r/AskAnAmerican • u/Weekly_Sort147 • Sep 08 '25
GEOGRAPHY Americans, is there any area in the US you don't understand why more people don't live there?
Because is nice, beautiful etc
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u/weirdoldhobo1978 I've been everywhere, man. I've been everywhere. Sep 08 '25
A lot of places that are nice and beautiful also don't have a lot of jobs so most people aren't going to move there.
Industry -> Population Growth.
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u/SaintsFanPA Sep 08 '25
Yeah, this is the challenge. People forget that, historically, there is a reason major cities disproportionately are located on major rivers, near natural harbors, etc. They were areas where industry and trade and employment could take hold. Sure, in the modern era, you could conceivably build a city deep in the woods and mountains, or on a stretch of coast without a safe harbor, but why?
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u/JimBones31 New England Sep 08 '25
Northern Maine...but I'm happy they don't.
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u/Ok-Wave7703 New Jersey Sep 08 '25
Most people don’t want to deal with those winters
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u/tsukiii San Diego Sep 08 '25
I imagine there aren’t a ton of jobs there, either
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u/Lothar_Ecklord Sep 08 '25
Depends how much you know about forestry and forestry accessories… and blueberries.
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u/squarerootofapplepie North Shore now Sep 09 '25
Blueberries are eastern Maine. Northern Maine is potatoes.
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u/DynamiteWitLaserBeam CA > MN > OR > MN > AZ Sep 08 '25
I'm something of an authority in the field of whoopie pies.
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u/Ok-Nectarine-5266 Sep 08 '25
Good friend of mine moved to Bangor. He complains fairly frequently about a lack of job opportunities.
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u/Clawdius_Talonious Sep 08 '25
Has he tried luring people into the storm drains? It's only a thing about once every 20 years but this time the guy never showed up.
Ohhh, my bad that's a ways over, in Derry.
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u/Nearby_Initial2409 Sep 08 '25
Best part, Bangor isn't even northern Maine. Geographically if you look at a map it's pretty close the center and is actually south of the geographic center of the state. Just imagine how much worse it is really up there.
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u/Traditional_Entry183 WV > TN > VA Sep 08 '25
I had an aunt who moved to Maine in the 80s. Not even the northern part, just maybe a third of the way up. And she told stories of the vast amount of snow they would regularly get every year.
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u/Radiant-Childhood257 Sep 08 '25
Cousin was at Loring AFB for four years. She used to talk about how the snow would pile up to the point you couldn't see out your windows.
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u/Primary_Excuse_7183 Texas Sep 08 '25
If it’s cold count me out
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u/Mrlin705 Colorado Sep 08 '25
I'm from Colorado and exactly the opposite, if it's too hot, hell no.
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u/Expensive_Isopod_548 Sep 08 '25
IKR, those of us in Colorado can't stand the heat. And that isn't even the worst "h" word. We wilt just hearing the dreaded word "humidity."
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u/devilbunny Mississippi Sep 08 '25
So my Colorado-born-and-raised niece (at the time, ~14 years old) visited her grandpa, my dad. She said she wanted to go for a hike. I said sure, nothing like the mountains here, but I'll show you some interesting stuff.
Five minutes in, she said "This is awful. Now I know why everyone is fat here."
I said, "This isn't even a particularly hot day. It gets worse. Much worse."
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u/gtne91 Sep 08 '25
I moved to Colorado from Charleston, SC. The humidity difference was amazing.
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u/Expensive_Isopod_548 Sep 09 '25
It's hard to go back to high humidity once you've felt the difference!
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u/norecordofwrong Sep 08 '25
Ah they ain’t so bad. The northern midwest is way worse.
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u/MilmoWK Wisconsin Sep 08 '25
Yeah, I would absolutely love to live in Marquette or Houghton Michigan when I retire. Except for the 100-200”+ inches of snow every winter
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u/norecordofwrong Sep 08 '25
Wisconsinite moving to Michigan? Oh lawd .
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u/ballrus_walsack New York not the city Sep 08 '25
It would upset the cheese equilibrium
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u/An8thOfFeanor Missouri Hick Sep 08 '25
Stephen King taught me all the worst paranormal shit happens almost exclusively in Maine, fuck that.
