Question What makes each American state unique from others?

[Cosmic Penguin]

OK, here's a difficult question:

- for those who are living / lived in the United States, list several features of the states that you are living / has lived that makes it unique from others.

- for those who don't (like me, who have only stepped into American soil once), list features of the 50 states that you can remember for each one.

Let's see what's the result! (my list will come tomorrow, I need to sleep soon :facepalm

 

[Codz]

Each state kind of has a culture all its own. For example, in Tennessee it's generally very rural and conservative, but in California it's generally very commercialized and liberal. State economies tend to be based on different things as well. In Oklahoma you'd find a lot of agriculture, in Washington you'd find a lot of factory/ assembly line work. I was personally born in Arizona, but have lived in Georgia for a long time though. In Arizona it's almost a mix of American and Mexican culture, however it is quite conservative. In Georgia it is VERY conservative generally and almost entirely "southern" in culture. Places like Atlanta tend to be (thankfully) more diverse.

 

[FADEC]

Florida - KSC
Texas - MCCH
California - EAFB
Washington - Boeing
New Mexico - WSMR

Just to name a few :lol:

Never been to the US though. Otherwise my list certainly would not only be related to space flight and aviation. And there is certainly so much more. On the other hand, the US is the most inspiring and powerful country when it comes to space flight, civil and military aviation.

 

[werdna]

Not the usual question, I suppose...

I live in Pennsylvania. We would have been the first state (Under the US Constitution), but Delaware beat us to it. Thus, we're second.

PA (each of the 50 states has a two letter abbreviation) is known for its cultural and historical significance.

Pennsylvania was one of the original thirteen colonies which predate the United States and the Independence War (NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION! Inside joke for US residents! ) - the second to last established before Georgia- founded by William Penn (who it was named after, but not by him).

It's hard to talk about Pennsylvania without talking about Philadelphia. I'm from the Philly area so it's easy for me to do so. Philadelphia, PA was the original site of the United States capital. It was capital during the Articles of Confederation (Before the US constitution, there was the AOC- this didn't work correctly because the states had too much power and no incentive to provide for the federal Government. There are other reasons too.) and during the early years of the United States. The US Declaration of Independence (from Great Britain), the Articles Of Confederation, and the United States Constitution were all signed at Independence Hall in Philly. It played a large role during the early US.

It is also the home of the Libery Bell- famous for how it cracked the first time it was rung, and is considered a symbol of, you guessed it, Liberty. It is a city with a huge history, home to many places of interest- The Philadelphia Museum of Art is a nice example. These days, it's also known for its Cheesesteaks (The eternal question- Pat's or Geno's? ) and sports teams (The Phillies and Eagles). It is home to several colleges- Drexel University, The University of Penmsylvania, and Temple University.

Thats just one city- an important place, but only one place. It's hard for me to elaborate on the entire culture of the state- I guess living in the Philly area can be a bit obscuring. PA is a big place. Someone else from PA here on the forum could probably give you more info.

P.S. For the record for Orbinauts outside the US, I don't believe in US Exceptionalism. It's damaging to our country, and is arrogant. ...On the other hand, when you think about how diverse the US is, it's kind of shameful when people bluntly criticize it. It's such a diverse country- don't be fooled by stereotypes.

 

[markl316]

Each state is very different and unique, for many reasons:

Laws in general are different. For example, in many southeastern states, there are no so called "right to work laws" which basically say that no employee is forced to join a union, where other states have laws requiring union membership to some extent. This was the basis of the NLRB case with Boeing. Many laws, from gun ownership to driving laws to property taxes, vary tremendously from state to state.

Tax laws are very different. California, New York, etc. have very high state income taxes, while many states have lower income tax. Some states (Nevada, Florida, to name a few) even have no state income tax. Not surprisingly, looking at yearly migration trends of American citizens, you generally see people leaving states with higher income tax like New York and moving to states with less state income tax.

Cultures are very different. In California, there are many Asian-Americans, so naturally, there is a lot of Asian food, Asian areas of town, etc. In the South, the food is more fried and unhealthy (which is why the southeast has such a high obesity percentage). There's also some really great Bar-B-Q around here :thumbup: . In New York, it's more international culture, with a bit of everything (Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Bengali, etc.).

Way of life, as Codz mentioned, is different. If you live in a place like Colorado, you probably ski quite a bit; where I live in Atlanta, activities include doing just about anything at Lake Lanier, such as boating, etc. California is big on surfing and beach activities.

