South Carolina:

Jesus Christ people.

Mississippi is way, way, way worse than South Carolina.

 

Because of its natural physical beauty and Santa Fe, New Mexico doesn't get nearly enough credit for being a shithole. Same with Montana, which I love. But boy, is it messed up in a lot of ways.

 

Oh, so now you're OK with it?
[/GhostofJeffersonDavis]

 

Louisiana is the same way with New Orleans, which people look at as a party town but in actuality is a damn war zone. I used to feel at home in that city and the last couple of times we've gone it's been uneasy at best, even in the daytime.
The rest of the state is either a rural backwater, small town Redneckicana, small town ghetto, or medium-sized cities that have seen better days. It's sliding down the top 50 rankings fast.

 

I lived in/on NJ, Guam and California.
None of them are exactly high functioning.

 

Let's be real. We've got 50 fucked up states with various levels of redeeming qualities.

 

Co-worker and his son went to New Orleans a couple years back. What they remembered most is how much the tourist areas smelled like urine.

 

Bad state.
I'll take NC any day of the week.
Charleston is nice to visit.
It's also chalk full of southern dandies; men - of all ages - in khackis and sports coats with manicured hands.
The women on the other hand...!!!! Love me a fine southern belle.
The interior of SC is little more than Red dirt, heat, overgrown shit, snakes, red dirt, snakes, various types of agriculture, heat, More snakes, red dirt and heat.

 

That's about right. If you go during Mardi Gras there's what I call "The Mardi Gras Smell" which is a mix of of urine, feces, vomit, body odor, alcohol (stale and fresh) and garbage that's been sitting on the curb for five days, all rolled into one pleasant bouquet. There's also water in the gutter that contains the same stuff that you're constantly stepping in.

Worse, though, is the violence and aggressive homeless. Not long ago, you could at least feel reasonably safe in the French Quarter. There was a strong police presence there. Within the past few years, however, the violence from the rest of the city has been creeping into the Quarter. It seems like there's at least one into-a-crowd type shooting on Bourbon Street a month and some other random acts of major violence every few weeks.
The last two or three times we've been there in the past couple of years the homeless were much more aggressive and threatening with their panhandling, to the point where I was glad it was 4 p.m. when we passed them instead of 10 p.m. because it felt like we were being sized up.
I'm not sure if the criminal element is getting bolder, the police presence is lessening, there's a general sense of anarchy, or I'm just getting older and crankier, but it's unnerving to go there now. I wouldn't have said that six or seven years ago.

 

This made me think of a July/August Phillies game at the old Vet.

 

Okla-fucking-homa and it's not even close.

 

As much as it pains me to say it as a native of the state, I cannot offer up much of a defense for Illinois these days aside from Chicago's status as a world-class city. Don't know if Illinois belongs in the bottom 10 yet -- Chicago probably redeems it -- but it's headed in that direction. There was a study a few years back that concluded that even if the state managed its finances perfectly for 10 years, it still would be in a hole. Skyrocketing taxes are keeping a lid on any sort of economic growth and forcing people to flee the state. There's talk of eliminating a few of the state universities (including the one I graduated from) because of the financial crunch and declining enrollment. And it's hard to forget a legacy of more than 100 years of governmental corruption. The Lake Michigan shoreline is awesome and there's a surprising amount of natural beauty in the northwestern and southern regions of the state, but central Illinois' vast expanse (often accompanied by the stench of various types of livestock manure) is about as dull aesthetically as it gets.