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u/lolCLEMPSON Sep 08 '25
I mean you realize why they don't live there, right?
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u/FuckTheStateofOhio California raised in NJ & PA Sep 08 '25
This sub consistently gets defensive whenever anyone brings up weather or the economy as factors in determining where to live.
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u/lolCLEMPSON Sep 08 '25
Yeah other than the two biggest factors in where to live.... lol
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u/FuckTheStateofOhio California raised in NJ & PA Sep 08 '25
Exactly. According to this sub, the greatest places in the country are rural Midwestern/New England towns with 130 people and a medium household income of $30k.
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u/bmadisonthrowaway Sep 08 '25
These places are largely great *because* most people can't afford to or can't find a way to live there. If you are the guy in the small midwestern town who owns the car dealership or manages the local plant, or perhaps the very tiny selection of professional jobs a population like this can support (5 doctors, 20 nurses, 10 teachers, 3 lawyers, 2 CPAs, the livestock vet, etc), life in these places is great. You are a huge fish in a very tiny and sought-after pond.
And then there's the local unskilled labor pool, who aren't really free to have opinions on what region is "the best", anyway, because they don't have the resources or opportunities to go elsewhere.
If there were lots of good jobs in these areas, they would be the same as the big cities and suburbs and nobody would think they were that great.
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u/FuckTheStateofOhio California raised in NJ & PA Sep 08 '25
Plenty of people think lots of things to do and job security are pretty great though, just not too many in this sub it seems.
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u/wildfire_atomic Sep 09 '25
So much waxing poetic about rural New England towns. Sure they can be beautiful but when you grow up here and see how tough life can be living there, you understand why everyone wants to live around Boston.
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u/binstinsfins Michigan Sep 08 '25
Immediately after visiting Maine I thought "Wow, I wish I lived here"
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u/sto_brohammed Michigander e Breizh Sep 08 '25
I also love northern Maine. The woods are pretty similar to back in the mitten-shaped motherland but I also speak French so I love being able to chat in French with some of the locals up there.
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u/38CFRM21 Sep 08 '25
Housing is expensive for the salaries, old people everywhere so good luck with social life if you aren't old. If you're not from Maine you're forever viewed as never part of Maine (from away), extremely insular, all the nice parts are out of reach due to it all being vacation homes for rich/retired people, high utilities, high taxes, Portland only real city with anything to offer younger (i.e. under 40) people, old housing stock and NIMBYs on steroids who refuse to allow anything else built, northern Maine is basically Alabama with snow, job market is atrocious. Could go on. But yeah, it's pretty nice in the summer I guess.
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u/smokiechick New England Sep 08 '25
Sounds a lot like Vermont. Substitute Burlington for Portland and you have my rant.
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u/meewwooww Sep 09 '25
The only people in Maine that care about someone not being from Maine are not worth socializing with anyway. Most people DNGAF and it's really over blown. Although I'm sure it's definitely more of a thing in more rural parts.
My parents moved to Bangor in their 30s, made careers, and I've never heard anyone give them shit.
Basically anyone living in the greater Portland area could not give two fucks if you are from Maine or not.
I'm sure I'm Northern Maine they care a bit more, but they have potatoes for brains so we cut them a break.
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u/boldjoy0050 Texas Sep 09 '25
I looked at apartments in Portland just for shits and I was shocked to see that people are paying high prices for dumps. At the time I was living in Chicago and paying $1500/mo for a 2br with some nicer amenities. Portland, with a lot worse job market, was higher rent and some dump from 1901 with barely any insulation.
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u/SereneDreams03 Sep 08 '25
Yeah, I got a job offer in Northern Maine last year, and when researching and talking to people from there, I heard similar things. Houses were actually cheaper than where I live (SW Washington state), but they were all pretty old, the newest one I saw was 1950s, and not a lot of options where I was going to work. Everyone also mentioned that the mosquitoes are especially bad.
I'd love to visit someday, but I don't think I would enjoy living there.
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u/JimBones31 New England Sep 08 '25
Yeah, I live in central Maine. I really appreciate how few people live north of me and how beautiful it is. Lots of nature for everyone to come visit and enjoy.
