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Could you call Denver or Dallas "midwestern?" Dallas is neither southern nor western and Denver isn't really wholly western either--so I think there's a strong case to made that these towns really are deep down midwestern metro areas.
Dallas is way too far south in latitude to be considered part of the Midwest. The culture, foods, and speech patterns are not the same compared with the Midwest. They do not get hardly any snow in the winter either and do not really have four seasons. It is a sunbelt city in my opinion.
Most of Denver is actually located on the western margin of the high plains. The areas that are higher in elevation are located to the west and southwest of the city. Denver sits at a divide between the plains culture to the east and the vast intermountain west region. This area also shares some things in common with New Mexico because of the larger concentration of Hispanic residents that have lived in the region for a long time.
Can't speak for anyone else, but in my rankings, I have been to each and every one of the cities I ranked...some farrrrr too extensively! (Not really...truly, I could say nice things about each and every one of the cities on my list).
I have to say that going to these places allowed my list probably to be different than most folks'. Like Milwaukee, which I ranked #1 (and am admittedly biased to because of my actually having lived there). In comparison to other metros in the Midwest, I can honestly say that Milwaukee metro has - at least for me - the most appeal (except for the weather, where places like K.C., St. Louis, Cincinnati, etc., have it clearly beat, but let's face it, the weather in the midwest overall is nasty winters, hot humid summers, so typically that won't be a "selling" point of the midwest).
I have found that when I have gone to places like Kansas City and Cincinnati, I have been very impressed. KC especially...really liked the town and its 'burbs - much more than I thought I would. Enjoyed their baseball stadium, loved the food (BBQ) there, the vibe, etc., was just a nice city.
Similarly, I used to go all the time to Chicago and Minneapolis/St. Paul, being relatively close to Milwaukee. In my opinion, Chicago is a great place to live near (like one does in Milwaukee) but I would never live there over Milwaukee. Why? Because the weather is the same, however, Chicago is obviously much more expensive, congested, commutes are much harder, etc. I can still enjoy all of its huge city ammenities living in Milwaukee, but don't have to deal with the headaches every day.
Minneapolis/St. Paul is very nice, modern, hip, etc., but it is the one midwestern city whose climate I find too tough to take (this coming from someone putting Milwaukee #1)...in contrast to Milwaukee, Chicago, Cleveland, etc., winters are even colder, and summers are hotter and more humid. Furthermore, the Twin Cities have now gotten fairly pricey as well, as well as being a bit more conjested/crowded.
However, I could say plenty of good things about Chicago (better lakefront than Milwaukee for sure) or the Twin Cities (very modern and with things)...it is just a matter of personal tastes and preferences.
I find Des Moines, IA, Omaha, NE, and Lincoln, NE nicer than most people probably (although wouldn't live in them except maybe for Omaha and that wouldn't be high on the list either). I love South Bend, IN.
Surely I have also read quite a bit about these cities as well, as you cannot "know" a place just by visiting (you really sometimes cannot even "know" a place only by living there). But yes, in my case, I have traveled the Midwest and the respective cities / towns very much. There are good things about most of these cities - even Detroit metro.
Enjoy EP, I lived in Milwaukee for a couple years, too, and I agree with you. In fact, that's one of the reasons I asked the question--many Midwesterners don't ever find their way to Milwaukee. It's kind of out of the way and sits in the shadow of Chicago. I have friends here in the Twin Cities who grew up in WI and have never been to their state's biggest city! I am guessing many people rate Milwaukee low, or don't rate it at all because they've never been there but its image is that of an old industrial city (true) without charm (not true!). I wonder it it's tru for some of the other cities being rated here. I passed on rating Grand Rapids because I've never been there.
Enjoy EP, I lived in Milwaukee for a couple years, too, and I agree with you. In fact, that's one of the reasons I asked the question--many Midwesterners don't ever find their way to Milwaukee. It's kind of out of the way and sits in the shadow of Chicago. I have friends here in the Twin Cities who grew up in WI and have never been to their state's biggest city! I am guessing many people rate Milwaukee low, or don't rate it at all because they've never been there but its image is that of an old industrial city (true) without charm (not true!). I wonder it it's tru for some of the other cities being rated here. I passed on rating Grand Rapids because I've never been there.
