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Good topic:
1. Tennessee - varied terrain, two dynamic cities, great college town, centralized location. Affordable COL. Central location, access to the south as long as the midwest. 4 seasons, people are salt of the earth type. Low taxes.
2. Pennsylvania: what you said.
3. Oregon: Gorgeous. Nestled between two awesome states. Great outdoors. I feel like Portland will one day get some tech to expand that way. Up and coming.
Tennessee is no longer underrated and has become almost a mecca for retirees and people in general looking to move. Home prices have skyrocketed so it already has been discovered. The state is booming.
I do agree with those that stated KY but I'm biased since I already live there. I continue to hope it isn't discovered but grows very gradually preserving at least some of what makes it unique.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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I agree with the OP on New Mexico and its untapped potential. It was the nicest climate I've lived in so far with lots of sunny days but noticeable seasonal changes to keep it from getting boring and it doesn't normally have extreme heat. Its cultural highlights make it an interesting and unique place that looks and feels different from other states. That said, I don't think it will ever catch up to its neighboring states and it's hard to imagine Albuquerque ever getting an explosive boom growing into a major metro area.
For two others, I'd say Great Lakes states like Wisconsin and Michigan. They are beautiful states with an abundance of valuable fresh water resources that offer a nice QoL. Wisconsin has a nice range of cities to choose from. If I had a time machine, I'd love to see what Detroit looks like at the end of this century as it's already improving at the core and it essentially has a blank slate to work with in many of its nieghborhoods.
I'm going to exempt myself from saying Alabama, since l'm too biased for the state.
Otherwise:
Oklahoma: A lot of the indicators that look good for Alabama Alabama are similar with Oklahama. It's got the affordability + relatively moderate growth near a blistering fast growing corridor. Also surpringly good wages for occupations like teachers relative to the rest of the South in spite of flashier big paying occupations not necessarily offering the big bucks as much. The other similarity to AL is the vast underestimated landscape.
Iowa: Iowa's the state I've seen the most state pride from. It's also got a lot of good things going for it. Omaha tends to get all the attention as the just sub-million metro that overperforms, but Des Moines is all a pretty strong overperformer. It also has a touch of the Driftless area, too.
New York outside of NYC: Upstate New York is gorgeous, but it all gets overshadowed by the city. In terms of wages vs col, upstate does really well. The main sore spot right now is Rochester not having its economic stabilization to the same degree as the rest of the Rust Belt, but it is showing signs.
I'm going to exempt myself from saying Alabama, since l'm too biased for the state.
Otherwise:
Oklahoma: A lot of the indicators that look good for Alabama Alabama are similar with Oklahama. It's got the affordability + relatively moderate growth near a blistering fast growing corridor. Also surpringly good wages for occupations like teachers relative to the rest of the South in spite of flashier big paying occupations not necessarily offering the big bucks as much. The other similarity to AL is the vast underestimated landscape.
Iowa: Iowa's the state I've seen the most state pride from. It's also got a lot of good things going for it. Omaha tends to get all the attention as the just sub-million metro that overperforms, but Des Moines is all a pretty strong overperformer. It also has a touch of the Driftless area, too.
New York outside of NYC: Upstate New York is gorgeous, but it all gets overshadowed by the city. In terms of wages vs col, upstate does really well. The main sore spot right now is Rochester not having its economic stabilization to the same degree as the rest of the Rust Belt, but it is showing signs.
Agree but things are changing. Most upstate cities had their first census-to-census growth (however slight) in 50-60 years! And I know of a lot of young people who are moving there for cheaper housing, particularly Albany-Syracuse-Rochester-Buffalo (mid-20s nephew moved from Buffalo to Albany, I live downstate and daughter goes to college in Buffalo and likely at least short term after to stay there or live in Rochester). In fact there's a now a housing/apartment shortage in Syracuse and rents/prices have gone up quite a lot, I'm in my mid-50s and would've never ever imagined this to happen!
New York outside of NYC: Upstate New York is gorgeous, but it all gets overshadowed by the city. In terms of wages vs col, upstate does really well. The main sore spot right now is Rochester not having its economic stabilization to the same degree as the rest of the Rust Belt, but it is showing signs.
10-20 years ago it was the opposite. Rochester was the bright spot among a group of long-struggling Rust Belt cities. The 2nd highest GDP in New York State. The future seemed bright, comparatively. Now it’s down to the 4th highest GDP behind Buffalo and Albany, while also being the most stagnant metro in the region.
Upstate New York is super underrated nonetheless. I wouldn’t call it entirely undiscovered, but there’s so much untapped potential it boggles my mind.
What about the greater St. Louis area in Missouri... to the west. It is really growing for some reason. Housing is still affordable for now. It's a nice area.. but nothing super geologically interesting such as mountains or big lakes.
Generally speaking, the overall migration flow is to the South & West...to the Sunbelt. Americans are seeing the Sunbelt States as being underrated.
As people look to join these migratory trends, they seem to prefer low cost of living, moderate weather, & scenery. Jobs & schools are key too for youger families, but work from home is changing the demographic landscape. Proximity to a beach is important for some, but not all. Outdoor activities attracts the younger crowds.
Lumping all Americans into 1 homogenous group that would feel a State is underrated is very hard to do. What has been happening in the recent past, is likely to keep happening in the recent future.
Based upon recent trends, Florida, Texas, & Idaho have been seen as being underrated. The tough part is anticipating the next 3 states to emerge.
I would say North Carolina, South Carolina, & Alabama, in that order.
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