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Also, Cincy's population is not much more than Buffalo's. Cleveland has atleast 150000 more people.
The only relevant number in relation to this discussion is the metro area population. Per the 2010 Census Metro Cincinatti has 2,130,151 while the SMALLER Cleveland MSA has 2,077,240.
Totally understand the Great Lakes thing. Born in Duluth, Minnesota; the westernmost city on the Great Lakes (Lk Superior) I always get, 'oh, I love Minneapolis!'. I usually just smile but Minneapolis, 165 miles south, is nothing like Duluth, which is much more similar to Thunder Bay and other Great Lakes cities in Ontario and Michigan than it is to the rest of Minnesota. Although, along with that comes the resentment of 'who gets all the state resources, nice schools, best highways - Mpls/St Paul..is there a similar problem in New York State as to which parts of New York get most of the 'best' and who doesn't?
Syracuse has a little bit more of an east coast influence than Buffalo or Rochester (soda instead of pop) but I'm sorry people in Syracuse definitely have the Great Lakes accent, so do people in Utica. It is definitely more mixed in Albany (somewhat more of a downstate and New England influence). I deal with people frequently on the phone from the Utica and Syracuse areas and they sound only slightly different than people in Buffalo and Rochester (Both of which I've lived in)
As I'm watching (while I'm typing) the gridlocked traffic here in front of my office in Garden City, Long Island I find it laughable to that you consider Syracuse to be faster paced than Long Island! Not even a close comparison! Maybe way out on the East end but certainly not in Nassau and Western Suffolk Counties.
Upstate New York (from the Mohawk valley westward) is a mix of 4 parts Midwestern, 1 part Canadian, 1 part New England, 1 part Downstate New York and 1 part Appalachia.
Utica does, but its also a mix of NE as well.
The lingo used however is very influenced by the Italian history of the city (like NYC, Philly, etc.) Baby boomer Uticans (odds are theyre Italian) say tree for three, youse for you guys, dis, dat, dem, dose, etc.
Yeah, I'm from Michigan, and I say "pop" and "gym shoes." Do they say that in Buffalo/Rochester too? I know someone from Rochester and he doesn't have a New York accent.
Anyway, Buffalo is definitely not the Midwest. It may have similarities with industrial Midwest cities like Cleveland or Detroit, but it has nothing in common with the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Indiana, or Minnesota - states that are the heart of the Midwest. It is WAY too far east, well east of Ohio and east of the east coast of Florida and Georgia. How is that Midwest? It's closer to New York than Chicago or Kansas City. It's IN New York State! Also, I would imagine Buffalo has far more in common with Albany and Syracuse than Grand Rapids or Kalamazoo, let alone Rapid City and Wichita. Buffalo is Northeast, folks.
People really need to start looking at maps. The NYC accent is limited to the NYC area.
How could people possibly expect it to reach nearl 300 miles away to Rochester?
Most stateside areas outside of major cities on the East Coast dont have the city accents (Boston, NYC, Philly).
Im not going to say these people outside the major cities have neutral accents, nobody does, but it does get MORE neutralized.
Geographically speaking Buffalo is obviously northeastern. But Buffalo and Western NY in general, is much more culturally similar to Cleveland and Chicago, then they are to Boston and NYC. Though, people in Buffalo are more likely to have 'allegiance' to NYC than to Chicago, despite having more culture similarities with Chicago. But to me its kinda of a blend, midwestern with heavy northeastern influences.
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