I was thinking about this today, and it's a tough call for me.
- California has, far and away, the best year-round weather of any state in the country.
- Utah has the best economy.
- North Carolina has the friendliest people (in my experience)
- New York has the coolest city, with Texas/California/NC close behind
- DC has the most "urban" beauty, with New York and Illinois close behind
- Alaska has the most natural beauty, with Colorado a distant second
- Washington, Tennessee, and Louisiana have the best music scenes
- Texas and California have the most diversity among cities in close proximity to each other
- Alabama and South Carolina have the hottest chicks
- Massachusetts has the smartest people and best universities
- Ohio and Michigan have the lowest cost of living
- Wisconsin and Texas have the best bargains in housing (IMO)
- Louisiana has the most, err, creative system of government
- Florida has the best vacation spots
- Vermont and New Hampshire have the lowest crime rates
- Hawaii doesn't have to put up with any **** from neighboring states
- Colorado has the best selection of outdoor activities, with Washington and Oregon close behind
Overall...
I'd have to rank the coolest states as such: 1) California, 2) North Carolina, 3) Texas
It depends on what your priorities are on "coolest."
Priority one for me is the lowest taxes and the least amount of government.
Jason Sorens founded
Free State Project Home [ Free State Project - Liberty in Our Lifetime ] to recruit people to select the state with the lowest taxes and the most freedom. In the end, they chose New Hampshire.
In 1992, Liberty magazine also rated NH as having the lowest overall taxes. However, it does have stiff local property taxes--too stiff for many people. It also has bitter winters and is fairly densly populated.
Other states ranked well by Liberty were Nevada, Wyoming, Alaska, and Alabama. Five states -- NH, NV, WY, AK, and FL have no state income taxes. Unfortunately, FL has a lot of other taxes and numerous regulations and fees that disqualify it as anything close to a free state; the other four states are excellent contenders.
At the other extreme, MA, one of the highest taxed states (It's nickname is "Taxachucetts") -- not once, but TWICE -- had an opportunity to repeal its income tax. But both times, the people revealed their stupidity by voting to keep it. Who wants to live with big government lovers like that?
I have been told that AZ was a strong libertarian state until about 2000. Then government started expanding there. However, it is still one of the better states.
The western states in general are fairly free. CA is the one notable exception. In fact, for many years, it has remained at or very close to the top in high taxes and big government abuses.
Other important factors are population density (the lower the better) and climate (in general, the warmer the better). AK, WY, NV, MT, ND, SD, ID, and UT rank tops in low population density. HI, FL, AZ, southern CA, southern NV, and southern TX rank tops in warm climate.
Unfortunately no state ranks high in all three -- freedom, low population density, and climate.