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In rural Kansas, it depends on the county as some are worse than others. Also, there has been massive declines in population over time there due to farm and ranch consolidation, so it looks worse/more abandoned than what the actual incomes are.
I drove 2 lane roads across the entirety of Kansas in the spring of 2022, and it was light years ahead of Missouri. It wasn't quite on par with northern Iowa/Nebraska, Minnesota, and the eastern Dakotas as a rule, but there were definitely parts, especially in the eastern half, on par with those areas.
If you were at the same latitude in Missouri or Indiana, it would be much more run down.
It goes back to the Civil War, I suspect. The identies of what we view today as "north" and "south" derive from that conflict. When there was the battle of North vs. South, some of the core Midwest states were in their infancy and very minor contributors in terms of total men and supplies. Places like Minnesota, Iowa, and Kansas were very young states that fought for the Union, but were still mostly unsettled by Europeans and had no industry to speak of. Nebraska and the Dakotas were still territories.
In the actual battle of North vs. South, they weren't major contributors.
Minnesota was pretty involved in the Civil War though. It was the first state to respond to Lincoln's request for volunteer regiments. I think about half of the state's eligible population fought for the Union.
That's interesting. Being from Minnesota, I rarely heard the word "midwest" unless it was in a business's name. Even the Minnesota based documentaries refer to it as "the north" and not "the midwest".
I think "North" is used specifically because when it comes to segregation, people seem to think it was relegated only to the South.
Minnesota was pretty involved in the Civil War though. It was the first state to respond to Lincoln's request for volunteer regiments. I think about half of the state's eligible population fought for the Union.
So was Iowa, but both were so small that their significant per capita contributions weren't that significant on the whole. And there was 0 industry in either state at the time, and neither state ever become highly industrialized the way the states to the east of them did.
It goes back to the Civil War, I suspect. The identies of what we view today as "north" and "south" derive from that conflict. When there was the battle of North vs. South, some of the core Midwest states were in their infancy and very minor contributors in terms of total men and supplies. Places like Minnesota, Iowa, and Kansas were very young states that fought for the Union, but were still mostly unsettled by Europeans and had no industry to speak of. Nebraska and the Dakotas were still territories.
In the actual battle of North vs. South, they weren't major contributors.
I get what you're saying but would like to point out that Illinois and Ohio were tied for the second most deaths in the Civil War. Indiana was eighth and Michigan was tied for tenth. We could debate supplies, but in terms of men supplied, the midwest contributed quite a bit actually.
I drove 2 lane roads across the entirety of Kansas in the spring of 2022, and it was light years ahead of Missouri. It wasn't quite on par with northern Iowa/Nebraska, Minnesota, and the eastern Dakotas as a rule, but there were definitely parts, especially in the eastern half, on par with those areas.
If you were at the same latitude in Missouri or Indiana, it would be much more run down.
Off the beaten path, states such as Florida, New Mexico and Tennessee are markedly more rundown than anywhere in Indiana or Missouri. Overall, rural areas of Missouri in particular have noticeably well-maintained roads and properties, similar to neighboring Kentucky. There aren't very many abandoned homes and shuttered businesses in rural Missouri, either.
Even country roads in North Carolina can suddenly look really sketchy and rundown once you leave the Triangle and Triad. Dollar stores everywhere.
North Carolina is not particularly nice outside of its major metropolitan areas and tony beach and mountain towns. First and foremost, North Carolina is an exceedingly flat state. Compared to Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee, most of North Carolina is as flat as a pancake, which really surprised me. It also lacks the deciduous greenery of states to its north and the subtropical greenery of states to its south. And lest we forget that North Carolina was the poorest colony during Colonial times.
The northeast and Midwest are nothing alike. I grew up in Massachusetts, but raised my family in Ohio. It’s not similar at all.
Ohio has many similarities with Pennsylvania and Upstate NY. The interior northeast isn't that different from the midwest.
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