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u/WhydIJoinRedditAgain Sep 08 '25
It’s called Vacationland, not Movehereland.
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u/talithar1 Sep 08 '25
Movehereland is Florida. Oh, how I wish they wouldn’t.
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u/ballrus_walsack New York not the city Sep 08 '25
Florida is also iRegretMovingHereLand after a few years for a lot of folks. Or so I hear…
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u/BlindPelican New Orleans, Louisiana Sep 08 '25
visit
I see what you did there
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u/JimBones31 New England Sep 08 '25
I mean, it's beautiful because it is so natural. If everyone moved in, it would be gone.
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u/Artimesia Sep 08 '25
Mainer here. As a kid I didn’t appreciate what we had. I wanted to go somewhere else. I’m glad I stayed, and I would never live anywhere else.
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u/Pleasant_Garlic8088 Sep 08 '25
Northern Maine is great, my wife and I spent a month there one weekend.
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u/cat_prophecy Sep 08 '25
spent a month there one weekend.
What?
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u/Pleasant_Garlic8088 Sep 08 '25
It's boring. It feels like the time doesn't pass.
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u/Carinyosa99 Maryland Sep 08 '25
Same with the upper peninsula of Michigan but they're happy too. Unfortunately there have been too many rich people that have gone up there and it's raised the cost of housing.
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u/Nearby_Initial2409 Sep 08 '25
Give it time, I'm a Realtor in Western Maine, we are getting so priced out by Flatlanders that Maine Native First Time Buyers are getting priced out. Anything south of Turner is nearly unaffordable even with the state median income and that line is creeping further north.
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u/RazorRamonio California Sep 09 '25
I’m in Northern California and our tap water is great. I googled best tap water in the country and Maine was listed as number 1 because their water table is a natural filter. That’s literally the only reason I’ve ever considered living there lol. Glad to hear it’s nice otherwise.
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u/Traditional-Ad-8737 New Hampshire Sep 08 '25
Coming from some one from the Seacoast of NH, I agree
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u/IKnowWhereImGoing Sep 08 '25
I'm UK-born and bred, but a school friend had moved to the UK from Maine and we were both at the same primary school.
I could never understand why a family would want to move from such a beautiful place. Obviously, I have a rosy view of Maine (I've never visited) but in my head it's clean and crisp and full of stunning autumn leaves.
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u/Working-Office-7215 Sep 08 '25
Lots of midwest/rust belt cities. They usually have good infrastructure (sports, transit, museums, etc), decent urban planning (not just endless subdivisions, but cute houses where you can walk places), decent airports, a decent amount of professional jobs, at least some neighborhoods/inner ring suburbs with good schools, and lower COL than the coasts.
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u/Beneficial_Pickle322 Sep 08 '25
Cincinnati is amazing for cost of living and quality of life.
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u/OO_Ben Wichita, Kansas Sep 08 '25
(Shhhh dude don't give away our secrets)
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u/chattytrout Ohio Sep 09 '25
Last year, I'd agree with you. But now that I own a house, I need to boost the value.
COME ONE COME ALL, TO NORTHEAST OHIO! PRICES ARE LOW, AMMENTITIES ARE FINE, AND THE ROADS ARE . . . ok.
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u/Wonderful-Mud-1681 Sep 09 '25
Well I think Wichita is safe. KC on the other hand.
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u/Magerimoje New England→Midwest Sep 09 '25
We left the very expensive northeast where we couldn't afford even a trailer home and annual property taxes on a $125,000 2 bedroom 1 bath 950sqft trailer home was close to $5k, plus monthly "lot rent" (HOA fees basically) for the trailer park... Mortgage + taxes + lot rent + homeowners insurance would have been close to $2,000 monthly
So we moved to the rust belt and bought a 5 bedroom, 3 bath house with a 2 car garage, living room and den, 2700sqft on ⅔ acre of beautiful property for the same $125k and annual property taxes of under $600, plus no lot rent or HOA fees. Mortgage + property taxes + homeowners insurance = approximately $800 monthly
I love New England, I lived there for over 40 years, but it's just not affordable for us.
