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It's so weird to ask Americans what foreigners think about American states abroad. Most people replying to this thread are other Americans, and since we know more about this country, yeah of course we'd have opinions strongly tailored one way or another.
LOL. I was in Greece, and a bunch of Texans were leaving the hotel. One of the hotel staff pointed at them and said "Cowboythess" and laughed, and the others then laughed. Texas has a weird reputation overseas, almost cartoonlike, with all that Europeans see as wrong with America, including excess.
There's definitely truth to this and I've seen/experienced a bit of it myself. But it's not all negative. For all of the stereotypes about excess, guns, etc. there's a pretty big market abroad for "American" cuisine and it's often synonymous with Texas. I mean google "Texas restaurant in [insert country here]" and you'll find results all over the world. There's a fascination with BBQ, steaks, burgers, etc. and it often gets lumped into that cartoonish reputation. Same with Cowboy culture, etc. It's not always panned as a bad thing. Many countries have big segments of the population that have weird fascinations with it (especially Asia and Eastern Europe). While California gets the fast car/convertible in the sun stereotype, Texas gets the big 'ol pickup truck stereotype and people enjoy it. I visited my brother during his Peace Corps. tenure in Rwanda and a group of kids excitedly said "TEXAS?!" when i told them I was from the USA. It's not all bad thoughts about TX, even if many are misguided/exaggerated.
In Canada, I find that people often (fairly or unfairly, doesn't matter) focus in on states like Alabama and Mississippi as examples of redneck conservative states. And, more broadly, of "the ills that afflict the U.S."
I have traveled internationally extensively for business and this is my perspective. First off, most people outside of the US are fascinated by the US. I would say most people love New York City. If they visited, the US they probably visited New York.
California is well know and is perceived positively. Florida is also very popular. People from Latin America like South Florida and Orlando draws people from all over the world. I live in Texas, and Texas is also intriguing to many people, I have met either for its Old West image, or perhaps surprisingly, as to how many people know someone who lives in Texas.
I grew up in Kansas and most people are not familiar with Kansas. I mention that it is in the middle of the county just to give people perspective.
I have traveled in 30 of the 50 states and am puzzled as to why any of the 30 states I have traveled to would think themselves superior to the South. Some of the states I have traveled in look depressed. My brother years ago let us in on the fact that all Americans are called Yankee overseas. We were not very happy about that because we consider ourselves to be more civilized and more polite than most people from the north or anywhere else we have met. American by birth; Southern by the grace of God.
As a Northerner I can say that one of the few negatives that I believe regarding Southerners is the sense of superiority over Northerners that so many of them seem to have been taught. I can't understand any American feeling that way regarding another region of the country.
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
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Why does Connecticut have such a popular reputation?
In no particular order I would think NY, CA, FL and HI are up there. Many foreign visitors and foreign transplants who own there. Hard time figuring # 5 on my list.
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Originally Posted by robertbrianbush
Why does Ohio have such a negative reputation?
Last edited by elchevere; 12-13-2019 at 09:58 AM..
California with the best, Mississippi with the worst.
I think that whenever people stereotype America as this land of religious, gun loving fundamentalists they at least might make an exception for California, for being so far left of the U.S. average.
I have traveled internationally extensively for business and this is my perspective. First off, most people outside of the US are fascinated by the US. I would say most people love New York City. If they visited, the US they probably visited New York.
California is well know and is perceived positively. Florida is also very popular. People from Latin America like South Florida and Orlando draws people from all over the world. I live in Texas, and Texas is also intriguing to many people, I have met either for its Old West image, or perhaps surprisingly, as to how many people know someone who lives in Texas.
I grew up in Kansas and most people are not familiar with Kansas. I mention that it is in the middle of the county just to give people perspective.
Agreed but I'd say California is solidly ahead of Florida in reputation. Florida is well known by Latinos and Europeans but Asians? Not so much. They'd go to Hawaii instead for a U.S. beach resort. California is well known by not only Asians but also Latinos.
Europeans don't know most of our states. Some of our states are the size of entire European countries, so we would, definitely know more about those countries, than they would know of our states. The majority of those of us in the US, know only very, very basic things about European countries, and not much at all, about some of them. To think Europeans are familiar with Mississippi, Alabama or Louisiana, might be giving them way too much credit. We, here in the US, think we're the be all, end all....and we are, but only to ourselves. Someone said, Europeans are "obsessed" with the US. Maybe a few states, but that would be it. Guaranteed, they aren't thinking about, and don't know about, most of them.
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