Midwest vs New England? Which has a stronger"small town" culture (largest, places)
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When it comes to traditional white protestant culture, which of these two regions has a more traditional culture when it comes to "small town" culture?
Attributes
-family-Either. But in New England a lot of people have had to move away due to the high cost of living so the families are broken up.
-outdoor activities-New England. Towns have recreation areas with hiking and canoeing. Lots of trails. Lots of historical places to explore on foot. By the coast--swimming, boating. In the mountains--skiing. There are lots of lakes and ponds for recreation too. New England is very outdoor oriented.
-safety-either
-patriotism-probably midwest in the flag waving sense of the word, but New England in caring deeply and respecting the traditions that founded this country.
White and Protestant? The towns in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine are more like that. Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island used to be but now are outnumbered by Irish and Italian Catholics. White?
The Midwest states are far more conservative than New England. The only think making Illinois a blue state is Chicago, the only thing making Ohio a swing state is its large metro areas and industrial heritage. New England has only a couple of large metro areas and yet even the small states like Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont are all blue when it comes to politics.
First, you are confusing red and blue with conservative and liberal. Second, your response regarding Illinois and Ohio reads like this: "The only thing making the politics of the state the way they are are the people that live in the state..." You also forgot the states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, which have rather Democratic metro areas and strong industrial heritages. These states may be slightly more conservative than a state like Massachusetts, but I would never say that a place like Minnesota is "far more conservative than [all of] New England." Also, New Hampshire is not exactly the "blue state" that you paint it; it has a strong anti-tax mentality, a strong Libertarian stance and has historically supported Republicans more than Democrats.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ColdAilment
Really? Providence? Bridgeport? New Haven? Springfield? None of them break 100,000? Then you have Portland Maine, city itself is only 66,000, but the metro is 505,000. Boston is the only big city (over 100,000) in New England?
One more thing about New England is nearly all of it is part of a town 100% of southern New England is incorporated so everyone has some sort of civic pride, no one lives out in the county unless you live way up in far northern Maine.
Easy. New England by a long shot. I grew up in the MidWest, and live in New England (small town Vermont). There are some parts that are more urbanized and self-centric (ahem, Southern New Hampshire!) but overall New England is full of amazing small town communities. I have never felt so part of a town "family" as I have here.
To the person that said New England has a lot of big cities ... there is only one large city in New England, and that is Boston. No other cities in New England even break 100,000 people. I'm from Ohio, a single state with more people in it than all of New England combined. There are more 100,000+ cities in Ohio than there are 25,000+ cities in New England. There are more people in my home city of Cincinnati than there are in my adopted home state, Vermont.
I said 1 big city named boston and then a bunch of cities that are smaller but they are mid-sized cities like Bridgeport, Springfield, Worcester, Providence, Manchester, Lowell, Quincy, Cambridge, New Haven and Stamford.
Easy. New England by a long shot. I grew up in the MidWest, and live in New England (small town Vermont). There are some parts that are more urbanized and self-centric (ahem, Southern New Hampshire!) but overall New England is full of amazing small town communities. I have never felt so part of a town "family" as I have here.
To the person that said New England has a lot of big cities ... there is only one large city in New England, and that is Boston. No other cities in New England even break 100,000 people. I'm from Ohio, a single state with more people in it than all of New England combined. There are more 100,000+ cities in Ohio than there are 25,000+ cities in New England. There are more people in my home city of Cincinnati than there are in my adopted home state, Vermont.
1) Worcester, Providence, Springfield, Hartford, New Haven, Stamford, Lowell, Waterbury, Manchester, Cambridge, and Bridgeport surpass 100,000.
2) Outright false
3) 295,000 is significantly less than 640,000
And on the national stage Boston ranks the 21st largest city in the country, due to its much smaller city population because the city itself has very little land, but the metro ranks 10th largest, because Boston metro is huge.
Same is true for these other cities. Small cities with little land, much larger metro areas. City population alone doesn't tell much, Portland Maine's metro population is almost 10 times the city population.
When it comes to traditional white protestant culture, which of these two regions has a more traditional culture when it comes to "small town" culture?
Attributes
-family
-outdoor activities -safety
-patriotism
I guess if I was looking for a place to live I would ask about safety but what does safety have to do with being a small town? I mean, if a place has 3,000 people but isn't that safe, comparably, how does that make it less small-townish? I guess we equate crime with urbanity?
And on the national stage Boston ranks the 21st largest city in the country, due to its much smaller city population because the city itself has very little land, but the metro ranks 10th largest, because Boston metro is huge.
Same is true for these other cities. Small cities with little land, much larger metro areas. City population alone doesn't tell much, Portland Maine's metro population is almost 10 times the city population.
Yeah, but these still aren't large metropolitan areas, except for Boston.
I voted for the Midwest for several reasons (see below). But I hope people realize that both regions contain nice small towns, you really need to compare one town to another on a case by case basis. Sometimes the Midwest town would win, somtimes the New England one.
Anyway I would say Midwest overall because;
A. Possible to find nice small towns in the Midwest much further than big cities than it is in New England.
B. Because of the above, nice Midwest small towns might be less overrun with upper middle class class urbanites playing "country farmer" than it is in New England (I am looking at you Vermont!).
C. More seriously, much of the Midwest is still covered with farms which traditionally helped the small town economies.
Still like I said, it really depends on a case by case basis. For instance, many of the New England towns are pretty and have nice mountain scenery.
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You also forgot the states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, which have rather Democratic metro areas and strong industrial heritages. These states may be slightly more conservative than a state like Massachusetts, but I would never say that a place like Minnesota is "far more conservative than [all of] New England." Also, New Hampshire is not exactly the "blue state" that you paint it; it has a strong anti-tax mentality, a strong Libertarian stance and has historically supported Republicans more than Democrats.
