krock1dk@yahoo.com's definitions
The Hoosier State. The Crossroads of America. A quaint Midwest/Great Lakes State that has just as many nice areas as cornfields and manufacturing plants. Indianapolis is the capital and largest city, and 12th largest in the U.S. No other city in Indiana comes even remotely close to being rivaled in size, culture and commerce. Other population centers are in the Chicago suburbs, Fort Wayne, South Bend-Mishawaka and Evansville. Indiana is fairly diverse with both rich and poor communities and in between. The town of Carmel, a suburb of Indianapolis, is probably the state’s nicest and most affluent and fastest growing, but the city of Gary--near Chicago--is the epitome of rust belt decline, grime and grit and urban decay.
To say that Indiana is a hick state is hogwash. It has no more hicks than any other state. Most of them live generally south of Bloomington. There are also a number of hicks of Kentucky descent in the Indianapolis area. The state's 6.5 million Hoosiers (14th in population) are generally average people who live in small towns, sizeable communities and their suburbs. Most Hoosiers live within just a few hours drive from large Midwest metropolitan areas: Chicago, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Lousiville, St. Louis, Columbus and even Detroit. Very few states have that distinction. The Indianapolis area has tons of suburban soccer moms who live on cul-de-sacs, drive SUVs and hog the road. Hoosiers are generally conservative and often divided in loyalty between Purdue University basketball and Indiana University. The term Hoosier Hysteria describes Indiana’s love of basketball and was depicted in the movie Hoosiers. March is a huge month in the state during tournament season. Auto racing, however, is the state’s biggest sport by dollars. The Indy 500 and the Brickyard 400 are held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and are the 2 largest single-day sporting events in the world. With the emerging success of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts, support for the Colts has recently overshadowed that of the NBA’s Indiana Pacers. In fact, Indianapolis will host the Super Bowl in 2012.
Indiana has pros and cons just like every state. Perhaps the state’s biggest con, however, is its regression. It takes forever to get anything done—anything from road construction to passing important legislation. Indiana ranks poorly in education. The state ranks like 40th in education, and Indianapolis Public Schools (the state’s largest public school district) enrollment is on the decline and has the second-highest dropout rate in the country. ISTEP scores are also worsening year by year. The state is lacking in innovation and creativity, making the brain drain a serious problem. Many young people are moving to other states when they graduate from college to take higher paying jobs that offer a future. Indiana has also lost a lot of manufacturing jobs—more than only a few other states. The state has not yet been able to produce better, higher paying jobs to replace those lost, and poor education is the largest factor. Property taxes are also high, considering its regression and low cost of living. Indiana is blessed with so much potential, but hasn’t live up to it very much.
To say that Indiana is a hick state is hogwash. It has no more hicks than any other state. Most of them live generally south of Bloomington. There are also a number of hicks of Kentucky descent in the Indianapolis area. The state's 6.5 million Hoosiers (14th in population) are generally average people who live in small towns, sizeable communities and their suburbs. Most Hoosiers live within just a few hours drive from large Midwest metropolitan areas: Chicago, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Lousiville, St. Louis, Columbus and even Detroit. Very few states have that distinction. The Indianapolis area has tons of suburban soccer moms who live on cul-de-sacs, drive SUVs and hog the road. Hoosiers are generally conservative and often divided in loyalty between Purdue University basketball and Indiana University. The term Hoosier Hysteria describes Indiana’s love of basketball and was depicted in the movie Hoosiers. March is a huge month in the state during tournament season. Auto racing, however, is the state’s biggest sport by dollars. The Indy 500 and the Brickyard 400 are held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and are the 2 largest single-day sporting events in the world. With the emerging success of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts, support for the Colts has recently overshadowed that of the NBA’s Indiana Pacers. In fact, Indianapolis will host the Super Bowl in 2012.
Indiana has pros and cons just like every state. Perhaps the state’s biggest con, however, is its regression. It takes forever to get anything done—anything from road construction to passing important legislation. Indiana ranks poorly in education. The state ranks like 40th in education, and Indianapolis Public Schools (the state’s largest public school district) enrollment is on the decline and has the second-highest dropout rate in the country. ISTEP scores are also worsening year by year. The state is lacking in innovation and creativity, making the brain drain a serious problem. Many young people are moving to other states when they graduate from college to take higher paying jobs that offer a future. Indiana has also lost a lot of manufacturing jobs—more than only a few other states. The state has not yet been able to produce better, higher paying jobs to replace those lost, and poor education is the largest factor. Property taxes are also high, considering its regression and low cost of living. Indiana is blessed with so much potential, but hasn’t live up to it very much.
