Why do people hate Kansas?

[crimsonblue]

Okay, I know that Kansas is known for being a bit conservative, and it is home to some crazies (i.e. the Phelps clan), but the state is very beautiful. I think people that deride the state as being a "flat, empty, boring" state do not understand the beauty of nature. I think driving through the green prairie in the summer is a helluva lot prettier than driving into Denver and barely seeing the mountains for the smog.

So tell me, why do you hate Kansas (or: What stereotypes do you have about Kansas)?

[MadBadger]

1. Flat, Empty, Boring, and Wingnutty works for me.

[crimsonblue]

22. It's not that flat..

In fact, Kansas is only the 23rd flattest state.

[MajorChode]

47. It just seems that way because...

there aren't any of those things other states call trees. There's also no large bodies of water to break up the monotony.

Kansas may not be the flattest state because there's a change in elevation from east to west, but the change is so gradual you wouldn't notice it unless you had a surveyor's transit (and even then you might not notice it unless you surveyed a few hundred miles).

I've flown over Kansas a few times at low altitude and it's painfully boring unless you really like looking at farmland over and over. That being said I would prefer to live in Kansas than in the desert.

[no name no slogan]

2. Because American prog-rock blows

"Dust In The Wind" my ass.

[av8rdave]

3. My only issue with it was in college...

I would occasionally drive to/from Colorado and the East Coast. I70 through Kansas seemed to take forever!

I spent a Thanksgiving in Overland Park with a gf in the 70s. Had a great time, and everyone we encountered was great!

[crimsonblue]

4. The drive on I-70 is long, but I think beautiful.

You get to see nature in its pure form, plus west of Ellsworth is a massive new wind farm that looks totally badass.

[av8rdave]

31. I haven't done that drive since the late 70s, so I obviously never saw the wind farm

At the time I was doing it, I was an impatient, arrogant college student in my early 20s, with no time to appreciate the scenery. I just wanted to BE where I was going.

Lately, I've done a couple of west Texas rides that let me see some of those wind farms close up. Incredible!

[BOSSHOG]

5. I Love Kansas

My wife is from Kansas. Its a very clean state (compared to Mississippi, its totally sterile.) We have had so many great times in Kansas and we'll be back in May for a visit and we both are looking forward to it. And the citizens I have met are hard working, church going folks. And my wife is the resident Jayhawk fan in South Mississippi. You are right, its is a beautiful state. (I'm not too crazy about the winters.)

[crimsonblue]

8. Don't get me started on the weather..

The weather is one thing I do not like about Kansas. Since the state lies at the convergance of many different weather patterns, we see about every season some weeks. Last Friday, it snowed. Two days ago, it was really windy. Today it is 65 and sunny. Ugghh..

[Shell Beau]

6. I have nothing against Kansas. I am sure it is a lovely state.

[tanngrisnir3]

7. Because Nebraska kicks Kansas ass in every meaningful way.

[crimsonblue]

10. he. ok.

Nebraska is kind of the uglier kid sister of Kansas. Nobody talks about it much, but it's pretty much exactly like Kansas (even the locations of Omaha and KC are the same geographically relative to their states).

[MadBadger]

11. Except Nebraska is better because its 1/5 blue, no matter what your school colors are.

[crimsonblue]

15. That's only because of the way you divy out electoral college delegates

I do like that about Ne, though. Kansas, for the first time in a long time, has more registered democrats and independents than republicans. We have tons of moderates moving to Johnson county.

[MadBadger]

20. Sometimes you need to accept the fact that everybody else thinks ur state sucks

Example: I'm from NJ

[tanngrisnir3]

16. Actually, the landscapes of Nebraska are more varied and beautiful...

than Kansas.

The Nebraska Sandhills, Toadstool State Park, the forests (no shit, forests in NE), etc...

Besides, Omaha is one of the wealthies cities in the US, has one of the highest charitable contribution rates, world class zoo, Scott's Bluff, the largest migratory bird population and migration in the world, river rafting and, believe it or not, the highest point in the 5434 ft, etc...

[crimsonblue]

21. if you want to talk about empty and boring...

it's the sandhills. The geographical isolation you feel there is unbearable (there are some good golf courses there, but none compare to Prairie Dunes).

