I voted North Carolina! Because I live here, and i'm friendly!
YAY!
I love my Tar-Heel state.
From the mountains of the west (where i now reside for college) to the beaches of the East there cannot possibly be a better state. If you go through the heart of the state, you will pass through the most technologically productive area in the entire nation-- possibly the world-- yes that's Research Triangle Park.
You have great cities like Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh. Each with one of the great Universities in the WORLD (that would be, University of North Carolina, Duke, and North Carolina State University, respectively). UNC was the FIRST public college in the United States, and we host a plethora of fantastic colleges... even our lesser known colleges (such as Elon [Burlington, NC]) are still ranked highly (as Elon is #1 in the South-East for MBA).
You have one of the top liberal-arts colleges also in the Mountains of North Carolina (UNC-Asheville) who, before her untimely assassination, hosted a crowned Princess. You have the great Poet Maya Angelou living at Wake Forest (Winston Salem, North Carolina). You have an extremely cheap education system, as the state government subsidizes most of the cost.
Now, can we talk about college atheletics?
You have the GREATEST collegiate rivalry in the history of sports between UNC-Chapel Hill and Durham's Duke Blue Devils (as there is, literally, only 8 miles separating the two schools-- 8 miles down 15-501). The schools host two of the greatest basketball programs in the world with great alumni players such as Michael Jordan, Grant Hill, Phil Ford, just to skim the metaphorical surface.
You have one of the country's biggest population of natural forests. You have a host of fantastic sight-seeing... the Biltmore estate, Grandfather Mountain (which is now under the ownership of the state), the outerbanks, historical Salem (Old Salem, as we call it), acres and acres of cotton farms, the 2nd largest producer of Christmas trees...
you know what, just come visit North Carolina, and you'll figure out why we are first in so many fields, and we have a significantly less population then some of the booming states.