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Really now? The state borders Kansas and Missouri yet has NO Midwestern elements about it? So it's more like Colorado? Come on! Even northern and west-central Texas has some Midwesterness about it. I mean, "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" was filmed here and it was set in Iowa!
There's definitely Midwestern influences in Oklahoma. Certainly has more in common with Kansas than Louisiana or Mississippi.
The areas of MO and KS that border OK are more southern than midwestern overall..
Location: Live:Downtown Phoenix, AZ/Work:Greater Los Angeles, CA
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Originally Posted by U146
I don't even know who that is. And I'm not going to take the opinion of one person. One person doesn't trump the majority.
He is a filmmaker, born and raised in Austin, still lives there. Mainly makes indie films, but his one mainstream film was School of Rock with Jack Black
Location: Live:Downtown Phoenix, AZ/Work:Greater Los Angeles, CA
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If you watch the introduction of the film Bernie, a local resident (non actor) describes the different regions of Texas, I think the scene is on YouTube
Kentucky and Missouri are interesting states. Both have Southern influences and Midwest influences. Kentucky also has a sort of Appalachian vibe.
Quote:
Originally Posted by U146
Sorry but you're wrong. Southern culture and dialect cover most of Texas. You've lost. Give up. There's also the fact that the vast majority of Texans consider themselves to be Southerners.
Texas definitely has a Southern culture, but it's quite different feeling than Southern culture in SC, VA, GA, TN, AL, and MS. Texas has almost created its own Southern culture. Even the accent is very different. I can always pick out a Texas accent. But it's hard to distinguish a NC accent from a GA accent.
Kentucky and Missouri are interesting states. Both have Southern influences and Midwest influences. Kentucky also has a sort of Appalachian vibe.
Texas definitely has a Southern culture, but it's quite different feeling than Southern culture in SC, VA, GA, TN, AL, and MS. Texas has almost created its own Southern culture. Even the accent is very different. I can always pick out a Texas accent. But it's hard to distinguish a NC accent from a GA accent.
Missouri leans overall Midwestern. It's something like 70% Midwestern, 33% Southern. Kentucky is almost entirely Southern.
I can see how massive states like CA, WA, TX, have different "regions".
I think of smaller states are more interesting case studies. Some mentioned PA and OH but what I've experienced in those states is pretty uniform across the board.
New York is absurdly different from Montauk to Potsdam to French Creek. Southwest NY (southern tier) is a crossroads of Great Lakes Rust Belt and Appalachia. The ADKs are mountainous and up north far enough it gets almost Canadian. Long Island is somewhat New England; NYC is totally different from the rest, and the Finger Lakes in the middle.
Location: Appalachian New York, Formerly Louisiana
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Originally Posted by michael_atw
I can see how massive states like CA, WA, TX, have different "regions".
I think of smaller states are more interesting case studies. Some mentioned PA and OH but what I've experienced in those states is pretty uniform across the board.
New York is absurdly different from Montauk to Potsdam to French Creek. Southwest NY (southern tier) is a crossroads of Great Lakes Rust Belt and Appalachia. The ADKs are mountainous and up north far enough it gets almost Canadian. Long Island is somewhat New England; NYC is totally different from the rest, and the Finger Lakes in the middle.
Just throwing it out there, the southern tier extends all the way to the Catskills as well. The very southern tip of three finger lakes dips into it, and only Ithaca is the odd man out in terms of culture in the southern tier and that's only because of a massive transplanted population due to Cornell. Although lately Watkins Glen is becoming a tiny version of Ithaca with a growing urbanized transplanted population.
Ithaca is a funny creature because it is visually southern tier (that aforementioned rust belt Appalachia hybrid) but is populated largely by out of staters and people from downstate or Syracuse. It has an overwhelmingly liberal climate and is economically far more powerful than its southern tier brethren. However, despite all of that, once you get out of Ithaca to the west or south Tompkins county abruptly transforms back into the southern tier as we think of it, having far more to do with Schuyler and Tioga counties in most respects.
So even in a single county of NY state there's a pretty distinct culture clash going on.
What is western NY also changes depending on who is asked. For me everything west of Seneca lake is western NY, and I consider myself from western NY being from southwestern Schuyler county. I brought this up in conversation with somebody at a truck stop in Chautauqua county (a traditionally western county) and they actually agreed with me. However, a friend of mine in Buffalo disagreed calling Schuyler central NY.
Further, the southern tier changes definition as well. But I say if it's at the south end of the finger lakes and west of the Catskills it's southern tier, possible exception made for Ithaca and Cortland which do seem to identify moreso with "central NY".
