Does a "Rust Belt" (or lower-ish midwestern) Accent Exist? (how much, campus)

[Daytonnatian]

Just wondering what you guys thought.

The area I'm talking about is northern and western Ohio, Northwestern Pennsylvania, Indiana, Michigan below Saginaw, Iowa, Missouri, and let's thorw in Kansas and Nebraska for fun.

So.... What do you all think?

[EastSideMKE]

Wisconsin's accent is a hybrid of Chicago (Da Bears), the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (Ya Der Hey), and Minnesota (Don'tcha know).

[garmin239]

Seems like too big of an area to share one accent.

[Daytonnatian]

Let me be more specific....

NO UPPER MIDWEST!!!!!

(thanks for the imput, though)

[EastSideMKE]

Originally Posted by Daytonnatian

Let me be more specific....

NO UPPER MIDWEST!!!!!

(thanks for the imput, though)

The Rust Belt refers to everything from Green Bay, WI to Buffalo, NY, which is primarily the Upper Midwest. The states of Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska aren't considered part of the Rust Belt or the Upper Midwest.

[BelieveInCleve]

Dont know how official this is though. Some of those city locations are off.

[Katarina Witt]

No.

[coldwine]

Originally Posted by Katiana

No.

I agree.

I'd like to see how much of that map still represents actual industry. I wouldn't be surprised if the highlighted area has shrunken dramatically.

[northstar22]

"Rust Belt" is too broad of a term. It's not strictly Midwestern. It extends into parts of the South and Northeast, and of course, shares the accents of those regions. Also, Western Ohio has different accents. Extreme northern Ohio (near Toledo and Cleveland) doesn't have much of an accent, while the Cincinnati/Dayton area has a noticeable Southern accent. The lower peninsula of Michigan speaks similar to Chicago and Northern Ohio, with the exception of the extreme northern part of the lower peninsula, which has the Yooper accent, like the UP. Wisconsin is similar to Michigan, with a little more Minnesota influence.

Never been to Kansas or Nebraska, but would imagine they're similar to Indiana, Iowa, etc., with the general lower Midwest non-accent.

[Katarina Witt]

DH is from Omaha, Nebraska. He has more than a "non-accent", but certainly not the nasally upper-midwestern accent of the more northern states. The farther west in Nebraska you go, the less of an accent people have (in general). A lot of Kansans have drawl-y accents.