Is Colorado in the greater Southwest region? (Denver, Pueblo: college, live)

[inskeep303]

Is Colorado part of the southwest. My old college teachers referred to the state that had large portions that were once part of Mexico as the southwest, except for California. I am just wondering if it is. I already know Colorado is part of the West and Mountain West, but I have also read and heard from many people they consider it part of the greater southwest region as well. I am a person who groups entire states in a region, except for Texas. I think West Texas (el paso, amarillo, lubbock, odessa, etc.) are southwest, while dallas-ft worth and houston are south i think, and san antonio, austin, san angelo, etc are in the middle. other than Texas I think whole states are grouped into a region.

Colorado is Southwest: It also has many spanish names for places, over half the state was part of Mexico as well, almost all the state was in the disputed US/MEX territory, large population of Chicanos/latinos and immigrants, large hispano population, has similar terrain with New Mexico (high plains, mountains, desert terrain), ancient pueblo/anasazi ruins, has the Colorado River and Rio Grande starts in Colorado, has the colorado plateau, part of the four corners.

So i would say Colorado is southwest, same as arizona, new mexico, utah, nevada, and west texas. But, some people exclude UT, NV, and CO from the southwest. It could just be a four corner state in some peoples minds but i think it is southwest, mountain west, and west, just like NM, UT, AZ, and NV.

Opinions?

[tfox]

Overall, I'd say that about a third of the state is definitely part of the Greater Southwest (roughly that part south of the Arkansas River on the eastern slope, including the San Luis Valley -- and draw a line to the west for the western slope). On the front range, that would include Pueblo / Canon City, but nothing to the north of it.

That part north of the Arkansas but east of the divide was acquired by the U.S. as part of the Louisiana purchase. There's very little Spanish Settlement north of that line, at least on the eastern slope. Of course, Denver has always had a Hispanic community, as migrants from points south, even in the very early days of the city, and of course today that population has grown to be very influential. But it wasn't enough of an influence to label Denver and points north as historically part of the southwest, IMHO.

This means of course, that 80%+ of the state's population lives in the northern 2/3rds of the state -- so overall I'd say that statewide it's not on the whole a southwestern state, either historically or today.

Then again, I don't consider Texas as a whole as part of the greater southwest, either. Yes, about a third of the state of Texas is undeniably southwest (the Rio Grande Valley, the Trans-Pecos/Big Bend areas, for sure). But just like Colorado, the state as a whole is not because this doesn't include any of the population centers.

The state of Nevada is like Colorado in that the northern 2/3rds or more (more like 3/4) has very little southwestern influence. But, in the case of Nevada, the VAST majority of the population lives in that southern quarter, so I'd say that historically Nevada was not largely southwestern but today it definitely is.

[shukertj]

I'd consider it part of the Rocky Mountain west, but I'm sure everyone has their own opinions! : )

[vegaspilgrim]

I love geography questions like this!

I think tfox's analysis is spot on-- as usual.

In my view, the "southwest" is defined by the following-- and the more of the following a place has, the more southwestern it is: a strong Spanish/Mexican history and continued cultural presence, a heavy presence of immigrants (illegal & legal) from Mexico & Latin America, a strong presence of local historically southwestern native tribes/pueblos (Ute, Navajo, Apache, Pima, Hopi, Pueblo, etc) with continued vast reservations, an extremely varied, scenic landscape that ranges in elevation from low, arid deserts to high deserts to mountains, including a lot of "sky islands," vast expanses of uninhabited wilderness/desert, with islands of huge 1x1mi gridded out blob cities where almost all the population lives, the vast majority of the land is owned by the federal government, certain southwestern weather patterns (relatively wet winter compared to the other seasons, a bone dry late spring and early summer, the mid-late summer monsoon season, and a pretty dry fall). In terms of what counts as "southwest" as opposed to just plain "west"-- since the two are overlapping terms and regions, I'd weight climate & cultural factors.

I consider Arizona and New Mexico to be the true heart of the southwest. Albuquerque, Tucson, and El Paso are the 3 southwestern-most cities in the southwest, IMO. Phoenix and Las Vegas are very modern southwestern cities. I'd say Denver is NOT a southwestern city. Pueblo is the closest thing there is in Colorado to a city with some real southwestern flavor. Outside of El Paso and the big bend area, I don't consider Texas southwestern at all. Southern California has more in common with the southwest than TX or OK, IMO. Los Angeles, for better or worse, is arguably the hub gateway city to the modern southwestern region.

[davidv]

This is how I see it...

Colorado is hard to define because it is at the edge of three different regions: the Southwest, the Midwest, and the Rocky Mountain West. Geographers who insist on putting all of Colorado wholly into one region are either ignorant of the area, or are just being lazy. There is no reason regional boundaries have to follow state lines--especially since most of the state lines in the west were drawn by men with rulers. If you want to divide the area up culturally, then the plains should be part of the Midwest, the mountains should be part of the mountain west, and the area south of the Arkansas River is part of the Southwest.

The plains area, with its farms and ranches is much like Kansas and Nebraska. It is very rural and agricultural in nature. The mountains, with its ski areas, mining tradition and outdoor culture, has much in common with Utah, Idaho, and Montana. The area south of the Arkansas has a strong hispanic influence, especially in the small towns, like New Mexico and Arizona.

All you have to do is look to the mascots of our college and pro sports teams to see how we identify ourselves. We have icons of the plains (broncos, buffaloes), the mountains (nuggets, rockies, rapids, rams, and bears), as well as the southwest (roadrunners, thunderwolves [formerly indians]).

[davidv]

Terrain doesn't make a cultural region, lifestyle does. The plains area of Colorado is part of the Midwest. It may be a transition area between the Midwest and the West, but it is most decidedly the midwest.

Ask yourself, are Greeley, Sterling, Fort Morgan, and Limon more like Kansas and Nebraska or New Mexico and Arizona? If you have spent time in any of these towns, you know the answer is Kansas. The difference between the plains of Colorado and those of New Mexico is Colorado's ability to irrigate the plains to create viable farmland. Since there are no major rivers or aquifers in Eastern New Mexico to draw water from, that area of the state never developed the agricultural tradition and lifestyle that Eastern Colorado did.

PS. The 200,000 people that rallied in Denver were not all illegal immigrants. A large portion of them (including many people I know) are native-born citizens of the US.

[Count David]

Can't we just call Eastern Colorado part of the Great Plains, without regard to the Midwest vs. West delineation?

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by David Aguilar

Can't we just call Eastern Colorado part of the Great Plains, without regard to the Midwest vs. West delineation?

Yes, we sure can. Because it is.

End of issue. Thread closed.