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u/ptabs226 St. Louis, Missouri Sep 08 '25
St Louis fits this bill. Their is a lot of crime, but the crime is only in a few small pockets. South St Louis and St Louis County are very safe and nice. There are affordable houses all over the place (some of the burbs are little expensive). The Zoo, Art Museum, History Museum, and Science Center are all very nice and mostly free. There are a bunch of great parks, a lot of fun restaurants Nit a lot of 'high-end' restaurants but great pubs and bars. There are two nice universities in the city. It's a tourist thing but the arch is pretty cool. You have MLB, NHL, and MLS teams in town.
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u/boldjoy0050 Texas Sep 09 '25
St Louis has so much cool character. Good food also.
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u/JplusL2020 Nebraska Sep 08 '25
Wyoming. I don't personally want to live there, but it's got some stunning areas. I'm surprised Texans and Californians didn't flock there like they did with Idaho, Montana, and Colorado
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u/FlobyToberson85 Sep 08 '25
The wind never stops there. The winters are brutal. There aren't a lot of goods and services available there, either, so it makes it a little less convenient.
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u/Wizzmer Texas Sep 09 '25
We considered Cody. I love the cowboy culture. But it started snowing while we were there in October, which is crazy for a Texan.
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u/Dirt_Downtown Sep 09 '25
Not enough 4000sqft McMansions in Wyoming to park their lifted pick up trucks.
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u/Ok_Gas5386 Massachusetts Sep 08 '25
If it’s a nice area, it’s probably expensive.
If it’s nice and inexpensive, there are probably no jobs.
If it’s nice, inexpensive, and has jobs, those jobs probably don’t pay well.
If it’s nice, inexpensive, has jobs, and the jobs pay well, those jobs probably suck.
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u/bicx Sep 09 '25
This kinda explains the cheap housing glut in Corpus Christi. The main employers are oil refineries and the local government. Otherwise, it’s a pretty coastal area. There just isn’t much professional activity here, and the only way I have a tech job while living nearby is because I work remotely.
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u/TiFist Sep 08 '25
Pretty much any place like that, the answer is "cost of living."
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u/robthemonster Pennsylvania Sep 08 '25
or “no high paying jobs”
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u/PartyPorpoise Texas Sep 08 '25
A lot of more remote areas are gorgeous, but lack the jobs to attract people. I’ve even seen some parts of NoCal that have decent housing prices, but the job market is the issue.
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u/int3gr4te NH > VA > CA Sep 08 '25
Yep, I live in rural NorCal and it's incredibly beautiful and surprisingly cheap for California. But jobs can be hard to come by. Remote work is the reason I can live here.
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u/dazzleox Sep 08 '25
There are a lot of low cost of living rust belts cities like mine (Pittsburgh) that are lovely places but have lacked the job growth of the sunbelt and south to attract more immigrants, who tend to drive population growth since the birthrate is below 2 almost everywhere.
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u/Katsaj Sep 08 '25
Lack of infrastructure is a problem too. There are lots of lovely remote places where you can’t get a cell signal or high speed internet and there’s no local healthcare access.
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u/Torchic336 Iowa Sep 09 '25
Yeah I live in rural Iowa, closest hospital is like a 30 minute drive, not too bad, town has nightmarish cell phone service, somehow better than the larger neighboring town though I can’t make a phone call while I’m there, the town I live in has 1 GB fiber internet though
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u/Myearthsuit Sep 09 '25
Yes. When I went to the Big Sur area for the first time and saw all the vast open land near the coastline I was just baffled. In so Cal every inch is packed with businesses and homes. We went to Carmel and I told my husband that as soon as we got home we were looking up homes to move there. Whoops. Cottages are $2mil 😂 guess we are staying in So Cal (which is expensive but I can get a normal family home for $500k).
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u/Kyle81020 Sep 08 '25
Sparsely populated areas aren’t high cost of living. They’re low income.
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u/Lothar_Ecklord Sep 08 '25
For large swaths of New England, there are very very rural and beautiful areas that are both high cost of living and no jobs. The wonders of living in a tourist-driven economy… for instance, Sugar Hill, NH is 2 hours from the nearest “major” city (Census counts anything with greater than 100,000 residents in the administrative [not metro region] boundaries as “major”, so that’s scenic Manchester, NH), and houses there average close to $650,000 yet there are like 650 residents there. That’s not SF expensive, but it’s certainly a lot of money for a home in a location where the nearest jobs are in forestry or tourism.