[tanngrisnir3]

24. Empty, yes, but then again, so is Northern Yosemite Nat'l Park and Alaska

Boring? It's all in your head, m'man.

[HopeHoops]

9. Well, Phelps is a good chunk of that.

[PeaceNikki]

12. Agreed.

Westboro Baptist Church is hate personified.

[HopeHoops]

17. Satan spawn, no less.

[ipfilter]

13. Everyone knows the wind blows in Oklahoma

because Kansas sucks. Oh wait...Oklahoma sucks too.

[Blue_Tires]

14. i only lived there for 2 years, but really loved the place

[LNM]

18. I think people hate it because they think of it as totally flat

and they've never actually visited there. The rolling hills in western Kansas are beautiful.

[crimsonblue]

25. There was 1 study that "proved" it was flatter than a pancake

and that became accepted public knowledge. In fact, Kansas is the 23rd flattest state. The flattest state is Delaware.

[LNM]

30. I saw that

I believe it was college kids. That was pretty funny.

[sammythecat]

19. Didn't much like Uriah Heep either

[AngryAmish]

23. An ex is from Kansas

Kansas is very pretty, tho.

[Mendocino]

26. In 64 my family and I drove

across Kansas east to west on Route 36. This was before interstates. It was July and about 100 in an non-air conditioned car. When we got far west, we cut NW on rt 27 into Nebraska. At the state line was a huge sign that said "Welcome to Nebraska, aren't you glad you're not in Kansas anymore?"

[crimsonblue]

29. haha.

You get the same feeling driving into KS from Ok or Mo on county roads. When you cross into KS, the roads get better all of a sudden, and the landscape seems cleaner for whatever reason.

[Deep13]

27. I think it is one of those "admire from a distance" states.

And no, Ohio isn't anything to write home about either.

[DarkTirade]

28. I do find it ironic that Kansas is the state that has the zip codes starting with 666.

:P

[Hayabusa]

32. The Jayhawks

Frakking Kansas...

[crimsonblue]

33. Did you mean the Defending NCAA Men's Basketball Champion Jayhawks?

:P

[Hayabusa]

62. Precisely

Go Mizzou! :P

[old mark]

34. I do not care about Kansas enough to hate it.

I do recall you had soem bad ass cowboys there at one time, though...
and some great jazz musicians, too.

mark

[crimsonblue]

35. I'd take your hatred over indifference.

We're Americans in Kansas, just like you.

[old mark]

37. Just be glad you don't live in

New Jersey.

mark

[crimsonblue]

42. haha.

for whatever reason, that really made me laugh. Probably cuz it made me think of John Stewart and his constant pokes at Jersey.

[Sequoia]

36. What Kansas means to me....

corn. Popcorn. I musta been in the 4th grade when I read a story in school about a girl on a popcorn farm and there was a fire and all the corn got popped so everyone was trying to walk through drifts of popcorn. It wouldn't go away so everyone had to eat it...with lots of butter and salt.

And then there's tornados.

And then there's the Kansas-Nebraska Act and John Brown.

[Sky Masterson]

38. Because I lived there for 30 years

The best thing about Kansas is the road leading out of it.

[elocs]

39. Asskan. Does this work for states too? n/t

[TK421]

40. Couldn't hate it honestly....never been there

but then again, I've never been out that far west. All I've ever heard is that it is fairly scenic, though not much to do. I could be wrong there, too!

[Chan790]

41. I hate KS for the same reason I hate a lot of other places...

it's not urban enough for me. I'm an big city sort of fellow. I love NYC, Boston, DC, Philly. I like the subway, I like diner food at 3am, I actually like smog and grime and life in the metropolis. Shopping. Shows. Nightlife. I live in the greatest place on Earth. I'm a New Yorker.

I'm not big on nature or scenery. KS has nothing to offer me.

[ThoughtCriminal]

43. The Gods Hate Kansas

[PVnRT]

44. Their earlier stuff was good, but they went downhill fast

[petronius]

45. I don't hate it, but I get mildly irritated when I mix up Kansas and Nebraska on a map

Why can't they just merge together into something like Nebransas or Kansaska? :shrug:

[SPKrazy]

46. Because it is a state with a lot of "Red" area, and pockets of blue

but they had a democratic governor how is now the HHS in the Obama administration, and a woman.

