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Midwestern States
Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, N & S Dakota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas
Southeastern States
West Virginia, Virginia, N & S Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, *Texas
*You could debate whether Texas is in the Southwest or southeast, but for this poll, keep Texas in the SE.
Here is the criteria: Cities
Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, etc vs Houston, Dallas, Charlotte, Atlanta, Miami, Nashville, etc (exclude DC, include other cities in the regions such as Austin and Milwaukee)
Rasing A Family
Which region would you rather raise a family in? Better K-12 education, special ed services, etc.
Colleges/Universities
Northwestern, UMich, UChicago, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Wisconsin-Madison, etc vs Vanderbilt, Duke, UNC, UF, GATech, UTexas, etc (and all other colleges in the regions)
Quality of Life
Includes overall life, stress, healthcare...
Things To Do
Which region do you think has more to do? Include parks, amusement parks, outdoor life...
Scenery
Which region looks nicer to the eye? Both natural and architectural.
Economic Future Decades Later
This one is tough, as you can’t predict the economy. Will the southeast continue to boom decades into the future, or will the southeast plateau and mass migration/economic growth shifts back to the Midwest/rust belt?
Where Would You Rather Live
Self explanatory, which region would you rather live in?
Raising A Family -- ??? Either has nice places for this.
Colleges/University -- Midwest by a hair. It honestly may be too close to call. I'm thinking about the top tier liberal arts colleges, public universities and private universities. Both have plenty. The SE of course has many, with some especially upstanding public universities in the upper south. However there is nothing to match UChicago in the realm of private universities, whereas UMichigan is a pretty close match to UVA and UNC.
Things To Do -- Overall, southeast -- there is a good mix of urban and rural/outdoorsy amenities.
Scenery -- Southeast. Yes, the Midwest has some underrated scenery, especially in the Upper Great Lakes area. But anyone who has lived, stayed or even driven through the southern Appalachians or the gorgeous warm waters of South Florida knows this is a pretty big blow out.
Economic Future -- The Southeast
Where I Would Rather Live -- The Southeast -- I would live in Chicago, except I would not do city living outside the Northeast. I am not all too interested in any city living in the Southeast, but I could see myself settling into a small town in Western NC, Virginia or even West Virginia one day. It is a gorgeous place to live with unique cultural offerings.
I think it depends more on the state and even further down to the city/metro. Some southern cities I like and some southern cities I dont like, same thing with midwestern cities.
As for the Midwest I prefer Great Lakes portion, especially Cleveland & Milwaukee. I also like the interior of Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin (cities like Akron, Columbus, Cincinnati, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Madison).
And as for the South I prefer the Atlantic Coastal Plain (Virginia down to Florida), especially the Virginia cities I have a strong love for Hampton Roads and the Richmond area. Raleigh, Charlotte, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Miami, Houston are all nice to me. I also like New Orleans but only for visiting, definetly couldnt live there.
Texas isn't in the South East. Parts of west Texas could even be called the South West.
Rasing A Family
Both are good.
Colleges/Universities
I think the Midwest wins pretty solidly here. There are plenty of good schools in the South, but where the midwest wins is that in addition to having great private schools, is that the quality of Big 10 schools is academically superior to the SEC in general.
Quality of Life
Depends to much on your personal preferences, financial situation etc.
Things To Do
The Midwest. In addition to having Chicago, which offers more than any of the southern cities, the 4 season climate means you have a bigger verity of seasonal outdoor activities. You can't ski, snowshoe, ice fish, or play pond hockey in the south. It isn't as if there is a shortage of summer activities in the Midwest either with the great lakes.
Scenery
South. This one is hard, I love the great lake areas but the Appalachians are nice. I'll prob give this to the South, but it really is contingent on where in the midwest or south you are, some places are prettier than others.
For Architecture I prefer the Midwest cities, but the south definitely has some great built areas. In general the large cities in the Midwest have much better architecture than Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Charlotte etc.
Economic Future Decades Later
Right now the South is booming. The Midwest is growing at a slower pace. I do feel pretty bullish on the midwest comeback, It does have the advantage of already built infrastructure, lowest cost of living and an educated workforce.
I would like to think they can both thrive in the future.
Where Would You Rather Live
I like the Midwest better overall, but I do like living in Texas
Where I Would Rather Live -- The Southeast, chiefly because I hate cold winters.
^^ I'd give raising a family to The Southeast as well so as not to subject my children to the winters. Otherwise, spot on. The Southeast is my favorite region in the USA, and the mid-west is my least favorite, mostly due to weather.
Cities - Midwest
Many great cities in both regions, but Chicago is unrivaled so an edge to the Midwest
Rasing A Family - Midwest
The Midwest has 7 states ranked in the top 25 for K-12 education by US News as opposed to 2 for the Southeast.
Also I would rather my children grew up enjoying all four seasons.
Colleges/Universities - Tie
a lot of great universities in both regions, too close to call
Quality of Life - Tie
really depends on preferences - probably less stressful in the Southeast, better healthcare institutions in the Midwest
Things To Do - edge to Midwest
Twin Cities have the best park system in the US
Cedar Point has the best roller coasters, but Disney World is easily the best theme park in the US
The Midwest has winter, so a greater variety of outdoor activities available
Scenery - edge to the Southeast
The Great Lakes are beautiful, but the Southeast wins with the Appalachians and the ocean
Architecturally the Midwest has an edge with Chicago as a standout (Minneapolis, Detroit, Atlanta, Charlotte, Pittsburgh, Kansas City honorable mentions)
Economic Future Decades Later - edge to the Southeast
very hard to predict
Where Would You Rather Live - Midwest
Last edited by Thorondor; 10-08-2017 at 03:38 PM..
Cities - Southeast
Raising a Family - Southeast (Better/Diverse Suburbs)
Colleges/Universities - Southeast (SE has HBCU’s)
Quality of Life - Tie
Things To Do - Southeast (More variety)
Scenery - Southeast
Economic Future - Southeast
Want To Live - Southeast
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