Yeah, you rarely see out-of-state license plates driving in Milwaukee, except for some occasional Minnesota or Illinois plates. Living currently in Albuquerque, NM, I was amazed when I saw so many out-of-state plates...just wasn't used to it.
And you are right-on about being in Chicago's shadow. Most people don't even know where Milwaukee is on a map - this is a metro of 1.5+ million people! It isn't exactly Davenport, IA. But Chicago does cast a long shadow.
I also heartily agree with you about the national image / perception of Milwaukee. Beer. Industry / rust belt / manufacturing. Crime. Cold. You are very right though...where there are some elements of truth to this, there is just so, so much more to Milwaukee and what makes it great. It has a uniqueness and a flavor that is missing in so many large U.S. metros now that are so "cookie cutter" (that I why I also like Kansas City...it just feels "different" than the average big city U.S.A.). For instance, I like Denver and spend just tons of time there, but to me, the city "feels" the same as so many other big cities and doesn't "feel" much different, besides the beautiful mountains. Milwaukee - for better or for worse - "feels" unique and different.
Most people LOVE Milwaukee when they visit (except for the weather if they are not used to it) because their expectations are so low for it. But when they get there and see the neat old buildings, the pretty lakefront setting, the unique restaurants / bars, etc., they realize what a cool place it is.
And Milwaukee is truly - like Atlanta - a "metro" town, in that yes, Milwaukee itself has some real undesirable areas in terms of crime, etc., but areas like Shorewood, Wauwatosa, Glendale, etc., are just as much a part of Milwaukee and are really, really neat areas (as is downtown Milwaukee).
You are so right...if people actually got to Milwaukee and spent time there...especially in the summer or fall...they would love the place (weather aside).
Dallas is way too far south in latitude to be considered part of the Midwest. The culture, foods, and speech patterns are not the same compared with the Midwest. They do not get hardly any snow in the winter either and do not really have four seasons. It is a sunbelt city in my opinion.
Most of Denver is actually located on the western margin of the high plains. The areas that are higher in elevation are located to the west and southwest of the city. Denver sits at a divide between the plains culture to the east and the vast intermountain west region. This area also shares some things in common with New Mexico because of the larger concentration of Hispanic residents that have lived in the region for a long time.
Dallas is not midwestern, nor is Oklahoma or Arkansas, or Louisiana. Arkansas is the Upper South, Louisiana is the Deep South, Oklahoma and Texas are southwestern. Nothing about Dallas feels midwestern at all to me.
Enjoy EP. I can relate with you about the Milwaukee vs. Chicago issue. I have found from that it seems that people from Chicago seem to have a bit of an inferiority complex about their city. It wasn't long after I moved to Madison that I recieved this kind if feeling from people from the windy city. Every summer it seems that thousands of Chicagoans fill the streets of Madison and Milwaukee. Just the past weekend my family(when the weather is amazing!) and I were eating at a sidewalk cafe dowtown in Madison and this family from Chicago came up and started a conversation. They told us how much they loved Madison, and how they came up here every chance they got. We thanked them and told them that we loved it here too. Then they proceded to inform us of everything about Chicago that was better than Madison. I don't know how much this happens in Milwuakee, but in Madison it is frequent. My guess is that people from New York, LA, Houston, Pheonix and Miama come to Chicago and do the same thing, so Chicago just takes out their frustrations out on Wisconsin because we are closer. Everybody that I have met from the other cities that I mentioned, speak highly about our city, but don't attack us the way the Chicago seems to.
As a side note, I remarked to the couple that the day that Madison even starts to feel or look like Chicago I will leave before my house even sells. That wouldn't be a problem though since it seems everybody and their uncle wants to move to Madison.