Indiana is a quaint state in general but not all bad depending on where you live—better than Michigan, Ohio, and all those Great Plains Sates and inbred Southern states. It is the fastest growing state in the Midwest by population, but I guess that’s not important.
by krock1dk@yahoo.com May 26, 2008
Get the Indiana mug.young, well to do (mostly white) people in urban areas who are trendy, talk on their cell phones, use their PDAs or laptops, drink coffee in Starbucks and drive a nice car.
Midtown Manhattan is yuppie central along with San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Chicago, Washington DC
by krock1dk@yahoo.com August 20, 2007
Get the yuppie mug.The offspring of Generation X and the Baby boomers. Also known as the “me” generation. It’s a generation of young persons born typically between 1980 and 2000, and the offspring of dysfunctional parenting practices of Generation X that has resulted in inflated egos, entitlement, selfishness, materialism, debauchery, and a lack of responsibility. It’s the generation of the cell phone, IPOD, the iPhone, TIVO, Hannah Montana, High School Musical, Sponge Bob, and school shootings.
by krock1dk@yahoo.com October 11, 2008
Get the Generation Y mug.America’s Dairyland. The Badger State and unfortunately similar to Michigan or Minnesota. A state of the Upper Midwest/Great Lakes region bordering Lake Michigan, Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa and the putrid Toll Roads of Illinois to the south. Milwaukee is the largest city with some 580,000 in the city in a greater metro area of 1.6 million, just 90-miles north of Chicago. Madison is the 2nd largest city with some 220,000 people and is a nice college town as the main campus to UW. Other cities include Green Bay, Kenosha, Appleton, Oshkosh, Fond du Lac, Eau Clair and La Crosse. The rest of Wisconsin is very low key and conservative. It was the birthplace of American liberalism, thanks to the the La Follete family and the Progressive movement. Wisconsin often supports the Democrat party in national elections.
There are a few basic things almost everyone associates with Wisconsin: the Packers, Beer, Bratwursts and cheese. Wisconsinites cheer for the Green Bay Packers as though it is a religion or something and are called “Cheeseheads. Ironically, Green Bay is the smallest NFL market by far. However, Wisconsin has tons of bars and probably the most per-capita of any state. Wisconsin consumes more alcohol and has a higher people-to-bar ratio then any other state. It is not surprising that Milwaukee is a major beer producer. Many of its 5.7 million residents (ranking 19th in population) are descendants of Nordic Europeans where the people talk with a funny accent similar to Minnesota or Michigan. Natives pronounce the 2nd syllable in their state’s name as if it is coming from their nose. Words that end in “ike” are pronounced “oik” and words that have a short-A, like “bag” are pronounced “beg.” Wisconsin is one of those cold, northern Great Lakes states where fishing, hunting, snomobiling or skiing is popular in the winter. Many “downstate” residents have a cabin in Northern Wisconsin near one of the states THOUSANDS of lakes—more than most states. In fact, many people from the Chicago area to the south, frequently visit Lake Geneva to get away from the city. It may be a cold state but the women are HOT! Many of them can be seen around the UW campus in Madison. Try being there in the summer. Wisconsin Dells is the state’s largest tourist attraction and perhaps only amusement park while House on the Rock, in the town of Spring Green is also popular. Baraboo has a large circus museum.
It is known as “America’s Dairy Land” because it produces more cheese and dairy products per-capita than any state (but California leads the nation in overall production). As a result, Wisconsin is an important state in food processing. Oscar Meyer, Kraft and Johnsonville Brats have large plants in the state while Milwaukee is a major beer producer. The state’s largest industrial center is Milwaukee and is a major producer of tools, machinery, and Harley Davidsons. Wisconsin is a progressive state—much more so than its northern and eastern neighbor of Michigan and almost as much so as Minnesota. It has good schools and its teachers are among the highest paid in the country.
If the cold is the worst thing about this state, then it must be pretty good to live.
