I think I'll travel to the USA next year or so, but I've not yet decided which state I'll go to. I've watched a bunch of Youtube videos and photos of the various states and their cities. I like to watch drive through videos, there is a guy on Youtube who drives around every city in the states while filming. But it's only cities, and the city I like the most is of course New York City - the most lively one.
However I'm also very fond of nature and scenery. Since my dream is to move to the USA, many things are important.
What I'm looking for in a state is:
1) Beautiful nature/countryside/scenery. I'm from the northern Europe so I'm not really fond of the tropical climate. I prefer the nature of New England over, say for example, Texas. I don't very much like deserts, and palm trees etc. From what I've seen from images and videos, Oregon is also a very nice state. I like New Hampshire, Vermont, and Pennsylvania too. The Midwest states seem to not have as beautiful scenery as the New England states and Oregon etc? Which state is the most beautiful do you think? From the northwest or northeast?
2) A nice city. It can be small, but it needs to be nice, with things to do, and of course I want it to be beautiful - don't want to either travel or live in a ghetto town. Entertainment such as cinema, amusement parks, arts are all important, as well as nice restaurants, bars, cafés.
3) The state must be a happy place. I want to go to, or possibly live, in a state where the people are relatively healthy and happy. A place where the people are bitter and angry, and/or where there is much political polarization, constant fighting in the streets, high crime rates, poverty, etc. is not a place for me. I also want the people to be educated. I prefer a middle class place.
4) The state should have nice roads on which I can drive my car, that would be a huge plus.
5) The state should neither be deeply religious or entirely secular/atheistic, but very moderate. I like to go and live in a place where religious beliefs are not much discussed, but where religion is left to people themselves.
And if there are some states in the southern region that are nice, please tell me more about them, even if the climate will not suit me. Perhaps I haven't found out about the great things about Texas and the rest of southern US.
Moderator may move this thread to someplace else, but I couldn't find a suitable section for this highly interesting topic.
And since most people on PARD seem to be from the US I thought this to be good.