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People always talk about the South (or Northeast, or West) as not being "monolithic" regions, but no one ever mentions anything about the Midwest having diversity. To the rest of the country, we're corn, cows and snow. The truth is that the Midwest has a lot of internal variation. We have mountains, beaches, cities, wilderness, snow, subtropics, forest, prairie and everything in between.
People flip out when mentioning that Dallas has anything in common with Charlotte, but do people really think that Caruthersville, Missouri has anything in common with International Falls, Minnesota? What about Rapid City, South Dakota and Youngstown, Ohio? Dodge City, Kansas and Detroit, Michigan? These cities are all very different in culture, natural setting, climate, accent (or lack thereof) and economy. The Midwest is probably the most varied region in the country - much more so than the South and Northeast, and possibly more than the West.
The midwest is certainly not monolitithic. The lower midwest (Oh, Ind, Ill, Ia, Misouri) is very different from the upper midwest (Mi, Wi, Mn,). The plains states are different from the other two. The lower midwest has more southern influence, that is obvious to anyone who has listened to people along the Ohio river talk. The upper midwest is more influenced by German, Dutch, and Scandanavian ancestory that is dominant here. The upper midwest is also physically different in some ways from the rest of the midwest. Lots of lakes and woods in that area. The plains states are different as they are much more open, and less populated. No region in America is monolithic, nor is any one state. Even within my state of Michigan there is alot of diversity within this states boundries.
The Midwest does have a fair amount of variety. On the whole Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin are a good deal more liberal than Kansas, Nebraska or the Dakotas. North Dakota looks to be one of the most Lutheran places in the country. Minnesota and North Dakota have a strong Scandinavian heritage that I wouldn't associate to Missouri or Illinois. Michigan and Illinois have some pretty large cities but in the Dakotas and Iowa the cities are mostly medium-sized to small. The accents I think are also a fair amount different from Duluth, Minnesota to Wichita, Kansas.
Kansas City and eastern Kansas (in KCMO metro) are the best kept secrets of the whole country, in my opinion. I am a native North Carolinian and fell in love with the KCMO metro, particularly where I lived in Johnson County, KS. But I spent a lot of time in MO b/c hubby is from St. Louis, and I also found the historic areas in western MO to be very interesting.
There is great variety in the midwest. The agrarian parts of the midwest are actually as comparable to the agrarian areas of the South as to each other. Small towns, whether located in the South or the Midwest, still are socially about the same. Friday nites are made for local high school football games in both areas, lol!
You look at Milwaukee, Des Moines, Kansas City . . . three cities I am very familiar with - all are terrific places to live and all have some similarities but definitely their own vibe.
I love the midwest and wasn't ready to move back South (Charlotte) even tho I have a huge family here. I really do believe folks often overlook all that the midwest has to offer - especially a good cost of living and fine places to raise a family and be part of a community - many of which have low crime rates and lower unemployment than where I am right now.
The lower midwest (Oh, Ind, Ill, Ia, Misouri) is very different from the upper midwest (Mi, Wi, Mn,).
The boundary between the Lower Midwest and the Upper Midwest doesn't conform to state boundaries. I would say most of Iowa is Upper Midwest. Some parts of northern Illinois, northern Indiana, and northern Ohio are also Upper Midwest.
No. If anything, southern Michigan and Wisconsin are Lower Midwest. I'm from southern Michigan, so I know this - it's much more like Indiana and Ohio than Minnesota. Nowhere in Ohio and Indiana are Upper Midwest, maybe EXTREME northern Iowa within a few miles of the Minnesota border is Upper Midwest. People from southern Iowa have a slight Southern twang, much like those from central Ohio and Indiana.
No. If anything, southern Michigan and Wisconsin are Lower Midwest. I'm from southern Michigan, so I know this - it's much more like Indiana and Ohio than Minnesota. Nowhere in Ohio and Indiana are Upper Midwest, maybe EXTREME northern Iowa within a few miles of the Minnesota border is Upper Midwest. People from southern Iowa have a slight Southern twang, much like those from central Ohio and Indiana.
Let's look at the facts.
Wikipedia, "Upper Midwest":
Quote:
The Upper Midwest is a region of the United States with no uniformly agreed-upon boundaries, but it almost always lies within the U.S. Census Bureau's Midwest region, which includes the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana. By some definitions, it extends into North and South Dakota and Iowa. Historically, prior to about 1880, "upper Midwest" meant the region that includes Ohio, Indiana, and lower Michigan.
The National Weather Service defines its Upper Midwest as the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
The United States Geological Survey uses two different Upper Midwest regions:
The USGS Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center considers it to be the six states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, which comprise the watersheds of the upper Mississippi River and upper Great Lakes.
The USGS Mineral Resources Program considers the area to contain Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
The Association for Institutional Research in the Upper Midwest includes the states of Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and the upper peninsula of Michigan in the region.
I won't post the map. Click the link to see for yourself. Study the Northern accent/Midland accent boundaries. Northern accent is upper Midwest. Midland accent is lower Midwest. This is elementary cultural geography.
All of Iowa north of Des Moines is upper Midwest. All of Illinois north of Peoria is upper Midwest. ALL of Wisconsin and ALL of Michigan are upper Midwest, period. Indiana north of Fort Wayne is upper Midwest. Ohio north of Akron is upper Midwest.
Southern Illinois, southern Indiana, southern Ohio, all of Missouri, maybe southern Iowa are lower Midwest.
ALL of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan are upper Midwest. Leave it to someone in Minnesota to think that southern Wisconsin and southern Michigan are "lower Midwest".
I won't post the map. Click the link to see for yourself. Study the Northern accent/Midland accent boundaries. Northern accent is upper Midwest. Midland accent is lower Midwest. This is elementary cultural geography.
All of Iowa north of Des Moines is upper Midwest. All of Illinois north of Peoria is upper Midwest. ALL of Wisconsin and ALL of Michigan are upper Midwest, period. Indiana north of Fort Wayne is upper Midwest. Ohio north of Akron is upper Midwest.
Southern Illinois, southern Indiana, southern Ohio, all of Missouri, maybe southern Iowa are lower Midwest.
ALL of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan are upper Midwest. Leave it to someone in Minnesota to think that southern Wisconsin and southern Michigan are "lower Midwest".
Didn't you read, Flyingwriter is from SOUTHERN MICHIGAN. Follow Flyingwriter's threads and posts, they are all consistent with agreeing with or giving great insights to Michigan or midwest topics.
I have family in Southern Michigan, and I think it's safe to say that Columbus and Ann Arbor fall into one category and Fargo and Duluth in another.
North of Akron? Ok then nevermind
So you're saying pretty much Akron, OH and Bismarck, ND have similar characteristics? More similar than Akron and Huntington?
If you're using latitudinal lines, then the northern half of Iowa would be in the Upper Midwest; if you travel east from northern Iowa, you'd wind up in Wisconsin....in some circles, Chicago might be the southern end of the Upper Midwest, but only if you're splitting hairs...I think that, culturally speaking, Chicago has more in common with Milwaukee than with St. Louis or Kansas City..
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