That's the great thing about this country; there are so many variations in cultures, laws, and ways of life, you can get pretty much anything you want here

 

[TMac3000]

Here in South Cackelacky, our biggest claim to fame is probably the port of Charleston. We are pretty well split between the poor and middle-class conservatives (like me)in the Low Country and Midlands, and the wealthy conservatives in the upstate. The main liberal bastions are Charleston and Orangeburg.

Oh, and we fired the first shots of the Civil War And we were one of the bloodiest battlegrounds of the Revolutionary War.

 

[mojoey]

Here in South Cackelacky, our biggest claim to fame is probably the port of Charleston. We are pretty well split between the poor and middle-class conservatives (like me)in the Low Country and Midlands, and the wealthy conservatives in the upstate. The main liberal bastions are Charleston and Orangeburg.

I believe you've driven them to sea

In California, it's ALL plastic... oh, and we have gangs...lotsa gangs...

 

[TMac3000]

And beautiful flying
I'm serious: if Flight Gear is any indication, California is a lovely place to fly

 

[Mattyv]

Lots astronauts and presidents for Ohio

 

[Jarvitä]

So I'm given to understand the main difference is economical and political?

Don't you think it's kinda sad there are entire states perceived to be aligned with one political viewpoint? It just fosters division. I'm really surprised how united and whole the USA appears from the outside, with all these pointless dividing lines people feel so strongly about.

 

[dbeachy1]

O-F Staff Note: five follow-up posts removed. As a reminder, political arguments belong in The Basement -- please do not drag this thread into off-topic political debates. The Basement Rules are very clear on this.

 

[insanity]

I think what makes each state unique is two-fold.
One is geography, obviously. Both the topographical layout of the sate/it's place on the map, but also how they incorporate their geography into the larger culture. I'm from the Pacific Northwest with rivers, mountains, coastline, and forests. However the eastern half of Oregon, Washington are geographically and culturally more similar to places like Idaho and Western Nevada.

Combined with geography, I think the other fold is a shared political history. What makes people proud of their state, is imho, the way a people make decisions about their futures and share their success and failure collectively.

To me, what makes a state unique is how the people come together and occupy and grow a physical space into a larger piece of the puzzle. The solutions to this are as varied as the landscape.

:2cents:

 

[Zatnikitelman]

Here in Georgia, we have Stone Mountain which is one of the largest exposed monoliths in the world. It also has a large carving recognizing 3 Confederate leaders from the Civil war, and it's larger than the Mount Rushmore carving.
There's also the beautiful southern end of the Appalachian mountains and the start of the 2,184 mile long Appalachian trail which ends in Maine.
Atlanta has the Coca Cola Museum and Georgia Aquarium, and is host to the world's busiest airport (though most of the traffic is intra-airport connecting traffic, most people through ATL never leave the buildings).

 

[PhantomCruiser]

So I'm given to understand the main difference is economical and political?

Sometimes, and now that I think of it probably more often than not...

Here in Tennessee, not only are we more culturally, politically and economically different than California or Washington State or New York. But the geography of the state divides us even further.

The Tennessee River basically divides the state into three parts, and people in each section tend to think of the others nearly as foreigners. Here in East Tennessee we have lots of dairy cows (plus "eating" cows), and relatively new to Chattanooga is the Volkswagon Passat manufacturing facility.

We (East TN) team up with middle Tennessee to make, ummm, a not-so-legal corn by-product that is pretty common all through the Appalachian region. Although there is hope... http://www.shortmountaindistillery.com/. And of course Nashville had been known to make some impact on the music industry.

Beyond some imaginary line west of me begin the cotton fields. And Memphis is a cultural mish-mash of everything from Chicago to the Mississippi delta. If you ever find yourself in Memphis in May, treat yourself (http://www.memphisinmay.org/), bring an empty stomach and prepare to eat until you pop.

Tennessee and Texas often find common ground, at least historically. A former governor of Tennessee, Sam Houston (who at one time lived in a cabin about 30 miles from where I'm sitting now), moved to Texas and through same pretty dramatic actions found himself to be the first President of Texas, later the first Governor.

 

[RisingFury]

Welcome to Tennessee: Where patriots live and shoot stuff.

 

[ky]

Florida: KSC, ST Augustine (oldest European settlement in the U.S.), The Everglades, and we're nationally known for our oranges.

 

[Eli13]

Welcome to Tennessee: Where patriots live and shoot stuff.

Hey now...
That's the South for ya.

But you really want to know what makes each state different?
The shape.

 

[Keatah]

Flag colors too, are different.

 

[Eli13]

Flag colors too, are different.

I even heard some have... different sports teams!

 

[PhantomCruiser]

Go Vandy!!!