Milwaukee is a great city. There are some rough areas. But anything that Milwaukee has as a negative, Chicago has it ten fold more.
I think that the same attitude between Chicago and Milwaukee kind of exists between Chicago and St. Louis. Chicagoans from what I've found usually have nothing positive to say about St. Louis, and people from St. Louis generally just don't wanna talk about Chicago. It may not be as intense as Chicago and Milwaukee but Chicago and St. Louis historically were rivals as each competed for the spot as capital of the midwest. Now that rivalry is confined to sports since St. Louis obviously lost the former battle. When I visited Milwaukee it actually didn't feel a whole lot different from St. Louis either...it was slightly smaller, colder obviously, and Milwaukee is just a big on beer as St. Louis is and both are classic rustbelt cities. I just think Chicagoans tend to carry on an attitude that they are better than everybody else and tend to look down on Indianapolis, St. Louis, and Milwaukee. But what do I know..I'm a St. Louisan...I was bred to resent Chicago
Chicago tends to look at St. Louis as that smaller big city from downstate Illinois, which they seem not to want to have anything to do with. Chicago needs to learn to pick on cities its own size. I guess since they are different from the rest of the Midwest cities in size they feel vulnerable so they attack their closest neighbor of opporunity. Hehe ok I'm done with making fun of Chicago i'm stretching the truth just a bit here lol as you might have noticed?
What is your evidence showing that global warming will produce colder weather? That does not make any sense considering that CO2 levels have been increasing exponentially ever since they have been measured starting in the 1950s. Also global average temperatures are continuing to rise. The rapid industrialization of developing countries like China and India are also leading to tons of power plants being built. These coal plants do not have the stringent environmental regulations compared with the US as well. All these plants add to the build up of man-made CO2 in the atmopshere. That is why coal gasification is the new technology being developed to capture and store CO2, instead of emitting it into the atmosphere.
There have been articles issued saying they would get colder. I googled this issue awhile back and found numerous articles discussing it. Here is the link to one such article. I could give many more if necessary. Global warming will not immediately make winters colder anyplace in the Midwest....it will initially serve to produce warmer winters but if the ocean conveyor belt shuts down it is GUARANTEED St. Louis will be getting colder winters. Global warming will lead to global cooling eventually...it could happen in as soon as 40 years if it's not slowed down. St. Louis could potentially get winters like Minneapolis if global warming keeps up long enough to stop the ocean conveyor belt. If you don't agree with that, you don't agree with National Geographic scientists either.
Global warming if it continues to be like it is could very likely lead to global cooling many claim in between 40 to 100 years. And I seriously doubt that we will be able to immediately fix global warming in half that time. A program I watched on NGEO showed all areas north of the Mason-Dixon at any point (which they defined as the Ohio River as well as the original Mason Dixon) getting significantly colder winters...this includes St. Louis and Kansas City. Chicago could start to get winters like Syracuse potentially.
Enjoy EP. I can relate with you about the Milwaukee vs. Chicago issue. I have found from that it seems that people from Chicago seem to have a bit of an inferiority complex about their city. It wasn't long after I moved to Madison that I recieved this kind if feeling from people from the windy city. Every summer it seems that thousands of Chicagoans fill the streets of Madison and Milwaukee. Just the past weekend my family(when the weather is amazing!) and I were eating at a sidewalk cafe dowtown in Madison and this family from Chicago came up and started a conversation. They told us how much they loved Madison, and how they came up here every chance they got. We thanked them and told them that we loved it here too. Then they proceded to inform us of everything about Chicago that was better than Madison. I don't know how much this happens in Milwuakee, but in Madison it is frequent. My guess is that people from New York, LA, Houston, Pheonix and Miama come to Chicago and do the same thing, so Chicago just takes out their frustrations out on Wisconsin because we are closer. Everybody that I have met from the other cities that I mentioned, speak highly about our city, but don't attack us the way the Chicago seems to.
As a side note, I remarked to the couple that the day that Madison even starts to feel or look like Chicago I will leave before my house even sells. That wouldn't be a problem though since it seems everybody and their uncle wants to move to Madison.