Kansas is flat

in Oklahoma, we used to say

Texas sucks and Kansas blows and that is why it is windy in Oklahoma.

:P

otherwise, it doesn't have a lot to see if you drive across it, but I wouldn't say I hate it.

I dislike the drive because it seems like it takes FOREVER to go up I-35, and pick up I-70 to Colorado, but then Eastern Colorado is no pretty place at all. Dry, and arid, and nothingness.

I suppose that every state has its drawbacks and areas that give it a reputation. I mean people think of Colorado and they think of mountains and skiing, etc.

But more than half the state is not mountainous, high arid plains...

[struggle4progress]

48. Cuz we don't like tornados -- and Kansas seems to be the tornado manufacturing center of the US

Stop makin those tornados, Kansas! And if you can't stop makin em, at least stop shippin em to the rest of us!

[orleans]

49. i don't hate kansas. i hate arkansas n/t

[960]

50. Eh, it's pretty boring there.

I've been to just about every state, and it's definitely near the bottom of places I'd want to go again.
There isn't anything really interesting to speak of. Kind of a big strip mall and generic blahness.

[One_Life_To_Give]

51. They went and built a skyscrapper 7 stories high

about as high as a building ought to grow.

[MadHound]

52. Because I grew up in Columbia Missouri

And went to MU. Hating Kansas is reflex by now:evilgrin:

PS, next time we meet on the hardwood, Kansas won't have it's bought and paid for refs to help them.

[crimsonblue]

53. Yes, because bad officiating made you get your asses handed to you on Sunday

The only reason mizzery won in Columbia was because Kansas, once again, couldn't hit free throws at Paige Sports Arena.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

54. I don't like flat places

Fields of grass are boring to me. I think it'd be cool to see a tornado, though.

[Pacifist Patriot]

55. Dorothy. That's about all Kansas raises in my mind.

Sorry.

On the other hand, I want to know why everyone and their brother seems to hate Florida.

[geardaddy]

57. God's waiting room?

:D

[ccharles000]

56. I might move to Kansas to help turn it blue.

And to get out of NC.

[REP]

58. Wyandotte and Johnson Counties - Used to live right next to both of them

I lived right next to Kansas for longer than necessary (most of my life) and trust me, there's nothing good about that place, even though my brother still lives there.

[Sky Masterson]

59. I lived in both.

Wyandotte votes democratic and Johnson County is pretty republican though growing more Dem.
I'm just happy to live in KCMO

[REP]

68. That's where I was born and lived too long - KCMO

KCMO is heaven on earth compared to :puke: Kansas.

And don't get me started on St Louis!!

[kaiden]

60. Wichita is kinda cool And Kirby's Beer Store is the bomb.

[DevonRex]

61. You have to crank up Tool and drink WAY too much coffee to stay awake

when you're driving through Kansas.

[friedgreentomatoes]

63. I don't have anything against Kansas.

Haven't even been there. But if the name of the state reminds me of Fred Phelps first thing, it ain't good x(
Kansas is pretty easy to place on a map though........bang in the middle

[Fire1]

64. Cause it's 'flat.'

[kwassa]

65. Because it is empty, flat, boring, and above all, endless.

The prairie is pretty for a little while. It goes on for hundreds of miles, exactly the same. That is boring.

Don't feel bad. Most states between either coast are boring, too. The great middle American featureless landscape, with the exception of the Rocky Mountain states.

We decided to get a little local culture, jumped off the freeway in Hays, Kansas, looking for dinner. We are an interracial couple. We got stared at like we just arrived from Mars. It was a measure of hick-dom.

[leftyclimber]

66. I like to climb big sticking-up things.

Kansas lacks that attribute.

Sigmund Freud, eat your heart out.

[Tom Kitten]

67. just the tornadoes that run through

I remember the twister scene in "The Wizard of Oz" and that terrified me more than the flying monkeys. Nothing personal, I just don't want to live in a place where you have to be constantly aware of them certain times of the year.