arizona: I have always heard of people complaining that Arizona and Texas are the worst states to live. I mean, there was even a Family Guy episode about TX which made some knock offs, and there was a knock off line about AZ in Home Alone 2. So anyways, why does everyone hate those states? What is so bad about them?|||Desert and rednecks. That's all there is to them. Phoenix is 100+ degrees in the summer and is nothing but tract housing, retirement homes, and golf courses. It's like Las Vegas, but with all the casinos removed. Houston is a congested, sprawling, smoggy metropolis. It's like Los Angels - only remove the beach, young people, hipster neighborhoods, and the movie/music industry and replace it with oil companies, fat people, and crazy humidity. Dallas is a generic large city. It has absolutely zero defining characteristics. It has neither the public transit, history, or culture that you tend to see in east coast cities, nor does it have the youth, scenery, and outdoor life that you tend to see in west coast cities. Dallas is just there. San Antonio is fun for a day or two. Ditto with the Grand Canyon and some other natural stuff in Arizona. Austin and Tuscon are supposed to be cool, but I've never been. That's about the only positive thing I can say. The rest is horribly depressing redneck towns and vast open space. Oh, and Texas also ruins national politics by producing people like George W. Bush and Tom DeLay and filling the House with neo-con idiots. That doesn't help.|||I think you're asking two questions: 1) why do people joke about these states and 2) what is it about the states that might justify the jokes. Personally, I don't hear that many state-specific jokes, but when I lived in Texas I did hear my share of Oklahoma jokes. Most jokes I hear about a particular region now are about the South or Appalachia. Where do you live? One explanation for why you might hear jokes about Texas is that Texans make themselves targets by bragging about their state. And they do it a lot, about everything. George Bush didn't help the reputation of the state much either. As for livability in Texas and Arizona, both states have good parts and bad parts. Austin, Texas in particular is a very livable city.|||I know so many people that moved to AZ after getting a good college degree and ended up working at a restaurant until they could save up enough money to move back. There are not many high end jobs there for college grads. Its growing fast. I'd give it a few more years and there might be some new higher end jobs though.|||Try living in California. Living in California is the ULTIMATELY worst state!|||I love both States Arizona and Texas. I just couldn't tell you why.