Milwaukee is a great city. There are some rough areas. But anything that Milwaukee has as a negative, Chicago has it ten fold more.
Good points, I really appreciate hearing your antecdotes.
The thing is too...again, I actually really LIKE Chicago as a travel / visitning destination. One of the "perks" of living in Milwaukee is the close proximity of Chicago. I have gone down there numerous times for Bulls' games, White Sox / Cubs games, shopping at some of the amazing malls, eating out, etc.
So I really like Chicago overall...just wouldn't be my cup of tea to live in.
But having said that, yeah, I guess there is a Chicago inferiority complex. And as much as I absolutely love Milwaukee, I have to in full disclosure add that there is a big Milwaukee inferiority complex too. Truthfully, having spent much time in Madison and known tons of Madisonites, I have actually never encountered a major Madison inferiority complex, so I think you Madisonites truly are content!
One thing that ALWAYS cracks me up - and I am a Milwaukeean by birthright mind you - is the weather inferiority complex of Milwaukeeans, Chicagoans, etc. You'll either find Milwaukeeans, Chicagoans, etc., who just admit that the weather 1/2 the year is miserable but can point out the other great things about their areas (like myself I think), or, they vehemently cannot take any jesting about the weather at all and will defend it to the death.
First off, it is weather, it isn't personal. But many folks in Milwaukee will defend it like it is San Diego! For instance, this year around Easter they had a miserably cold, 2 week or so stretch where it was around 30, 40 degrees with some wind chills near zero. Then, a week later, they had 7-inches of snow. I mean, for mid-April, let's face it folks, this really stinks. However, even if making a lighthearted comment in passing about it to a Milwaukeean, you are likely to get thrown back "yeah, well three weeks ago we had a day when it was 82." OK, so out of four weeks of misery, you picked up one great day. I mean, don't get me wrong, as a Milwaukeean, I used to DIE for those first few great days, but I also didn't diminish that in early April when we would clock in at a balmy 38 degrees and 3 hours south it was 70 and the flowers were blooming that somehow it was made okay because two weeks before that we had picked up a monsterous 58 degree day.
You'll always hear lots of people vehemently say in Milwaukee, etc., "oh, our winters are not all that cold." I mean, compared to what - the north pole!!!? I mean sure, compared to many parts of Alaska, Milwaukee's winters are not "that cold" I suppose. But I always say to my fellow Milwaukeeans, folks, the stats are that we are the 2nd coldest of the 50 biggest metros in the nation annually (next to the Twin Cities)...we just have to admit it. NOV-APR are six good months to enjoy snow, cross country skiing, etc.
And again...I love Milwaukee as much as anyone. But I think inferiority spurs from simple things like the weather...I love Milwaukee winter and all. But some in Milwaukee just cannot come to admit that yes, six months of the year, there are very more desirable climates in the nation. Does that mean for six months Milwaukee is inferior?? Of course not...tons of great things of Milwaukee, even in the winter cold. But the inferiority breeds when they encounter someone who is in Atlanta, Phoenix, etc., and reports warm sunny temps, and that for some reason bothers the select Milwaukeeans.
Another thing...so many of my Milwaukee commrades are born, raised, and die in that same area. And in some regards, that is great - one of the truly nice things about Milwaukee. However, in other regards, it is annoying...they act like they can't even fathom why anyone would even want to consider living somewhere other than Milwaukee metro, that every other place in some way should have an excuse created as to why you wouldn't be better off living there.
Again, inferiority. Truly, they have a fear (or whatever the reason) of every leaving and branching out themselves - they cling to the known - and instead of admitting, yeah, maybe there would be a better place for me or I would like to try somewhere else for awhile, they instead kind of rip anyone that would consider leaving as a means to make themselves feel better.
I could go on...
This post will seem like I am just ripping on Milwaukeeans, and obviously, with me thinking it is the best city in the Midwest, having lived there a great deal of my life, and wanting very much to live in again soon (with most of my family and friends in that area too), I love Milwaukee and am not mocking it or downgrading it.