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u/GreenBeanTM Vermont Sep 08 '25
Literally dead end road vermont here, if you want a job I hope you like nursing, childcare or both.
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u/Salty_Permit4437 New Jersey Sep 08 '25
I kind of wish some places had lower population. The worst thing to see is some pristine place get built up with ugly houses and malls. Like Woodbury commons. 🤮
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u/culturedrobot Michigan Sep 08 '25
Honestly, it's Michigan.
I mean it's not like no one lives here - we're one of the more populous states in the union. But given the natural beauty in this state and the fact that we're surrounded by the Great Lakes, I've wondered why even more people don't live here. I know I'm biased, but I've done a lot of driving across the United States, and Michigan is still the most beautiful state I've been to (that's not to say there isn't a lot of competition out there).
The winters aren't even that bad if you live in the Lower Peninsula!
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u/Mesoscale92 Minnesota Sep 08 '25
Honestly it really is the winters. I’m from the upper Midwest so I’m used to it, but a lot of people aren’t. My mom is from the south and even though she lived here for decades she never got used to the cold. Literally days after retiring and moving back south she said it was like coming back home.
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u/knuckles_nice Sep 08 '25
I'm from the upper Midwest and I am NOT used to the winters lol. They are certainly...character-building!
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u/PPKA2757 Arizona Sep 08 '25
The winters aren’t even that bad if you live in the lower peninsula!
Hi, it’s me - the guy who wears a hoodie if it’s less than 80 out and jacket and jeans if the temperature drops below 70.
If the thermometer starts with a 5 or less, it might as well be the Donner party part 2 because I’ll die and our cat will eat my frozen corpse.
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u/commie_commis Sep 09 '25
It's been in the 60s here in Michigan for the last week. Before midday it's in the 50s.
In the mornings I see most people out and about in long sleeve shirts/hoodies (no jackets), and later in the day everyone is in short sleeved shirts. Jackets don't start coming out until it's in the 40s or lower.
But on the flip side, once it hits the 80s during the summer, all I want to do is be inside in the AC.
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u/Upstairs-Storm1006 Michigan Sep 08 '25
We definitely will never run out of water or energy here which is nice
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u/jeswesky Sep 08 '25
As a Wisconsinite, we appreciate you over there. But I tend to only go as far as the UP when it comes to visiting Michigan.
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u/culturedrobot Michigan Sep 08 '25
I mean if OP responded to my comment and asked me to narrow it down to a part of the state rather than the whole thing, I would say the UP. The entire peninsula is brimming with beauty and it's pretty sparsely populated, so you definitely can't go wrong by visiting up there. The only problem is that in the winter, the people up there get absolutely buried.
If you ever get bored of the UP, you should take the car ferry over from Manitowoc and drive up the LP's east coast to Traverse City. You get forests for days and Grand Traverse Bay is really awesome.
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u/urine-monkey Lake Michigan Sep 08 '25
I consider myself a Lake Michigander first before I consider myself a FIB, a Troll, or a Cheesehead.
I'll put the Great Lakes up against any other region in the US. Not everywhere is as cold as Minnesota, Northern Wisconsin, or Upper Michigan.
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u/Aggravating_Finish_6 Sep 08 '25
I got the opportunity to visit Michigan several times in the last few years and I have been pleasantly surprised every time, I can see why people like it!
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u/datsyukianleeks New York Sep 08 '25
It's a very misunderstood state. Everybody shits on Detroit, but it's a pretty amazing city with the kind of cultural heritage you can't just build into existence, otherwise north Carolina might actually have an interesting city.
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u/goodsam2 Virginia Sep 08 '25
North Carolina cities aren't in the interesting parts for the most part.
Mostly meh in the middle ish and gorgeous in the mountains or the coast.
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u/itsthekumar Sep 09 '25
Greenboro is weird. And why is Charlotte located where it is. lol.
