re: Best State to live in and why?

"Best" is always a subjective standard. Different things are valued more or less by every person. While one person may love snow, another may hate the cold. While one person loves being close to family, another may want to be as far away from them as possible.

The things that I find that are most commonly valued by people are:

weather
types of available outdoor activities
population density
crime
quality of public schools
food
proximity to family
nightlife
access to collegiate and/or professional sports
commute times
cost of living
scenic views
culture
music scene
ect.

For me, I love living in Louisiana because I love boating and freshwater fishing, Cajun and Creole food, warm winters, being close to family, the tight-knit community culture, the adjacency for LSU sports, lax liquor laws, and the music scene.

For someone who loves mountain climbing, cold weather, living far away from family and other people, and hates drive-through daiquiris, jazz/funk music, black people, and mosquitos, it wouldn't be a great place for them.

Top 5 I've been to
Washington
Maine
Arizona
California
NC
I've also heard some great things about Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, and Utah.

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Spent time on Lake Quinault and Lake Crescent -- Lake Crescent still doesn't seem real, it's incredibly beautiful -- and then went up to Port Ludlow and Port Townsend before leaving, went whale watching and all that jazz, drove through Sequim to see the lavender fields.

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Lake Crescent is awesome. I worked for Olympic National Park doing database stuff and got to live by their headquarters in Port Angeles. Definitely checked out all of those places you mentioned. Sequim is so unique with it being in the rain shadow. Feels like you're in a completely different area for about 15 minutes while you drive through.

Northern Arizona

Of the places I've been, Washington Olympic peninsula or the California coast. Hawaii is incredible but you have to deal with tourists and island withdrawal syndrome.

The UP of Michigan is extremely underrated*




*except for about 5 months of the year.

Anywhere in the Pacific Northwest.

I'd put Georgia in my top three though. I might be biased because I live here. You can find just about everything though. Mountains, beaches, swamps and the low country, metropolitan and middle of nowhere, Old South and New South, History, tons of sports, great golf, hunting, fishing, Atlanta and Savannah, the Golden Isles.

My cousin lives in Savannah,
He loves it

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South Louisiana. Food and fishing capital of the country. What else do I need?

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Decent infrastructure is pretty nice for a change. Baton Rouge is terrible, I'll never go back.

Been in The Woodlands, TX for over a year now; other than higher taxes I have no complaints (other than the weak restaurant choices). My kids are in good public schools, people are generally well-mannered and easy to level with, and virtually no crime. The money I was spending on private school for my two kids in Baton Rouge makes up the difference in taxes and the MUD taxes for my area.

The up is great for some people but the vast majority don't want the lack of amenities and rough weather.

I'd like to either work for Olympic or Glacier NP in Montana over the summer