But I do have to cede that there is for whatever reason kind of a big inferiority complex that kindles in alot of folks in the Milwaukee/Chicago region...obviously both regions have different reasons for theirs (except in this case the weather - both have the same general complexes there)...and I just have learned that it is what it is. Having lived away from Milwaukee for awhile made me put that all into better perspective.
Here's my "unbiased" opinion, if there is such a thing. Most people going to have a personal preference toward places that they've lived, so that's understandable. As a result, people tend to equate "quality of life" as places that are similar to the places that they are used to, which is fine when talking about personal preferences. However, I want to look at it this way: if I were talking to someone from the East Coast or West Coast or someone from outside of the country and they want to know what places they can't miss, what are the cities in the Midwest that are going to impress them?
A great city has what I call "critical mass", which is a fancy way of saying that the proverbial whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Pretty much every decent sized city can give you a list of museums, trendy neighborhoods, parks or even a prominent site or two (i.e. the Arch in St. Louis or the Rock 'n Roll Museum in Cleveland). However, a great city isn't just a list of attractions. Instead, a great city is when you know that the city is the attraction ITSELF.
To me, there are only two cities in the Midwest that fit this criteria: Chicago as a world-class urban city and Madison as a college town. That's not to say other cities in the Midwest don't have things that are worthwhile to see (i.e. Milwaukee's Summerfest is way better than Taste of Chicago) or offer great places to live, but those are really the only two Midwestern cities that I would consider to be where the cities themselves are the draws as opposed to just specific attractions. While you might call me out since I'm a lifelong Chicagoan, I'm definitely not a Badger - I'm a Fighting Illini all the way and Champaign might personally be my favorite college town in the world because of the memories, but I can't reasonably tell someone that has no connection to the University of Illinois and wants to see the best college town in the Midwest to go to Champaign over Madison.
Anyway, I think that ought to be the criteria for these types of "best places" discussions: what places truly have achieved critical mass where the cities are the draws themselves as opposed to just having a list of things to see?
There have been articles issued saying they would get colder. I googled this issue awhile back and found numerous articles discussing it. Here is the link to one such article. I could give many more if necessary. Global warming will not immediately make winters colder anyplace in the Midwest....it will initially serve to produce warmer winters but if the ocean conveyor belt shuts down it is GUARANTEED St. Louis will be getting colder winters. Global warming will lead to global cooling eventually...it could happen in as soon as 40 years if it's not slowed down. St. Louis could potentially get winters like Minneapolis if global warming keeps up long enough to stop the ocean conveyor belt. If you don't agree with that, you don't agree with National Geographic scientists either.
Global warming if it continues to be like it is could very likely lead to global cooling many claim in between 40 to 100 years. And I seriously doubt that we will be able to immediately fix global warming in half that time. A program I watched on NGEO showed all areas north of the Mason-Dixon at any point (which they defined as the Ohio River as well as the original Mason Dixon) getting significantly colder winters...this includes St. Louis and Kansas City. Chicago could start to get winters like Syracuse potentially.
Are you talking about snow or temperatures when you say "Chicago could start to get winters like Syracuse"? You must mean Chicago could get winters with as much snow as Syracuse. It would make no sense to say Chicago could get colder like Syracuse when Syracuse winters aren't as cold as they are in Chicago.
Chicago actually averages colder temperatures than Syracuse in January....the links
According to "Arbor Day" Syracuse is a climate Zone 6. This past winter the lowest temperature Syracuse had was minus 8 degrees. Lake Ontario has a great effect on Syracuse winter weather, it creates 70% of Syracuse's snowfall and it keeps the temperatures much milder than places just 70 miles away...like in Watertown, NY. A night when Syracuse was minus 5 below zero, Watertown was minus 30 below zero. Watertown, NY is a Zone 4, but very close to a Zone 3.
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(Not really...truly, I could say nice things about each and every one of the cities on my list). 