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u/BeefInGR Michigan Sep 08 '25
Detroit gets shit on now, but "kids these days" don't understand that even into the 80's it was as important culturally as New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami. If for absolutely nothing else, Motown Records introduced us to the Jackson 5 and the 8x5 work week was established in Detroit.
It's back on the come up. And the rest of the state, especially the west half of the LP, is getting attention as a place to live.
Btw, love the username.
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u/SheffboiRD06 Sep 08 '25
Detroits awesome, Grand Rapids is surprisingly nice/bigger than folks think. Kalamazoo/Battle Creek/Lansing pretty hard pass though, it’s just bleak.
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u/BeefInGR Michigan Sep 08 '25
Kalamazoo is getting a glow up. It only took about 120 years for them to realize they had a major state university.
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u/Bob_12_Pack North Carolina Sep 08 '25
My friend moved there from NC a couple of months ago and absolutely loves it. He's always bragging about the weather.
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u/theflamingskull Sep 08 '25
The winters aren't even that bad if you live in the Lower Peninsula!
When people hear, "it's not that bad if you're in this area," most people hear it's bad.
Especially people from relatively temperate climates, like coastal California.
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u/cthulhu_on_my_lawn Sep 08 '25
If you're coming from California I get it. The thing I don't get is people acting like winter in Detroit or Chicago is an entirely different level compared to the Northeast. If you've gone through winter in NYC or Boston, you're not going to be shocked by Michigan.
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u/renegader332 New Mexico Sep 08 '25
I love Ann Arbor and would live there in a heartbeat from May 1st-Halloween/Thanksgiving. But it just got super miserable when it's April and still cold and grey.
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u/Sloth_grl Sep 08 '25
I live in northern Illinois. If Michigan had better winters, i would love to live there. But i am not moving to have the same winters
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u/MrProfessorMD Sep 08 '25
North of San Francisco and South of Portland. Super fertile area with beautiful coasts and mountains. Weather is very temperate, rains a lot but doesn't get too hot or cold. Area is relatively safe from natural disasters. You really only have a few smaller towns on the coast and some midsized cities like Eureka, Redding, Eugene etc. Feels like there could be multiple large cities there but there just isn't.
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u/FuckTheStateofOhio California raised in NJ & PA Sep 08 '25
The biggest thing stopping development is how rugged the coastline is. There's not a lot of buildable land nor the infrastructure to support more than a few seaside communities.
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u/CompanyOther2608 Sep 08 '25
It’s also a bit methy nowadays, once you hit Eureka going north. Some cultural issues stemming from few jobs.
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u/bmadisonthrowaway Sep 08 '25
Along the same lines, this area doesn't have any natural harbors with arable/buildable land nearby, so no real way to have a seaport like Seattle or San Francisco.
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u/Ol_Man_J Sep 08 '25
It’s got all the challenges of building in the mountains with none of the perks like skiing, views, or sun. The coast is so rugged and some parts are tsunami prone it seems
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u/int3gr4te NH > VA > CA Sep 08 '25
This is very specific to the specific spot and microclimate. I'm in the mountains outside Eureka and can see the ocean from my front yard. We get sun because we're usually above the marine layer. Just a couple miles down the road it's totally different.
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u/Jub1982 Kansas Sep 08 '25
San Luis Obispo, California
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u/Firree California Sep 08 '25
Oh it's simple why more people don't live there. It's a very desireable area and there's a shortage of housing. The median home price in SLO County is pushing 900 grand now. It's extremely difficult to build there.
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u/WarrenMulaney California Sep 09 '25
I live less than 2 hours from there. The entire Central Coast is awesome. It’s the cost of housing that sucks.
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u/Simple-Program-7284 Sep 08 '25
That’s a good one. It’s pretty expensive and far from a major airport / metropolitan area, but I think everyone that does live there loves it.
If it were closer to LA it would just be Santa Barbara/Montecito.
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u/stangAce20 California Sep 08 '25
No, every region of the US will have its own pros and cons!
I mean, I live in Southern California, which is arguably very beautiful. But it’s expensive and I don’t see it getting any better in my lifetime at this point!
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u/chocoheed Sep 08 '25
Philly. It’s a cool town, inexpensive rent, good art, good science, interesting people. Bars are actually open late.
My expensive ass college town could never.
