Major Differences: New England and the Midwest (state, compared, places)
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As a midwest native, born and bred, I'm very much used to what the midwest has to offer and the pace of life in the area. Several large sprawling metros, an awful lot of cornfields, a ton of chain restaurants, and a lot of flat land. People generally aren't too flashy, showy, or stuck up, it's a fairly humble place.
The last 4 years I have been living in the Deep South and came to appreciate a lot of things about the midwest even more, which may have let me accidentally put the midwest into a pedestal it doesn't quite deserve, as I'm not familiar with the rest of the country and I hear both coasts put the south and midwest to shame in terms of culture, diversity, economy, and things to do.
Anyways, point of this thread is to highlight some key differences between New England, and the northeast in general vs the midwest. I wasn't sure that there were any major ones, but after talking to a friend from Indiana, my home state, who has spent her last 3 years living in Connecticut, I have learned that there is a lot of change.
Of course this is just personal experiences coming from a friend, but they are her stories. A few of the things she told me was about the lack of chain restaurants; not like it was a bad thing, but saying that locally or regionally owned restaurants are far more common and of far superior quality in Connecticut. She overheard a few teenage boys talking about an Olive Garden once and both claimed they had never been there, Olive Garden dominated the midwest and all of its suburbs, we're very familiar with it.
Apparently Connecticut is a very wealthy state, I don't know exactly how wealthy compared with other states, or Indiana in general since that is where my friend and I are originally from. She says it is so wealthy that people will tend to look down on you if you aren't properly dressed, luxury cars are very common, and people's attitude are a little more of the high and mighty type.
Connecticut feels a world away from Indiana and what I'm used to, and two worlds away from Mississippi, where I currently live. In Mississippi, at least my part, the majority of men will wear a t-shirt and jeans, you're considered over dressed if you wear a button up shirt most of the time. Large pickup trucks with lift kits are common here, camoflauged clothing, cowboy boots, etc. Anyways, it's not about the south, but just how different is New England from the midwest?
When I see videos or pictures of New England on television it doesn't look that much different, it's a lot older, some of the people have silly accents, there really aren't any cornfields...just a lot of trees, but everything else looks pretty similar
So tell me, what are some of the main differences in these two areas?
Well the Northeast as a whole is a lot more congested than the Midwest. The Midwest is a large area geographically compared to the Northeast and things are much more spread out in the Midwest and there a lot of open areas. Outside of the major cities the Midwest is pretty rural. Also the Midwest is a more slower paced lifestyle. The Midwest is also more conservative than the Northeast generally. And yes Connecticut is much wealthier than Indiana but it's not quite as pretentious as your friend or whatever made it out to be. Indiana is however a very blue collar state when compared to CT which has one of the highest per capita incomes in the country. Some areas of the Midwest will remind of you of areas in the Northeast. For instance, Chicago is frequently referred to as a "Mini New York". That's only the downtown area though or "The Loop" the rest of Chicagoland is Midwest to the core and is nothing like NYC. The Midwest is very agricultural as I'm sure you know. The Midwest is different within itself if that makes sense. Like the Great Lakes region (OH,IL,MI,IN,WI,MN) is a world away from the Great Plains (NE,KS,ND,SD). Michigan and Ohio feel nothing like Nebraska and Kansas.
True. I was just surprised to hear one of my friends talk about how very different Connecticut is from Indiana. Didn't expect there to be that big of a change. I imagine the culture shock would be even more pronounced for someone from my current state of residence, Mississippi.
New Haven yes is way different from Indiana, you've got rich elite centered around Yale and commuters to Manhattan and a poor urban ghetto area, surrounded by a quasi New England vibe. Would probably be culture shock indeed.
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Apparently Connecticut is a very wealthy state, I don't know exactly how wealthy compared with other states, or Indiana in general since that is where my friend and I are originally from. She says it is so wealthy that people will tend to look down on you if you aren't properly dressed, luxury cars are very common, and people's attitude are a little more of the high and mighty type.
I think that's referring to a specific subculture. Not everyone in Connecticut is like that. Going west of New Haven, it's increasing part of the NYC area, with some very wealthy suburbs (and some normal ones). Not really typical New England. Most of New England isn't actually that materialistic or showy, though maybe the Midwest is less so.
Country music isn't popular in most of New England, except maybe some of rural northern New England. All three of the southern New England states have a heavy Irish and Italian-American presence (and for parts of eastern Massachusetts, Portuguese) , more than almost anywhere in the Midwest.
I didn't know chain restaurants dominated the dining out scene in a lot of the Midwest, I haven't seen that in many places. In the NYC metro part of Connecticut, few would be interested in an Olive Garden. They'd go for local Italian-American places, cheap or expensive.
Well the Northeast as a whole is a lot more congested than the Midwest. The Midwest is a large area geographically compared to the Northeast and things are much more spread out in the Midwest and there a lot of open areas. Outside of the major cities the Midwest is pretty rural. Also the Midwest is a more slower paced lifestyle. The Midwest is also more conservative than the Northeast generally. And yes Connecticut is much wealthier than Indiana but it's not quite as pretentious as your friend or whatever made it out to be. Indiana is however a very blue collar state when compared to CT which has one of the highest per capita The Elmwood Village Association in the country. Some areas of the Midwest will remind of you of areas in the Northeast. For instance, Chicago is frequently referred to as a "Mini New York". That's only the downtown area though or "The Loop" the rest of Chicagoland is Midwest to the core and is nothing like NYC. The Midwest is very agricultural as I'm sure you know. The Midwest is different within itself if that makes sense. Like the Great Lakes region (OH,IL,MI,IN,WI,MN) is a world away from the Great Plains (NE,KS,ND,SD). Michigan and Ohio feel nothing like Nebraska and Kansas.
In the Interior Northeast, you can leave Downtown in many cities and be in the country within 10-25 minutes in many cases. It has a slower pace than the Bos-Wash corridor too. So, some things aren't necessarily that different from the Midwest.
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