There are a few basic things almost everyone associates with Wisconsin: the Packers, Beer, Bratwursts and cheese. Wisconsinites cheer for the Green Bay Packers as though it is a religion or something and are called “Cheeseheads. Ironically, Green Bay is the smallest NFL market by far. However, Wisconsin has tons of bars and probably the most per-capita of any state. Wisconsin consumes more alcohol and has a higher people-to-bar ratio then any other state. It is not surprising that Milwaukee is a major beer producer. Many of its 5.7 million residents (ranking 19th in population) are descendants of Nordic Europeans where the people talk with a funny accent similar to Minnesota or Michigan. Natives pronounce the 2nd syllable in their state’s name as if it is coming from their nose. Words that end in “ike” are pronounced “oik” and words that have a short-A, like “bag” are pronounced “beg.” Wisconsin is one of those cold, northern Great Lakes states where fishing, hunting, snomobiling or skiing is popular in the winter. Many “downstate” residents have a cabin in Northern Wisconsin near one of the states THOUSANDS of lakes—more than most states. In fact, many people from the Chicago area to the south, frequently visit Lake Geneva to get away from the city. It may be a cold state but the women are HOT! Many of them can be seen around the UW campus in Madison. Try being there in the summer. Wisconsin Dells is the state’s largest tourist attraction and perhaps only amusement park while House on the Rock, in the town of Spring Green is also popular. Baraboo has a large circus museum.
It is known as “America’s Dairy Land” because it produces more cheese and dairy products per-capita than any state (but California leads the nation in overall production). As a result, Wisconsin is an important state in food processing. Oscar Meyer, Kraft and Johnsonville Brats have large plants in the state while Milwaukee is a major beer producer. The state’s largest industrial center is Milwaukee and is a major producer of tools, machinery, and Harley Davidsons. Wisconsin is a progressive state—much more so than its northern and eastern neighbor of Michigan and almost as much so as Minnesota. It has good schools and its teachers are among the highest paid in the country.
If the cold is the worst thing about this state, then it must be pretty good to live.
Despite its Upper Midwest location, WISCONSIN is a very desent state to live if you can take the cold. I wouldn’t live there just for this reason, but it is a very good state nonetheless.
by krock1dk@yahoo.com January 13, 2008
Get the Wisconsin mug.The area of the Commonwealth of Virginia, with about 3 million people or so next to Washington DC, that should to do the rest of Virginia a favor and seceed to Maryland. It's an urban hell on earth and the epitome of urban sprawl gone ammock. Unlike the rest of Virginia, it is generally liberal, highly diverse, highly urbanized, a ridiculous cost of living, has ungodly traffic congestion, too much urban sprawl, a highly skilled and young workforce, and too many arrogant yuppies who live close to DC. The most jobs are in the Federal Government, high-tech firms, healthcare, law, and communications. Asians and Hispanics live everywhere. As much as Northern Virginia sucks, the best places to live are in Centerville, Chantilly and Leesburg. The people are very materialistic, fake, shallow, stuck up and think the country revolves around them. There is a megamall called Tyson’s Corner near the 495 Beltway that only rich people are allowed to patronize, and the regular middle-class ilk are mocked. The people are up in the clouds and often forget they are SOUTH of the Mason-Dixon line and part of the old Confederacy. It is northern Virginia that gives the state a bad name.
Northern Virginia should do the rest of the Commonwealth a favor and become Maryland. I lived there for a year about 3 years ago and hated everything about it.
