of course), that is interesting - the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. It isn't big and essentially it concentrates every feature you might see in the Badlands National Park into something you can see in half a day.

Other than that North Dakota seems to be one continuous wheat field from Montana to Fargo. And flat. Miles and miles of flat, boring, featureless land. The cows look bored and probably dream wistfully of the day when a truck will put them out of their misery and haul them to the slaughterhouse.

In my desperation of trying to find a job after grad school, I interviewed for a planning job is West Fargo, which makes Fargo look like Las Vegas in comparison, The planning director asked me "Why would you want to leave Montana to work here?"

He had me there. I gave him the standard BS about looking for opportunity and challenges, but really the answer was I am nearly broke, my student loan is in deferment, and Raman noodles is practically my breakfast, lunch and dinner. "It was either West Fargo or suicide," I could have said, "and after driving across your state and seeing your town, the latter choice is looking better and better."

On the way home there was a town that had been smashed flat by a tornado. The whole town. It was just rubble. God had good aim. He just couldn't muster enough wind to take out the whole state. :p
 
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