Why do some people think Colorado is in the Midwest? (Denver: fit in, live in)

[CO.Native.SW]

Why is it that some people think CO is part of the midwest??? Is it because we have plains/prairies? We have the high arid plains in Eastern Colorado, the same as West Texas, Eastern New Mexico, and Southeastern Wyoming. We dont have the humid plains of the midwest. Hello! The Midwest is Kansas, Nebraska, S. Dakota, N. Dakota, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio. We have mountains and desert lands in CO. You do NOT find those in the midwest. We have mountains, desert, and high plains, the same as New Mexico. No way, No how, is Colorado in the midwest. To say Colorado is in the midwest is like saying Indiana or Illinois is part of the east coast. Or its like saying Pennsylvania is part of the south. Or its like saying the mountain west states are part of the west coast. Its ridiculous.

I always say CO is definitely not Midwest or West Coast. I have always grown up and been taught that Colorado is part of the Mountain West, and the southern portion of the region. For example, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada are in the Mountain West and the southern portion. Meanwhile, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana are in the Northern Mountain West.

I do not like to group the Southwest and Northwest, simply because it gets confusing. For example, AZ, NM, NV, UT, and CO are all considered southern Mountain West, but could maybe all be Southwest as well.

So would anyone else agree that Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico are Southern Mountain West states??

That is the map i have always seen and used.

[ManOnTheMoon]

I like that map. My only contention is that I could possibly see Delaware and/or Maryland being considered part of the Mid-Atlantic. Maybe.

To answer your question, a lot (I'd hazard a guess of "most") of the people who think of Colorado as a Midwestern state have never been there. (Or to other parts of the Midwest.) In the Eastern Plains, I wouldn't argue with someone if they felt that region was at least culturally connected to the Midwest, but outside of that, there's very little argument to be had. If you've been through Colorado at any length, even very briefly (such as myself) I don't think you'd group Colorado in with other Midwestern states.

[Katarina Witt]

Go to "General US" and you will find arguments for practically every border state. Is Delaware north or south? Is Virginia mid-Atlantic or south? Is southern Illinois/Indiana the south? How about southern Ohio? Is Pittsburgh the midwest?

[Willy702]

Because if you didn't look at state lines or the people who lived in each area, but just by topographic and geological study, you could come to the conclusion that the Midwest ends at the start of the Rocky Mountains. And since the vast majority of the population in Colorado lives east of the Rockies its easy to see why some could characterize the state as the Midwest.

[Katarina Witt]

The funny (ironic) thing is, I grew up in Pittsburgh, which many people argue vehemently to be the eastern terminus of the midwest, and now I live in metro Denver, supposedly the western terminus of same.

[EscapeCalifornia]

States like Colorado, especially the eastern half, don't always fit into neat little categories. I definitely see element of the Midwest in the Denver area.

[jazzlover]

I don't believe that Colorado is part of the Midwest, however, never are regional boundaries exact. So, how is a region defined? Economically? Socially? Environmentally? Culturally? Politically? Climatically? Each will lead to different regional definitions. For example, Denver's regional economic influence extends well east onto the Great Plains, well west toward Utah, and well northward into Wyoming and Montana. If one defines a region by climatic or environmental criteria, the Great Plains have little in common with the Rocky Mountains. If one looks at cultural distinctions, southern and western Colorado have little in common with Colorado's metropolitan areas. And so on and so on.

Of course, political boundaries do matter for many legal and governance matters, but don't necessarily follow logical geographical, economic, social, or other boundaries. For example, in many ways, the San Luis Valley of Colorado is more closely tied to New Mexico, geographically, culturally, and economically than it is to other parts of Colorado, but it is contained within Colorado's political boundaries. Similarly, a lot of far western Colorado is geographically more tied to eastern Utah than it is to Colorado.

Years ago, I remember having a discussion with a rancher from the Alberta province in Canada. He argued that Alberta and eastern British Columbia in Canada had far more in common with the Rocky Mountain States of the US than either region had in common with the eastern provinces of Canada or the eastern states of the US. He opined that the two regions--maybe also including the Great Plains provinces in Canada and the Great Plains states in the US--should unite into a new country and tell the eastern US and eastern Canada to, in his words, "Go **** off." I have to admit that, as a native Westerner, it was pretty hard to argue with his logic.

[phetaroi]

Originally Posted by ManOnTheMoon

I like that map. My only contention is that I could possibly see Delaware and/or Maryland being considered part of the Mid-Atlantic. Maybe.

To answer your question, a lot (I'd hazard a guess of "most") of the people who think of Colorado as a Midwestern state have never been there. (Or to other parts of the Midwest.) In the Eastern Plains, I wouldn't argue with someone if they felt that region was at least culturally connected to the Midwest, but outside of that, there's very little argument to be had. If you've been through Colorado at any length, even very briefly (such as myself) I don't think you'd group Colorado in with other Midwestern states.

My guess is that the Maryland thing is due to the Mason-Dixon line being the northern border of the state.

Colorado does have a sort of split personality. Is it a mountain state? Yes. Is it a Plains state? Yes. Of course, state borders don't always follow natural features, hence the problem...although I'm not sure it's a very big problem.

[lalahartma]

I don't know, the eastern half of Co is kinda midwestern. And not very mountainy. And where is the Southwest on the map? Even though CO is the least southwesterny of the bunch commonly thought of as SW.

[vegaspilgrim]

State boundaries in this part of the country are straight, imaginary lines, and have nothing to do with true regional distinctions.