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I agree with this, but i would also probably put the northern half of West Virginia in the Mid Atlantic
I call the Lower Mid Atlantic "de facto" Northeast - because even though it wasn't in the Northeast to begin with, it has become mostly like that region and more connected with it over time.
According to polls, the majority of people today would consider Maryland, Delaware, Northern Virginia and probably the northern part of West Virginia as being Northeastern rather than Southeastern.
The same way Delaware, Maryland, and (to a lesser extent) Northern/Central/Tidewater Virginia have grown more alike the Northeast over time, is the same way New York has grown away from "Mid-Atlantic". How one could consider New York Mid-Atlantic by today's standards is beyond me...
New York is solidly Northeastern, we all agree on that. But the culture is much, much different from the true Mid-Atlantic. In reality, the Mid-Atlantic does not and should not include the entire state of Pennsylvania. That's a farce. Only South-Central and Southeastern PA are truly Mid-Atlantic. DC is the epicenter of what Mid-Atlantic is, if for no other reason that it most typifies the mostly Northern/partly Southern character more than any other city in the region....
As @jerseygirl stated, just because someone claims it, doesn't make it so. One could claim NY as Mid-Atlantic. One could stoically deny Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia as Northeastern, whether in part or at whole (and for the record, my personal opinion is Virginia is Southeastern at whole). But those opinions don't make it fact, and more to the point, would not reflect reality. It's not 1900 anymore; New York is NOT a Mid-Atlantic state...
Is this because some people think the Northeast (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania) is different from Mid Atlantic (Maryland, DC, West Virginia and Virginia)? Even when both regions are small geographically? Even when the definition for the Northeast and the Mid Atlantic usually overlaps?
Because weather wise, economically, and socially, they are each distinct areas.
Because they are two separate regions with a few overlapping states. The Northeastern states are the following: Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania. That's all.
The Mid-Atlantic states are the following (and definitions get a little hairy and change depending on who you ask, but most say these): New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia (and DC, in parenthesis because it's not a state obviously). Some add West Virginia and North Carolina but I personally would not.
The only states that are both Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic are New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
Perfectly said. This topic has been beaten to death.
The only one that counts Delaware as Northeastern is that third one. Delaware is separate from NJ and NY and New England in those maps, yet often tied with PA, probably because of Philly. So what's your point?
The problem is that most of them who have a Mid Atlantic definition excludes New Jersey but includes Pennsylvania which is slightly more Northern than the northernmost part of New Jersey.
The only one that counts Delaware as Northeastern is that third one. Delaware is separate from NJ and NY and New England in those maps, yet often tied with PA, probably because of Philly. So what's your point?
NJ is more tied with PA and DE than NJ is with NY and New England.
The problem is that most of them who have a Mid Atlantic definition excludes New Jersey but includes Pennsylvania which is slightly more Northern than the northernmost part of New Jersey.
It seems some people have gotten it into their head that the 50 states are "officially" assigned to certain geographic regions. Perhaps it's because:
- the Census says so
- Mason and Dixon did a survey in 1763-67
- residents drink soda or pop
- they are a blue state or a red state
- someone works for a company that assigns certain states to certain regions
- or Ms Johnson taught them that certain states belong in certain regions. In 4th grade. And it stuck.
What are the Midwest states? What are the plains states? Is Arizona a western state or a southwestern state? Is Texas really in two regions? Or three!? Is Alaska a west coast state? Which states comprise the PNW?
The brain neurons fire with excitement at the many insightful threads we could endlessly pursue.
Last edited by Pine to Vine; 05-10-2014 at 05:11 PM..
I think these maps are wrong. Kentucky is the South but Virgnia is not?
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The only one that counts Delaware as Northeastern is that third one. Delaware is separate from NJ and NY and New England in those maps, yet often tied with PA, probably because of Philly. So what's your point?
