West Virginia would be WAY better than NH, that much I can say for certain. Better climate. Hillbillies get a bad rap, sometimes deservedly, but overall I will take them over the typical denizen of any of the New England states. FAR more decent people on the average, and more open to reason, believe it or not.
Charleston is shrinking - people are leaving in droves. Down something like 10 or 15 thousands in the past decade, now in the ca. of 45K. It is a bastion of comparative liberal infestation, but that could be readily remedied. Of the 12 states in which I have lived in the course of my life, WV is perhaps the most likely to accept actual liberty. The strong Christian base helps there. Strong, but not intrusive.
Morgantown is a den of liberal pansy-werk because of the university. Not sure about Huntington, but I do not get the impression that the Marshall crowd are as much like snowflakes as that at WVU. Not sure of the east panhandle. I cannot imagine Harper's Ferry being anything other than über-liberal, but have not heard one way or t'other.
Southern WV, where we first lived, would be all over free state status. The welfare leeches would riot, but we have plenty of guns and ammo here and could make very clear the choice to them of getting over it or getting out as the only alternatives to getting buried.
Downside: state is notoriously unfriendly to free enterprise, but again I believe this could be remedied within a decade's time, if not sooner. A properly structured and delivered marketing/propaganda campaign could do the trick here. I would start by talking with every preacher in the state. I'd hit the rabbis too - both of them.
The path to the hearts of a vast plurality of West Virginians is through their churches. I'm serious as a heart attack, too. Get the preachers on board and you would get the state on. There are so many accordant points between freedom and Christianity that find the right ones for presentation would like shooting fish in a barrel.
Upsides: good climate, especially west of the Appalachians. Close proximity to DC, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Baltimore, Philly. Remote enough to make it a less-than first string target for anything violent - nobody gives a damn about WV, which is about its best feature.
Real estate is dirt-cheap. I have seen houses for sale as little as $5K on the west ($#@!ty) side of Charleston. Get enough "good" people there and the pill whores and other vermin would be swept to other corners.
It is a spectacularly pretty state. Mountains everywhere and lots of water.
I'd do it here if I thought there were any hope of not being the only person working on it. I hold no such hope. Talk is fun. Work is, apparently, not.
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