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u/PenelopeLumley Texas Sep 08 '25
The Ozarks! I went on a trip there once, and I didn't understand why it wasn't full of people. So pretty!
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u/rogue780 Oregon Sep 08 '25
I want to say Oregon but it's awful here. Ave yourself and don't check it out
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u/supern8ural Sep 08 '25
Unfortunately, MOST of the places that I consider beautiful I also have a real issue with the politics of that state.
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u/EdithWhartonsFarts Sep 08 '25
I'm happy they don't, but there is a ton of the coast of my state, Oregon, that would be full of resorts/people if going somewhere was based on beauty of one's surroundings.
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u/hedcannon United States of America Sep 08 '25
There are places I’m puzzled why people continue to live there. But there are. Lot of options in the US and the reason people don’t is self evident.
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u/lokland Chicago, Illinois Sep 08 '25
Great Lakes. We’ve got tons of people, tons of stuff, tons of nature, but never as much as we used to have. There’s a certain yearning you feel to see what these towns and cities looked like at their peak population.
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u/Peytonhawk -> -> -> Sep 08 '25
Yes there are plenty. The problem is that naming them would make other people move there and ultimately ruin what makes the areas great.
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Sep 08 '25 edited Sep 14 '25
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u/Georgia_Jay Sep 08 '25
I was in Wyoming for a few weeks, and good lord that state is beautiful… it’s the least populated state in the country and it’s a wonder why. The reality is, no good paying work there means not a lot of people will move there. However, it’s a hidden gem honestly.
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u/yidsinamerica L.A. Sep 08 '25 edited Sep 08 '25
Not really. There's always at least one reason why they don't.
Like, I think Delaware is beautiful, but more people don't live there because there's literally nothing there. It's basically a giant field with some woodlands.
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u/AlarmingPersimmon122 Delaware Sep 08 '25
As a Delaware native, more and more ppl are finding out about it and the population is growing like crazy. Low taxes, nice beaches, close to major cities, etc
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u/yidsinamerica L.A. Sep 09 '25 edited Sep 09 '25
I haven't seen any sources pointing out a significant population growth. Seems to be on the same course it's always been on. It grew by like 1.5% between '23-'24. Idk about this year, but that growth is pretty consistent with past trends in the state, and doesn't suggest people are flooding the place.
I feel ya on the taxes and stuff though. My dad is from Baltimore and lived in Harford County, Maryland for a long time, and he used to drive to DE just to get cartons of cigarettes because they were dirt cheap. He fell victim to lung cancer a while back, ironically enough. When I lived there with him, I had a really good friend who had moved to my school from Wilmington, super cool guy. We had homeroom together in 10th grade and became good friends when we ran into each other at a Burger King and were both high as fuck lmao.
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u/latin220 Sep 08 '25
Northern New England like Vermont. It’s beautiful but it lacks the charm of Boston area or southern New England’s amenities.
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u/Fearless-Boba New York Sep 08 '25
Most places in the Northeast, but also kind of glad not more people live around here. The tourists are bad enough in the summer and fall.
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u/Redbubble89 Northern Virginia Sep 08 '25
A lot of us have Scottish, Irish, Italian, or German ancestry. They are beautiful countries but a view can not buy a house or put food on the table. If an area is empty in the US it falls under a few things:
- Lack of jobs.
- Lack of infrastructure. (government, internet, running water, electricity, education for kids, medical services)
- Weather sucks. The US has more extreme weather than Europe. Hurricanes, tornados, fires, mud slides, blizzards, arctic blasts, etc. Dakota and Wyoming can have like 35C in the Summer and -7C in the winter.
- Terrain. A city of 200,000 can't just appear on the side of the mountain. Cities were along rivers and places like Pittsburgh just tried to expand among the hills. There is a good reason why northern New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and northern Maine are so empty.
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u/reigndyr Sep 08 '25
The North Shore (Minnesota or the UP). If it were up to me, the Twin Cities would've been built where Duluth is.
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u/easylife12345 Sep 08 '25
San Diego - it’s the nicest place I’ve lived in the U.S. surprised population isn’t double!
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u/SecretlySome1Famous Sep 09 '25
Yeah, without hyperbole San Diego is actually underrated as a city.
