Florida

[rancho_gordo]

Would that be like saying California is the worst place in the world because of Los Angeles?

Yeah, we wear it like a badge.

 

The thing about LA is it is the worst place AND the best place.

[Jaymes]

I always thought it was New Jersey that was the armpit of the nation (said as she gets ready to go to NJ for the afternoon)

 

I'd vote for Nebraska. I mean, if boring is considered to be a serious drawback. It's the most boring state I've ever been in. At least Iowa has covered bridges and Amish Country and Lake Okoboji.

 

People are always surprised at the rabid fans that the University of Nebraska has throughout the entire state. That's because there is absolutely nothing else to do.

 

And I know, because I used to live there, too.

[joiei]

but, but, what about Minot?

[tanabutler]

Long ago, I read a book called Miles from Nowhere, about a couple, Barbara and Larry Savage, who took two years off from their lives to bicycle around the world. It was common knowledge among bicyclists, ones with that kind of derring-do, that Florida is THE worst place on earth to bike. The drivers are malicious and rude: one friend of the authors had had the contents of a dirty diaper thrown into his face while biking there. The dangerous encounters, with unapologetic drivers, were unending. They concluded that Floridians, on the whole, are insane.

 

My family is in Tallahassee, which is a beautiful place. As a young child, I lived in Miami, and thought it beautiful, too. I returned as an adult: I visited Sanibel Island for a week.

 

But for whatever reason, I don't care to go again. The bugs and heat are unbearable. And if you're a bicyclist, well, life is too short.*

 

*Especially if you are the author of Miles from Nowhere: Barbara Savage died two weeks before her book went to press. She was hit by a car on her bike. In California, not Florida.

[Maurice Naughton]

No entire state can be called the worst place. Every state has something to offer.

 

West Virginia, for example, has Wierton.

[Rose]

Long ago, I read a book called Miles from Nowhere, about a couple, Barbara and Larry Savage, who took two years off from their lives to bicycle around the world. It was common knowledge among bicyclists, ones with that kind of derring-do, that Florida is THE worst place on earth to bike. The drivers are malicious and rude: one friend of the authors had had the contents of a dirty diaper thrown into his face while biking there. The dangerous encounters, with unapologetic drivers, were unending. They concluded that Floridians, on the whole, are insane.

 

My family is in Tallahassee, which is a beautiful place. As a young child, I lived in Miami, and thought it beautiful, too. I returned as an adult: I visited Sanibel Island for a week.

 

But for whatever reason, I don't care to go again. The bugs and heat are unbearable. And if you're a bicyclist, well, life is too short.*

 

*Especially if you are the author of Miles from Nowhere: Barbara Savage died two weeks before her book went to press. She was hit by a car on her bike. In California, not Florida.

 

 

Well, Florida may or may not be the worst place in the US (IMO it is) but it actually is the flattest state in the country. Just thought y'alls might want to know that.

[Rebecca]

I suggest a little humor would be appropriate.

And think about all the roadhouse titty bars on the road between Orlando and Tampa . . .

 

Here's a place that's been working on my head. Living in Santa Barbara makes a girl yearn for a real life:

 

"Now here is an example of being soooo remote on the Baja Pennsula of Mexico that among the people we have come across, I look good. The group of misfits includes surfers that came here in the 1960s and returned to buy property, hippies that came here during drug years and came back . . still on drugs, expatriates from Europe of all ages, retirees collecting Social Security, living in trailers under cactus trees, law breakers on the run from everywhere, tax evaders, men and women from divorced or broken marriages . . . all come together and mix with the very wealthy who have bought large tracts of beachfront, built fabulous homes with the latest solar generators and leased them until such time they can "flip it." There is no law enforcement this far out, nor is there medical. One landowner put in a helicopter pad and when he returned, all the concrete was broken up, the lights were stolen, and cactus planted in its place. In short, it is beautiful and raw . . . all activities revolve around the beach and each tribe claims a rocky cove section. It is a Jurassic Park adventure of strange plants and bushes, things moving when there is no wind. It is easy to look up along the ridge some 50 yards above and see Pancho Villa riding with a band of scruffy bandits, spitting tobacco and wearing sombreros. Or maybe it's just this cold beer I drank for breakfast."

[joiei]

Long ago, I read a book called Miles from Nowhere, about a couple, Barbara and Larry Savage, who took two years off from their lives to bicycle around the world. It was common knowledge among bicyclists, ones with that kind of derring-do, that Florida is THE worst place on earth to bike. The drivers are malicious and rude: one friend of the authors had had the contents of a dirty diaper thrown into his face while biking there. The dangerous encounters, with unapologetic drivers, were unending. They concluded that Floridians, on the whole, are insane.

 

My family is in Tallahassee, which is a beautiful place. As a young child, I lived in Miami, and thought it beautiful, too. I returned as an adult: I visited Sanibel Island for a week.

 

But for whatever reason, I don't care to go again. The bugs and heat are unbearable. And if you're a bicyclist, well, life is too short.*

 

*Especially if you are the author of Miles from Nowhere: Barbara Savage died two weeks before her book went to press. She was hit by a car on her bike. In California, not Florida.

What a sad story. Things have changed in a few areas, in Walton County along the panhandle, they have been putting in Bike paths along all the roads that are along or near the beach. At times in the summer, there are almost more cyclists than there are motorists. This is especially true of the area around Seaside.

[joiei]

Would that be like saying California is the worst place in the world because of Los Angeles?

Yeah, we wear it like a badge.

That must be like the "Keep Austin Weird" motto.

[Squeat Mungry]

Would that be like saying California is the worst place in the world because of Los Angeles?

Ahem. Los Angeles is in "Southern California".

 

Glad we got that cleared up.

[porkwah]

if florida were really that bad, why would all those people live there?

[The Scream]

Would that be like saying California is the worst place in the world because of Los Angeles?

Yeah, we wear it like a badge.

 

The thing about LA is it is the worst place AND the best place.

 

LA is great if you have a strong social network, which is hard because even in densely populated portions of the city it is still a bedroom community which people travel about in island spheres, i.e. their cars. The result is a kind of very self-focused or self-centered population. We're not forced to interact with strangers in the way that maybe people in Seoul or Paris are.

 

The landscape is dotted with oddities and ugliness and we don't have very many interesting public spaces that haven't been overrun by tourists or chain stores. Sometimes it feels like city was built to force you to drive. Visiting LA can be much more fun if you have a local guide who can explain our particular bizarreness. But mostly the visitors I know are interested in celebrity sightings, the beaches, and the faux glam aspects of LA.

 

LA is a lot of fun if you are politically and socially extremely liberal. LA is a lot of fun if there is something unusual or extraordinary about you that might make you a social oddity somewhere else. Here you can turn it into something special. LA is even better if you have lots of money....

 

LA is not so good if you are _____________.

[hollywood]

Would that be like saying California is the worst place in the world because of Los Angeles?

Ahem. Los Angeles is in "Southern California".

Yeah, we wear it like a badge.

[Behemoth]

if florida were really that bad, why would all those people live there?

 

There are lots of things people do that I don't understand. Unfortunately talking about most of these things would constitute a guidelines violation.

 

Well, the beaches really are nice.

[ghostrider]

if florida were really that bad, why would all those people live there?

They are really, really, seriously into temperate weather.