Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I cant imagine two bordering states more different than Vermont and New Hampshire. The former is famously liberal, politically and socially, while the latter is a hotbed of conservatism--much of it bordering on the tea party variety. Vermont has its own cities, Burlington, Montpelier, that help define it, while New Hampshire's only real urban connection is the souther part that's tethered to Boston.
States right next to each other and the only thing they seem to have in common is the weather!
I think that what someone else already stated about Connecticut and Massachusetts is true, that just because Boston does not seem to have strong ties with Connecticut, the state as a whole doesn't. But as it was already pointed out, the Connecticut River Valley metro area of Hartford-Springfield is closely tied. I think it would be more accurate to state that this corridor, the CRV, is more isolated from the rest of New England, or seemingly has less ties with the rest.
I will lend some creed to the idea of sometimes flimsy connections not just between Connecticut and Massachusetts but Connecticut and the rest of New England. For example, I live and am a native of Massachusetts and I know lots of people who vacation or visit or have family on the Cape, around Worcester, in Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine, but I know almost no one who vacations in or has family in Connecticut.
If you visit Connecticut, especially the coast, you will find that a lot of the people who live there are transplants from, or their families come from, New York. As far east as New London. You will see a lot of Italian flags and Italian names on mailboxes but a majority of these are New York Italians, not Providence or Boston Italians. I have a friend who work at a sleep away summer camp in Essex in Western CT and almost every kid there is from New York or is international. 0 from RI, MA, NH, VT, or ME. Rhode Island, despite being the smallest state geographically, has a enough to space where you can clearly see a delineation between the backwoods and the urban/suburban regions. The former border CT and the latter hugs and spills over into MA. Southern New Hampshire and Southern Maine are heavily tied to the Boston Metro and many of its inhabitants are former Bay or Ocean Staters. Vermont also has a lot of people coming up from MA, especially to Burlington, a very hip town for people to move to (at least it's considered that way here in MA/RI). And even Worcester, though no closer to either Boston or Springfield, has closer ties to Boston and Providence (Blackstone River Valley), and Fitchburg, which is a link to VT and NH.
Some insight into why CT often gets the reputational shaft in the rest of New England.
A lot of the connection, or lack thereof, between states comes from the ebb and flow of the residents for work. New Jersey was famously described by Ben Franklin as 'a keg tapped on both ends.' Even then, Philadelphia and New York City defined North and South Jersey. Pennsylvania is pretty remarkable to me in that it is a long, horizontal state. New Jersey, WV, Ohio, Delaware, New York and Maryland on the borders. PA deserves its own topic!
Pennsylvania is pretty remarkable to me in that it is a long, horizontal state.
Like NC, Tennessee and upstate NY: I think opposite ends of the same state (each of those 4) have less in common internally than the fringes do with their neighbors. Erie PA vs Philadelphia - what do they have in common, aside from both being in Pennsylvania.
Ditto Murphy NC and the Outer Banks, which are almost 600 miles apart - Nags Head, NC is closer to NYC than it is to SW NC. Murphy, meanwhile is closer to 5 other capitals (Atlanta, Columbia, Nashville, Frankfort and Charleston WV) than it is to Raleigh.
Ohio and Pa seem to have nothing to do with each other. Maybe its the precieved difference between midwest and northeast I dont know. Illinois does not mix well with any of its neighbors either, probably because people from Chicago think they are better than the rest of the midwest. I know people in Wi and Mi do not mix well with the Chicago people who flood thier respective states every summer for vacation. Northern Ill (Chicago area) people are different from the rest of the midwest.
Missouri seems very isolated and unconnected with the states to the north and south of it. Arkansas, very southern, is nothing like Missouri. And Iowa, very midwestern, is nothing like Missouri. Missourians have more of a western mentality, and are very unlikely to have any positive ties or negative aversions to either Arkansas or Iowa, and regard them no differently than they regard Alabama or Indiana. However, Missourians feel much closer to Illinois and Kansas. And in fact, it is a gentler transition. Illinois and Kansas are much more alike than Arkansas and Iowa.
In fact, surprisingly, it is only a 5-hour, 300 mile drive from Iowa to Arkansas, and it would be hard to find a more contrasting pair of states. Yet they are closer together than Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
Pittsburgh and Philly aren't that far apart. They are a little closer at 255 miles apart.
Ohio and Pa seem to have nothing to do with each other. Maybe its the precieved difference between midwest and northeast I dont know. Illinois does not mix well with any of its neighbors either, probably because people from Chicago think they are better than the rest of the midwest. I know people in Wi and Mi do not mix well with the Chicago people who flood thier respective states every summer for vacation. Northern Ill (Chicago area) people are different from the rest of the midwest.
Yes and no with Ohio and PA. You will see a fair amount of Ohio plates in the Pittsburgh area (especially in the western half of the metro) as that's the closest major metro for some in Ohio, but in general people who live in Pittsburgh in general rarely go to Ohio unless it's for the Football and Rock n Roll Hall of Fame or Cedar Point and those are once a year at most trips. For many people in Pittsburgh, Ohio could be as far away as Chicago despite it's only a little more than an hour from Downtown. People in Pennsylvania don't have a need to go to Ohio like those in Ohio may depending on where they are in the state. I do find it amazing how much flatter it gets right away driving on I-76 once you get into Ohio.
Not to be a douche but this thread is dumb... All states share similarity in the areas close to their borders. North florida is EXACTLY like southern Alabama and western mass is just like Connecticut. You can't generalize the state as a whole if it has any amount land area to it. Maybe rhode island is one you can but for the most part the areas just blend. You cant really even say one state is the same from beginning to end...look at the inland empire and San Fran...nova and southwest va, Fresno and la, NYC and Syracuse...same states but ENTIRELY different culture....moving on.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