I know my home county considers itself southern tier. Even our northern neighbor, Yates county, has some regional affiliation with us despite being a full on Finger Lakes county. The village of Dundee for example has been included as a southern tier town even though not in a southern tier county. Yates county is also part of the southern tier library system.
Stands to reason in some way though as Steuben county, a definite southern tier county, reaches further north than southeastern Yates, where Dundee is located.
Southern Yates county is also still on the Allegheny plateau as many neighboring areas are. Livingston county is another one that contains a small southern reach that affiliates with the southern tier at times.
Kentucky is a multi-layered hybrid. Let's work across Kentucky from east to west--from the West Virginia line to the Missouri line.
Eastern Kentucky (e.g., Ashland, Corbin, Harlan, Pikeville, most anything else east of I-75) is staunchly Southern Appalachian with a palpable influence nonetheless from Rust Belt Appalachia. Coal is still king in some areas. Northeastern Kentucky can rely on either Lexington, Cincinnati, Huntington/Charleston, WV for its media and commerce, and even Columbus, OH for commerce. Extreme Southeastern Kentucky can rely on either Lexington or Bristol/Tri-Cities for its media and commerce (Hazard, KY has a TV station, but the community is also little more than a hamlet). Also, NE KY gave the world none other than Kim Davis...that Kim Davis.
Extreme Northern Kentucky (e.g., Covington, other Cincinnati suburbs) is much like Southwest Ohio. Many of its residents even identify themselves as being "from Cincinnati." Indianapolis, Dayton, and Columbus are all within a fairly easy drive. One of the largest air hubs in the world for DHL is at Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport, which is in Kentucky.
Central and North Central Kentucky (e.g., Lexington, Frankfort, Richmond, Elizabethtown) is similar to Tennessee, but with more influence from the aforementioned eastern and northern Kentucky. Aligns with Cincinnati for its professional sports, but the University of Kentucky is also very much an SEC school!
South Central Kentucky (e.g., Bowling Green, Somerset) is much like Tennessee. Bowling Green, KY may as well be Cookeville, TN, except with a state income tax. Full of fans of both the Cincinnati Reds and definitely the Tennessee Titans.
Louisville and its suburbs comprise a bubble--the "51st state" or even the anti-Kentucky sometimes. It draws influences from the popularized blue-collar South of yesteryear (NASCAR, "The Heartbeat of America,") the lower Midwest and its sensibilities (Indiana is right there), and just kind of being its own weird, eclectic thing. The Cincinnati Bengals tend to have the predominant NFL fan base there, although the Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans also have their fair share of fans in Louisville. Also, the largest UPS air hub in the world is at Louisville International, placing Louisville above cities such as Hong Kong and Tokyo in air cargo tonnage processed annually.
Northwestern Kentucky (e.g., Owensboro, Madisonville), more commonly known as just "western Kentucky" or the "Western Coal Field," can derive its media and commerce influences from Bowling Green, Louisville, or, most commonly, Evansville, IN. Louisville, Indianapolis, St. Louis, and Nashville are all within a 3-hour drive, and many people there are fans of both the St. Louis Cardinals and Tennessee Titans.
Southwestern Kentucky (e.g., Hopkinsville, Cadiz) is pretty small, and while Hopkinsville is one of the closest things to the deep South that Kentucky has, it still isn't quite the same thing. Basically, it's another continuation of Tennessee and similar to South Central Kentucky. In fact, Hopkinsville, Oak Grove, and Fort Campbell, all in Kentucky (though much of Ft. C is also in TN), are within fairly easy commuting distance to Nashville.
The Jackson Purchase region of Kentucky (e.g., Paducah, Murray) is the state's westernmost and southernmost region, and arguably the state's most "Southern" region in terms of overall day-to-day life, topography, and climate. I feel more like I'm in the South in the JP then when I'm in major Southern cities (e.g., Atlanta, Raleigh, even Nashville); there are even cypress trees and bayous there. This region borders northwest Tennessee, and also borders the "Southern-lite" regions of the Midwest--southern Illinois and southeast Missouri. Media and commercial influences in this region are split between Paducah, KY, Cape Girardeau, MO, and Carbondale/Marion, IL, although Memphis and St. Louis are both within a 3-hour drive.
After spending more time in KY, it is undoubtedly a state with a very rich cultural history. I'm from far east Tennessee and the closest KY city is Middlesborough - it's culturally similar, yet far, far more isolated than we are. Virtually everywhere I've been in KY, I've met the friendliest people I've met anywhere else in the country (IN is so much more stuck up and less friendly) and it honestly feels like home.
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