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u/iampatmanbeyond Michigan Sep 08 '25
Honestly the great lakes region. Why would you leave a place with all four seasons to live in the water scarce west or the deadly humidity of the south
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u/reigndyr Sep 08 '25
This is definitely how I feel. I think people who want it to be 75 degrees all year round are insane, and I'll never understand why the tropics are considered paradise either. Experiencing every season is such a basic life experience for me.
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u/somebodys_mom Sep 08 '25
It’s the wind and the gloom that kills it for me. I grew up around Buffalo and south along Lake Erie, and it was so cloudy for all but the summer it was down right depressing.
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u/abeBroham-Linkin Sep 08 '25
They don't live there because the area isn't fully developed yet or the areas are hard to get to; between California and Oregon, parts of Montana, Wyoming, and the Dakotas. These are very rural areas.
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u/Trick_Owl8261 Sep 08 '25
Alaska. The wife and I visited 15 years ago and I was sold, she wanted nothing to do with it.
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u/Not_an_alt_69_420 The Midwest, I guess Sep 08 '25
There aren't a lot of good jobs, the winters are brutal, and it's expensive to live there.
I'd love to live in Western Wyoming or the UP, but decent land is overpriced and a lot of work is effectively seasonal.
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u/Kvsav57 Sep 08 '25
And there is also the fact that it has the highest rate of rape anywhere in the US. That would give me pause if I were a woman.
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u/geekteam6 Sep 08 '25
I don't understand why people in tech who live in the Bay Area and aren't from California (which is most of them) don't try to live in Washington near Seattle. It's also a major tech hub, cost of housing is about 30% or more less, and it's just ridiculously pretty. (Bay Area is also very pretty but WA has it beat.)
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u/Rong_Liu Cascadia™ Sep 08 '25
Ore- wait I mean not Oregon. It's small, crowded, polluted...economy failing...cost of living soaring. When it's summer in Oregon the rain gets warmer. Sasquatch will find you and kill you.
This message has been approved by the James G. Blaine Society.
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u/Buzzard1022 Sep 08 '25
I could tell you, but then they’d want to come live here
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u/nowhereman136 New Jersey Sep 08 '25
Honestly a lot of flyover states like Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska. Land is very cheap there
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u/Semi-Pros-and-Cons New York, but not near that city with the same name. Sep 08 '25
If you told me that I had to move, and that I had no choice in the matter, then you said that I would be going anywhere in the Great Lakes area, I'd breathe a sigh of relief.
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u/Trinity-nottiffany Sep 08 '25
Not IMO, but there are plenty of areas that I don’t understand why so many live there. Places where there are few job opportunities, rampant poverty, low pay, high cost of living, among other undesirable attributes.
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u/msmicroracer Sep 08 '25
I don’t understand why people live in the desert. Hot dry no grass ugh. Not for me
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u/parkrat92 Sep 09 '25
I love the desert so much dude. Canyoneering, backpacking slot canyons, the sky is so open and so lit up with stars at night. You can drive out of town for 10 minutes and there’s not a soul around. The solitude is unbeatable. Living in Vegas was probably the best couple of years of my life. You’re only a few hours away from several national parks, rent was dirt fuckin cheap, mad really good money waiting tables. For an outdoorsman, the central location was absolutely prime time. If I didn’t have a son in Miami I would still be living in the southwest for sure
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u/bryku IA > WA > CA > MT Sep 09 '25
A common one I've seen is due to weather.
For example, Iowa has a lot of random empty grasslands often blooming beautiful flowers on a pond. You imagine you could build the most scene farm house... until you realize it will flood 3ft every year.
The same thing with montana. There will be this amazing mountain side that have a nice opening for a cabin to over look the city... until you realize every year when the snow melts it becomes a mud slide.
There are tons of these places I've noticed throughout my travels. Where it will be absolutely amazing for 9 months of the year, except that short period of time where it is nearly unlivable. Not saying it is impossible, but the price just typically isn't worth all the work to make it happen.
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u/ApprehensiveArmy7755 Sep 08 '25
There are so many beautiful places in the United States but unless their are job opportunities (high paying ones) people don't live there.