by krock1dk@yahoo.com March 27, 2008
Get the Northern Virginia mug.The Land of 10,000 lakes. The Gopher State. The Siberia of the United States. A cold state of the Upper Midwest/Great Lakes region bounded by Wisconsin, Iowa and the Dakotas. Its location in the Upper Midwest makes it similar to Wisconsin and, unfortunately, Michigan. Minnesota is frequently considered one of the best, most progressive states in the country. Its 5 million residents (21st in population) are blessed with a good economy, good education and some of the country’s best schools, high literacy, and good healthcare with generally healthy people (Rochester is home to the Mayo Clinic), but embraces liberal politics it considers “progressive.” As a result, it is the most tax burdened state in the country--Minnesota never met a tax it didn't like. The capital is Saint Paul and the largest city is its twin, Minneapolis (370,000), to the west. The Minneapolis-St. Paul Metro Area has about 3-million people and is 60% of the state’s population. Minneapolis is a college town and home to the University of Minnesota. The Mall of America is located in nearby Bloomington. Other population centers include include Duluth and Rochester
Minnesota is much like its regional states and notorious for its long and brutal winters, numerous lakes and plenty of opportunities to get out an enjoy nature. Many Minnesotans like to do ice sculptures, sled, ski, ice fishing, and go snowmobiling during the long winter. Many “downstate” Minnesotans in the Twin Cities region have vacations homes in the north that they frequent in the summer. Its 5 million residents are descendants of Nordic Europeans with funny, northern accents that resemble a dialect heard in Michigan, Wisconsin and Canada. Minnesotans are conservative by nature, but politically liberal. It is a major “blue” state and frequently supports Democrats in national elections. The stereotypical Minneosta demeanor is called “Minnesota nice” to connote a sort of smiling stubbornness, forced politeness, false humility or passive hostility, but not necessarily haughty. For example, they use word “different” to refer to inferiority. Minnesotans know their state is considered among the progressive in the country, but don’t usually boast about it.
Minnesota is the HQ to several large, well known companies like Northwest Airlines (Eagan), Target, 3M, Best Buy and General Mills. It is the birthplace of Judy Garland, Hubert Humphrey, Laura Ingalls-Wilder, Ernest Hemingway, Garrison Keillor, Jessie “the body” Ventura (who was also Governor at one point), Jessica Biel, that idiot Al Franken, Winona Ryder, and Vince Vaughn.
Minnesota is much like its regional states and notorious for its long and brutal winters, numerous lakes and plenty of opportunities to get out an enjoy nature. Many Minnesotans like to do ice sculptures, sled, ski, ice fishing, and go snowmobiling during the long winter. Many “downstate” Minnesotans in the Twin Cities region have vacations homes in the north that they frequent in the summer. Its 5 million residents are descendants of Nordic Europeans with funny, northern accents that resemble a dialect heard in Michigan, Wisconsin and Canada. Minnesotans are conservative by nature, but politically liberal. It is a major “blue” state and frequently supports Democrats in national elections. The stereotypical Minneosta demeanor is called “Minnesota nice” to connote a sort of smiling stubbornness, forced politeness, false humility or passive hostility, but not necessarily haughty. For example, they use word “different” to refer to inferiority. Minnesotans know their state is considered among the progressive in the country, but don’t usually boast about it.
Minnesota is the HQ to several large, well known companies like Northwest Airlines (Eagan), Target, 3M, Best Buy and General Mills. It is the birthplace of Judy Garland, Hubert Humphrey, Laura Ingalls-Wilder, Ernest Hemingway, Garrison Keillor, Jessie “the body” Ventura (who was also Governor at one point), Jessica Biel, that idiot Al Franken, Winona Ryder, and Vince Vaughn.
by krock1dk@yahoo.com April 29, 2008
Get the Minnesota mug.1. The capital of the state of Texas and 4th largest state capital by population.
2. 4th largest city in Texas and seat of Travis county.
3. The "live" music capital of the country. Just look at Austin City Limits.
4. home to the University of Texas
5. Thanks to the University, has one of the youngest, hippest, most educated populations in the country. Not to mention:
6. a whole slew of hightech jobs and one of the largest high-tech centers in the country.
7. It is now among the fastest-growing cities in the country.
8. one of the "fittest" and healthiest residents of any American city, thanks to its young pop. and convenient location to recreation.
9. Ranked as the "weirdest" cities in the country.
2. 4th largest city in Texas and seat of Travis county.
3. The "live" music capital of the country. Just look at Austin City Limits.
4. home to the University of Texas
5. Thanks to the University, has one of the youngest, hippest, most educated populations in the country. Not to mention:
6. a whole slew of hightech jobs and one of the largest high-tech centers in the country.
7. It is now among the fastest-growing cities in the country.
8. one of the "fittest" and healthiest residents of any American city, thanks to its young pop. and convenient location to recreation.
9. Ranked as the "weirdest" cities in the country.
Austin is just downright cool. Not necessarily one of the largest metropolises in the country, but very nice and an excellant quality of life nonetheless.
by krock1dk@yahoo.com October 22, 2007
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