Contentious issue I know, but recently I’ve encountered a number of people who believe that Ohio (and sometimes Indiana and Michigan) is not truly part of the Midwest. Which to me is preposterous since I’ve always considered Ohio the most quintessentially Midwestern state. Midwest to me has always been very nearly synonymous with rust belt, but it seems there are a fair number of people who place the Midwest more in what I’d call the Great Plains, or Greater Minnesota. So I’m wondering where do you all place the Midwest.
You really gotta think in terms of cities, not just states. The best places are probably Minneapolis, Chicago, and Cleveland, imo. Detroit has a really unique appeal all its own, too; I just dock it for really bad transit. Minneapolis is the best biking city in the country, Chicago might just be the best American city flat out, and Cleveland is really cheap for the quality of urbanism you get. You'll find good small towns all over the place; Ohio and Michigan are packed with them.
I live an hour-ish outside of Minneapolis, even for being a more conservative area of Minnesota it is miles better than any of Missouri IMO.
I've visited MI and OH, I can't endorse Ohio given the experience of friends there, but MI has a certain appeal to me anyway. The growing season is definitely better than what I've got now depending on your proximity to the lakes.
They named the state "Misery". There is no reason to want to live there and even travelling through is unsafe. It's a hell of ruthless right wing reaction, racism, and unspeakably brutal social violence.
Eastern MI has Detroit and a lot more diverse population, western MI is like ~60% chuds (and Dutch chuds in the south 🤮).
Agreed on Chicago though. Basically the cities that chuds whine and scaremonger about constantly, Detroit and Chicago especially, are pretty cool.
You will never make friends in Minneapolis. You will think you have friends, but over the years you'll realize you've never met their families, they never show up when you need help, they never let you in to their inner lives.
There's a joke that "Minnesotans will give you directions to anywhere but their home". It's not a joke. They (at least the white ones) are a cold, cruel people.